Number Crew 2: Shape and Space 2
Programme 5: Return of the Crew – Recognising a Quarter Turn as a Right Angle

Outline

The Number Crew children are lost in the strange land of shapes when suddenly they see the magic triangle and hope it will take them back to the ship. To reach the triangle, they have to cross a ravine. Matthew helps them to cross by recognising right angles and he explains that a quarter turn is the same as a right angle. The children eventually make it to the shimmering triangle, which returns them safely to the SS Mathematical.

Recommendations for Use

It is recommended that teachers preview the programmes to note the places they might wish to stop the tape to encourage discussion. The programmes can be used as part of the introductory class activity, where the tape is stopped at pre-planned points and the whole class is encouraged to identify and review the problems posed or predict answers. Alternatively the programmes can be used as part of the main teaching activity before children pursue their differentiated tasks. At times it may be useful to use a whole programme as part of the plenary/last session of a lesson to allow children to review their own understanding of the work they have been doing and allow teachers to assess the children informally as they watch the programme.

Curriculum Relevance

The Number Crew 2: Shape and Space 2 is a unit of five 10-minute programmes designed to support key objectives in the National Numeracy Strategy for 6-7 year olds.

Activities

Before viewing

Use masking tape to mark out a route and ask the children to give you directions to move along from one place to another. Include turning left, right, forwards, backwards, clockwise and anticlockwise. Ask the children to be 'robots' and follow directions you give them.

After viewing

Talk about Matthew's challenge: Here's a rectangle - four sides and four right angles. Can you make a shape with four sides but only two right angles or with only one right angle? Use strips of card linked with paper fasteners to demonstrate possible shapes. Allow time for the children to explore possible shapes using geostrips or the strips of card before asking them to talk about what they have discovered.
Ask children to sort a collection of regular and irregular cardboard shapes into categories such as 'shapes with right angles', 'shapes with no right angles' and 'shapes with all right angles'.
Children work in pairs to give each other instructions to avoid obstacles in an arranged obstacle course. For example, 'Three steps forward, a quarter turn clockwise, two steps forward, a quarter turn anticlockwise'.

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