Trace all the faces of any cuboidal object. (example — sharpener or eraser)
How many different faces did you get? _____
A cuboid can have up to 3 different faces (if all faces are different rectangles) or fewer if some faces are identical.
What shapes are these faces? _____
The faces are rectangles or squares.
Did you get a square? _____
A square face appears only if the cuboid has equal dimensions on two adjacent sides (like a square prism).
Can you get six different rectangles by tracing a cuboid?
No, a cuboid has 3 pairs of opposite faces that are identical, so we get at most 3 different rectangles.
Can a cuboid have a face like a triangle? _____
No, a cuboid cannot have a triangular face. All faces of a cuboid are rectangles or squares.
The faces of a cuboid are _____ or _____ in shape.
rectangular, square
Explanation
(a) Children discover that a cuboid can have different sized rectangular faces depending on its dimensions. (b) All faces of a cuboid are either rectangles or squares. (c) Not all cuboids have square faces - only those with certain proportions. (d) Opposite faces of a cuboid are equal in size, so there are only 3 different sized faces at most. (e) By definition, a cuboid is a 3D shape with only rectangular or square faces. (f) The chapter establishes that cuboid faces are always rectangles or squares.