Counting stars

Counting stars

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
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Marking Student Responses
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This task is about finding the number of faces for 3-dimensional shapes.
 
cube with stars on all sides    cube with stars on all sides    cube with stars on all sides    cube with stars on all sides
 
a)
 
Arzo had four cubes. She painted a star on every face of each cube. How many stars did she paint?
 
 
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
6
12
20
24
None of these is correct. The number of stars is __________.
 
 
four stacked cubes with stars
 
b)
 
Arzo glued the four cubes together as shown above. She then picked up the shape and counted all the stars she could see.
How many stars did she count altogether?
 
 
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
9
18
20
24
None of these is correct. The number of stars is __________.
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper.
Copyright: 
cube with stars on all sides

Image: Public domain, Source: Clker
Level:
3
Curriculum info: 
Maths, Geometry and Measurement, Shape
Keywords: 
3-dimensional shapes, cubes, faces, visualising
Description of task: 
Students identify the number of visible faces on 3-dimensional cube models.
Answers/responses: 
   

Y6 (12/1997)
a) D: 24 moderate
b) B: 18 difficult