Learning Shapes and Circles

A triangle has 3 straight sides. Count the corners with me: 1, 2, 3!

A square has 4 sides, all the very same length. 1, 2, 3, 4!

A pentagon has 5 sides. Each time we add a side, the shape grows a little rounder.

A hexagon has 6 sides. Busy bees build their honeycomb out of hexagons!

Keep going -- 12 sides! The corners are getting so small and close together now.

Add so many sides you cannot count them, and the corners disappear. Now it is a CIRCLE -- a shape with no corners at all.

A circle has two special lengths. Straight across the middle is the DIAMETER. All the way around the outside is the CIRCUMFERENCE.

Here is the magic: the way around is always a little more than 3 diameters -- the orange, green, and blue arcs, plus one small extra piece. Every circle, big or small!

We call that special number Pi. Pi is about 3.14. It is hiding inside every single circle in the whole world.

Slice a circle into equal pieces and you get a pie! Count the slices. Shapes, circles, and Pi are everywhere.