Candle Box

Pupils design a 2D net for a box, given a 3D picture of the box.

Practical details

Suitability: National Curriculum levels 4 to 6
Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour
Resources: Ruler and pencil; it may be useful to have spare copies of the worksheet available; scissors available but provide only on request

Representing: Represent a 3D object in 2D.
Analysing: Visualise how the box will look when opened flat; draw their net accurately, joining faces appropriately and keeping the correct orientation of the pictures on the faces.
Interpreting: Imagine the net folded up again (after drawing it) and locate a sufficient number of flaps so that faces may be joined together; ensure that glue flaps do not interfere with one another.
Communicating and reflecting: Draw the box design clearly and labelled

Check that pupils fully understand the task context before they begin, with points such as:

You are asked to draw a net, in one piece, for a candle box.
What will the box look like when it is assembled?
What types of flaps will you need to include? Some are to be glued and some not; how will you tell which ones are which?
What is important about the candle designs on the sides and top of the box?

Pupils may tackle this task in different ways, but they might be expected to:

make 3D mathematical models by linking given faces or edges, and draw common 2D shapes in different orientations on grids
recognise and use common 2D representations of 3D objects