All About 3D Shapes - What is a Cylinder?

After kids master the concepts of 2D shapes, they can move on to learn 3D shapes. Unlike 2D shapes which are flat, 3D shapes have depth. They have three dimensions: length, width, and height. Learning 3D shapes lays the foundation for geometry study, and it also helps kids identify and organize visual information. Kids are expected to identify and describe 3D shapes in kindergarten. They should be able to sort, describe and name 3D objects in grade 1. And they should be able to describe the features of 3D objects in grade 2. Cylinders are one of the most basic curvilinear geometric shapes. A cylinder is a 3-dimensional shape that has two parallel circular bases, which are connected by a curved face that looks like a tube.
This worksheet aims to introduce cylinders to kids. A cylinder is a 3-dimensional shape that is round in the middle, and flat on the top and bottom. The top and bottom of a cylinder are circles. All points on the side surface have the same distance to the centerline. This distance is called the radius of the cylinder. The side surface is a rectangle when expanded. The total surface area of a cylinder is the sum of the area of the rectangle and the area of the two circular bases. Some common examples of cylinder shapes around us include water bottles, drinking glasses, Cola cans, tin cans, measuring cylinders, pencils, markers, crayons, and toilet papers. Parents could help kids improve their geometry knowledge with the interesting facts of cylinders provided in this worksheet.