How to Learn the Basic Figures of Geometry?

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The term “Geometry” is derived from the Greek word “Geometron”, where Geo means Earth and metron means measurement. Geometry involves the study of various types of figures, including one-dimensional, two-dimensional and three-dimensional figures. As we know, geometry has a long and prosperous history. Historians believe the geometrical ideas were shaped up in old times, probably due to measurement, art, and architectural needs. Geometrical ideas are reflected in many fields such as cloth designing, art, measurements, construction of buildings, dams, lakes, etc., even in recent times. However, there exist various stages of learning the basic figures of geometry.

First Stage of Learning Basic Geometry Figures

The first stage of learning geometry involves the identification of geometric shapes by their appearances without paying any attention to their components, such as sides and angles, for example, points, lines, plane figures, etc. As we know, points look like dots, and when it comes to lines, we can categorise them in many ways based on the relationship between two or more lines, like how they are connected with each other. Thus, we may call them as parallel lines, perpendicular lines, intersecting lines, or transversal lines, etc. Also, we may identify a rectangle because it “looks like a top of a book,” but not because it has four straight lines as sides and four right angles. 

Second Stage of Learning Basic Geometry Figures

The second stage of learning geometric figures involves studying components or parts, such as sides, angles, and so on, along with the properties of shapes. From this, one can understand a specific geometric shape, such as how many sides and angles a given shape contains, whether it has any congruent sides or angles, etc. In this stage, students can learn about various plane figures and curved shapes, such as circles, ellipse, etc. Understanding the fundamental properties of these figures will help identify real-world examples of basic geometry figures.

Third Stage of Learning Basic Geometry Figures

The third stage of learning geometric figures involves understanding the relationship between different shapes and finding the area of figures. Some interesting scenarios of comparing the basic plane figures of geometry are listed below:

  • A square and rectangle contain right angles at their four vertices, but a square has four congruent sides, whereas a rectangle has its opposite sides equal.
  • A rhombus is a quadrilateral with four congruent sides, and a parallelogram is a quadrilateral in which opposite sides are parallel and congruent.
  • Similarly, when it comes to circles and ellipses, we can observe that both are curved figures, but the distance between the centre and any point on its circumference is the same for a circle. In the case of an ellipse, this distance is not uniform for all the points on its circumference.

This way, we can learn all the basic figures of geometry, along with their applications and properties. In all the above stages, learning the properties of basic figures involve the study of real-world objects that look like geometrical figures. 

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