Chapter 2: What is Long? What is Round?

Look at a ball. It rolls! Look at a pencil. It is long! Look at a book. It is flat! Our world is full of shapes. Let's become little shape detectives.

What we'll do in this chapter

• Find things that are round (they roll!).
• Find things that are long (like a stick).
• Find things that are flat (like a paper).
• Sort objects into groups by their shape.

The big idea

Every thing around us has a shape. A laddoo is round. A roti is flat and round. A pencil is long and pointy. A box is flat on every side.

Some shapes can roll, like a ball or a marble. They are round all over. Some shapes can stack, like books or boxes , they sit nicely on top of each other. Some shapes can slide, like a notebook on a table.

When we look at a shape, we ask: Can it roll? Can it stand? Can it stack? That is how we learn about shapes , by playing with them!

We will meet shapes that look like a ball, shapes that look like a pipe (long and round), shapes that look like a box, and shapes that are flat like a coin or a chapati.

Let's play!

🎱 Roll or Stack?

Gather a ball, a book, a bottle, a brick, and a marble. One by one, try to roll each on the floor. Which ones rolled? Which ones did not? Now try to stack them. Which ones stacked well?

🔍 Shape Hunt at Home

Walk around your house. Find 3 round things and 3 long things. Some ideas , a bangle is round, a broom is long, a chapati is round, a pen is long. Tell your family what you found!

✏️ Long, Longer, Longest

Take a pencil, a crayon and a spoon. Lay them side by side. Which is the longest? Which is the shortest? Now line them up from shortest to longest.

🧱 Build a Tower

Use boxes, books or matchboxes to build the tallest tower you can. Can you stack a ball on top? Why is it hard? Talk about it with someone at home.

A small story

Ravi visited his uncle's shop. There were tins of biscuits (round and long like pipes), boxes of soap (flat boxes), bottles of oil (long with round caps) and ladoos (perfectly round!). Ravi helped his uncle stack the boxes. The bottles he kept standing up. The ladoos he put in a tray because they were rolling away!

Quick check

1. Name one thing in your kitchen that is round.
2. Name one thing on your study table that is long.
3. Can a ball stand still on a slope? Why or why not?
4. Is a chapati flat or round? (Both!)
5. Point to a shape in the room that you could stack.

What did we learn?

• Round things roll. Flat things can stack.
• Things can be long or short.
• Every object has a shape , and shapes are everywhere!