Shapes 3D Geometry

By Spencer Riley | Updated on October 16, 2020

Rating 4.0

iPad, iPhone
Paid
age 12+

About Shapes 3D Geometry

Shapes 3D is a great app that will help students understand geometry for Key Stage 3. With Shapes 3D Geometry, students can learn and explore different types of three dimensional solids including prisms, pyramids, Platonic solids and solids of revolution. Users can pick and choose from up to 27 unique shapes and unfold them into different net combinations. Each shape works beautifully with the option to highlight the vertices and edges of a prism or colour selected elements of a pyramid. Shapes 3D Geometry Learning is easy to navigate and uses simple gesture control to zoom and rotate shapes in any direction.

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Shapes 3D Geometry Review

Shapes 3D Geometry is a slick looking geometry app allows the user to pick from a great number of three-dimensional shapes. The opening menu presents four categories - prisms, pyramids, Platonic solids and solids of revolutions. Selecting any category will then open up another list of roughly six shapes to be chosen. The three dimensional shape is then at your command to open up using a slider, zoom in or out and rotate by touch. It is very simple to navigate around the options, it is intuitive and therefore very little text is required for instructions. In all there are 27 different shapes to explore.

Read also: Geometry Apps

Each of the shapes is presented in a sharp and clear manner, which gives the feel of actually interacting with it. There are a number of ways to investigate the shapes, for example by highlighting the edges or the vertices. It is also possible to change the colour of individual sides or make the shape transparent. Seeing through the shape allows the user to get a full sense of its 3D nature. There are faded reference lines that also help to investigate symmetry. For most shapes there is more than one type of net that can be used to make the shape and there is an option to change the type of net used.

One of the best additions to the app is the ability to print the net for any shape (except for the solids of rotation). If the shape has been altered, by colouring an individual side, then this will be transferred to the print copy as well. This can be printed directly to any air printer, shared by email or saved to the tablet's photo app. In a classroom setting this adds an extra skill to be developed by constructing a shape that has been studied.

I can imagine most students between the ages of 10 and 14 will be intrigued by what 'Shapes' offers. The student is free to explore with no restrictions and teachers will find it an excellent visualization tool. It is simplistic and will require only a few minutes to get to grips with what it offers.

Many other apps benefit from assessment or quiz options and this is one thing that 'Shapes' does not provide. Unfortunately there is no inclusion of formula, for example for volume or surface area. This may be something the developers can consider to stretch its educational application. Combining an assessment and formula section will make this the complete app for geometry education.

Shapes 3D is available for iPad, iPhone and iPod for £2.99. This review is based on version 2.1 released on 31st October. For all that this app offers and the quality of presentation the cost seems very reasonable.