Conceição, JoanaRodrigues, Margarida2024-01-082024-01-082024Conceiação, J., Rodrigues, M. (2024) Improve It! Understanding Shape’s Structures. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12. 117(1) 6-11.http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/16792“Can you build these shapes?” “How can you do it?” “Can you explain it?” How often do we hear these questions in a classroom? Probably not so much. Building two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) shapes fosters children’s abilities to understand spatial relationships, when they are challenged to construct, analyze, and improve their constructions and the mental models they possess of them. Composing shapes prompts children to look into structures and the relationships within, promoting higher levels of reasoning. As they move between 2D and 3D representations, they relate parts of a shape and connect different representations, leading to a deep understanding of mathematical concepts (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2017).engMath2D and 3D representationsjournal article10.5951/MTLT.2023.0035