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Shapes and objects in the Australian Curriculum

2D shapes and 3D objects: features, nets and properties. 51 content descriptions from Version 9.0, by year level.

Foundation

  • AC9MFN02

    recognise and name the number of objects within a collection up to 5 using subitising

    Number

    Plan this

  • AC9MFM01

    identify and compare attributes of objects and events, including length, capacity, mass and duration, using direct comparisons and communicating reasoning

    Measurement

    Plan this

  • AC9MFSP01

    sort, name and create familiar shapes; recognise and describe familiar shapes within objects in the environment, giving reasons

    Space

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  • AC9MFSP02

    describe the position and location of themselves and objects in relation to other people and objects within a familiar space

    Space

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  • AC9MFST01

    collect, sort and compare data represented by objects and images in response to given investigative questions that relate to familiar situations

    Statistics

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All Foundation Mathematics

Year 1

  • AC9M1N03

    quantify sets of objects, to at least 120, by partitioning collections into equal groups using number knowledge and skip counting

    Number

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  • AC9M1A01

    recognise, continue and create pattern sequences, with numbers, symbols, shapes and objects, formed by skip counting, initially by twos, fives and tens

    Algebra

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  • AC9M1A02

    recognise, continue and create repeating patterns with numbers, symbols, shapes and objects, identifying the repeating unit

    Algebra

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  • AC9M1M01

    compare directly and indirectly and order objects and events using attributes of length, mass, capacity and duration, communicating reasoning

    Measurement

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  • AC9M1M02

    measure the length of shapes and objects using informal units, recognising that units need to be uniform and used end-to-end

    Measurement

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  • AC9M1SP01

    make, compare and classify familiar shapes; recognise familiar shapes and objects in the environment, identifying the similarities and differences between them

    Space

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  • AC9M1SP02

    give and follow directions to move people and objects to different locations within a space

    Space

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  • AC9M1ST01

    acquire and record data for categorical variables in various ways including using digital tools, objects, images, drawings, lists, tally marks and symbols

    Statistics

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All Year 1 Mathematics

Year 2

  • AC9M2A01

    recognise, describe and create additive patterns that increase or decrease by a constant amount, using numbers, shapes and objects, and identify missing elements in the pattern

    Algebra

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  • AC9M2M01

    measure and compare objects based on length, capacity and mass using appropriate uniform informal units and smaller units for accuracy when necessary

    Measurement

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  • AC9M2M02

    identify common uses and represent halves, quarters and eighths in relation to shapes, objects and events

    Measurement

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  • AC9M2SP01

    recognise, compare and classify shapes, referencing the number of sides and using spatial terms such as “opposite”, “parallel”, “curved” and “straight”

    Space

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All Year 2 Mathematics

Year 3

  • AC9M3N05

    estimate the quantity of objects in collections and make estimates when solving problems to determine the reasonableness of calculations

    Number

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  • AC9M3M02

    measure and compare objects using familiar metric units of length, mass and capacity, and instruments with labelled markings

    Measurement

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  • AC9M3SP01

    make, compare and classify objects, identifying key features and explaining why these features make them suited to their uses

    Space

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  • AC9M3SP02

    interpret and create two-dimensional representations of familiar environments, locating key landmarks and objects relative to each other

    Space

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All Year 3 Mathematics

Year 4

  • AC9M4M02

    recognise ways of measuring and approximating the perimeter and area of shapes and enclosed spaces, using appropriate formal and informal units

    Measurement

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  • AC9M4SP01

    represent and approximate composite shapes and objects in the environment, using combinations of familiar shapes and objects

    Space

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  • AC9M4SP03

    recognise line and rotational symmetry of shapes and create symmetrical patterns and pictures, using dynamic geometric software where appropriate

    Space

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  • AC9M4ST02

    analyse the effectiveness of different displays or visualisations in illustrating and comparing data distributions, then discuss the shape of distributions and the variation in the data

    Statistics

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All Year 4 Mathematics

Year 5

  • AC9M5M01

    choose appropriate metric units when measuring the length, mass and capacity of objects; use smaller units or a combination of units to obtain a more accurate measure

    Measurement

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  • AC9M5M02

    solve practical problems involving the perimeter and area of regular and irregular shapes using appropriate metric units

    Measurement

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  • AC9M5SP01

    connect objects to their nets and build objects from their nets using spatial and geometric reasoning

    Space

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  • AC9M5SP03

    describe and perform translations, reflections and rotations of shapes, using dynamic geometric software where appropriate; recognise what changes and what remains the same, and identify any symmetries

    Space

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  • AC9M5ST01

    acquire, validate and represent data for nominal and ordinal categorical and discrete numerical variables, to address a question of interest or purpose using software including spreadsheets; discuss and report on data distributions in terms of highest frequency (mode) and shape, in the context of the data

    Statistics

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All Year 5 Mathematics

Year 6

  • AC9M6SP01

    compare the parallel cross-sections of objects and recognise their relationships to right prisms

    Space

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  • AC9M6ST01

    interpret and compare data sets for ordinal and nominal categorical, discrete and continuous numerical variables using comparative displays or visualisations and digital tools; compare distributions in terms of mode, range and shape

    Statistics

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All Year 6 Mathematics

Year 7

  • AC9M7M02

    solve problems involving the volume of right prisms including rectangular and triangular prisms, using established formulas and appropriate units

    Measurement

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  • AC9M7M05

    demonstrate that the interior angle sum of a triangle in the plane is 180° and apply this to determine the interior angle sum of other shapes and the size of unknown angles

    Measurement

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  • AC9M7SP01

    represent objects in 2 dimensions; discuss and reason about the advantages and disadvantages of different representations

    Space

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  • AC9M7SP02

    classify triangles, quadrilaterals and other polygons according to their side and angle properties; identify and reason about relationships

    Space

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  • AC9M7SP04

    design and create algorithms involving a sequence of steps and decisions that will sort and classify sets of shapes according to their attributes, and describe how the algorithms work

    Space

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  • AC9M7ST02

    create different types of numerical data displays including stem-and-leaf plots using software where appropriate; describe and compare the distribution of data, commenting on the shape, centre and spread including outliers and determining the range, median, mean and mode

    Statistics

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  • AC9M7ST03

    plan and conduct statistical investigations involving data for discrete and continuous numerical variables; analyse and interpret distributions of data and report findings in terms of shape and summary statistics

    Statistics

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All Year 7 Mathematics

Year 8

  • AC9M8M01

    solve problems involving the area and perimeter of irregular and composite shapes using appropriate units

    Measurement

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  • AC9M8M02

    solve problems involving the volume and capacity of right prisms using appropriate units

    Measurement

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  • AC9M8SP01

    identify the conditions for congruence and similarity of triangles and explain the conditions for other sets of common shapes to be congruent or similar, including those formed by transformations

    Space

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  • AC9M8SP03

    describe the position and location of objects in 3 dimensions in different ways, including using a three-dimensional coordinate system with the use of dynamic geometric software and other digital tools

    Space

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  • AC9M8SP04

    design, create and test algorithms involving a sequence of steps and decisions that identify congruency or similarity of shapes, and describe how the algorithm works

    Space

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All Year 8 Mathematics

Year 9

  • AC9M9M01

    solve problems involving the volume and surface area of right prisms and cylinders using appropriate units

    Measurement

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  • AC9M9SP02

    apply the enlargement transformation to shapes and objects using dynamic geometry software as appropriate; identify and explain aspects that remain the same and those that change

    Space

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  • AC9M9ST03

    represent the distribution of multiple data sets for numerical variables using comparative representations; compare data distributions with consideration of centre, spread and shape, and the effect of outliers on these measures

    Statistics

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All Year 9 Mathematics

Year 10

  • AC9M10M01

    solve problems involving the surface area and volume of composite objects using appropriate units

    Measurement

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  • AC9M10M05

    use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving proportion and scaling of objects; formulate problems and interpret solutions in terms of the situation; evaluate and modify models as necessary, and report assumptions, methods and findings

    Measurement

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  • AC9M10SP01

    apply deductive reasoning to proofs involving shapes in the plane and use theorems to solve spatial problems

    Space

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  • AC9M10ST02

    compare data distributions for continuous numerical variables using appropriate data displays including boxplots; discuss the shapes of these distributions in terms of centre, spread, shape and outliers in the context of the data

    Statistics

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All Year 10 Mathematics

Questions teachers ask

Where does shapes and objects appear in the Australian Curriculum?
51 Mathematics content descriptions from Foundation to Year 10 mention shapes and objects. They are listed here by year with their codes.
Can Heapso make shapes and objects worksheets?
Yes. Choose "Plan this" next to a content description for a lesson set to that year, or make a worksheet at three levels so every student can practise the same skill.

Other maths topics

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© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2010 to present, unless otherwise indicated. This material was downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed 18 October 2026) and was not modified. The material is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

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