Quadrilateral family tree
Six four-sided shapes arranged as a family rather than a vocabulary list. Follow a branch downward and every property above it still belongs to the shape below.
Reference chart
Quadrilateral family tree
A square belongs to both branches: it is a rectangle and a rhombus. This chart uses “trapezoid” for exactly one pair of parallel sides.
What's on this chart
A square is not beside a rectangle in this chart as though the two were different species. It sits below both rectangle and rhombus, because it has four right angles and four equal sides at the same time. That is the classification idea children miss when each shape arrives on its own flashcard: a figure can have more than one true name, and the more specific name does not erase the larger family it came from.
Why this chart helps
The pictures and properties stay together. Parallel sides are not a word to memorize after looking away from the figure; they are the reason the parallelogram branch exists. Four right angles take that branch to rectangle, four equal sides take it to rhombus, and satisfying both descriptions brings the two paths back together at square.
More printable charts
- Naming 2D shapes
Print Count the straight sides on a shape, then read its name below it. - Lines of symmetry
Print Fold each shape in your mind and count the matching halves. - Types of angles
Print Find the picture that matches yours, and the name is under it. - Angles in parallel lines
Print Match each numbered pair to its position around the transversal. - Perimeter formulas
Print Follow the traced edge on the figure, then read the formula under it. - Area formulas
Print Match your shape to a figure and use the letters drawn on it. - Volume formulas
Print Find your solid, then multiply the base area by how tall it stands. - Surface area formulas
Print Unfold the solid in your head and add up every flat face.