Year 5 Introduction to vector graphics worksheet

“Shapes that build a picture” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 computing unit “Introduction to vector graphics”, for children aged 9 to 10, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 25 to 30 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Shapes that build a picture

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 5 · Computing · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain what a vector drawing is and choose the right tool for each job.

A Look back3 min

1.
The robot starts at the top left. How many squares right must it move to reach the star?
2.
The robot moves down 2 squares, then right 2 squares. Does it land on a rock? Circle yes or no.
yesno
3.
Join each word to its meaning.
algorithmdebug
finding and fixing a mistakea set of steps to follow

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ali is drawing a house. The roof needs a shape with a point at the top. Which shape should Ali use?

A simple house made of separate shapes on a computer screen, with the roof slightly apart from the walls

Watch me

A roof has a point at the top.

A triangle has three corners and can point upwards.

So Ali uses the triangle shape tool.

In a vector drawing, the triangle stays its own shape, so Ali can move it later.

Now you

1.
Zara is drawing a sun. Which shape should she use? Circle the answer.
squarecircletriangle

C Your turn7 min

Each drawing job needs a tool. Read the job, then pick the tool.

1.
You want to draw a straight line from one corner of the canvas to another. Which tool do you use? Circle the answer.
shape toolline toolfill tool
2.
You have drawn a rectangle. You want the inside to be blue. Which tool do you use? Circle the answer.
select toolfill toolline colour tool
3.
You want the edge of a square to be green, but the inside to stay white. Which tool do you use for the edge? Circle the answer.
fill toolline colour toolshape tool
4.
Sort these jobs. Write each one in the correct column.
add a starmove a circlefill a triangledelete a squareadd an arrow
Makes something new Changes an existing drawing

Say it out loud: Did the tool change a shape you already drew, or did it make something new? What is different about each job?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Kit says: “A vector drawing is just a pencil drawing on a screen, so I can't move the roof without rubbing it out.”

1.
Which part of Kit's idea is wrong? Explain in your own words.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Plan a house made from three separate shapes in a drawing app. Explain how you would change the roof colour without touching the walls.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Shapes that build a picture · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 3

2. no If they say yes, they may be counting along the wrong row. Trace each square with a finger, starting at the top left.

3. algorithm → a set of steps to follow; debug → finding and fixing a mistake

B

1. circle If they pick square or triangle, ask: which shape is round like the sun, with no corners at all?

C

1. line tool If they pick shape tool, ask whether a line is a shape. The line tool draws lines and curves, so it is the one for lines.

2. fill tool If they pick line colour tool, they have changed the border, not the inside. Ask: is the blue going inside the shape or on its edge?

3. line colour tool If they pick fill tool, the inside would turn green. Ask: which part of the square is the edge?

4. Makes something new: add a star, add an arrow · Changes an existing drawing: move a circle, fill a triangle, delete a square If a card is in the wrong column, ask: is there already a shape on the canvas for this job to change?

D

1. Look for: Says the roof is its own shape, so it can be moved or selected without changing the walls, and that a vector drawing is not the same as a pencil drawing. Kit thinks a vector drawing is a pencil drawing. Ask: if you select the roof, does the wall move too? Each shape is separate.

E

1. Look for: Says the roof is a separate shape that is selected on its own, then the fill tool changes its colour without changing the walls.

Words to use

Say“Which shape could you move on its own? How did you know?”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer is 'a computer picture'.”

After the sheet

Cut out a square, a triangle and a small square from paper. Stack them to make a house, then move the roof piece and ask what stayed still.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Building with vector shapes(with a plan)
Making Drawings Look Neat(with a plan)
Stacking Shapes in Layers(with a plan)
Copy, group and reuse(with a plan)
Vector or pixels?(with a plan)

Every Year 5 computing worksheet

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