Idea 4of 22Builds onThe side view: standing at the right
The top view: looking straight down
What does a building look like from straight above?
Today you'll discover
- what the top view shows
- which edge of it is the front
- why tall and short stacks look alike
Think firstYou look down from a balcony
Looking straight down on the cubes, how many squares will you see?
Decide first, then press Next. From above, each stack shows only its top.
The seven cubes with an eye above them looking down. The top view appears: an L of 4 squares, 3 in the front row and 1 behind on the left, with the words back above and front below. The last step asks about nine cubes on a base 2 wide and 3 deep.
See the whole ideathe big idea and the key word, in one place
The big idea
The top view shows one square for every stack: the footprint of the building.
Easy to get wrongA plain top view hides the heights. A stack of 1 and a stack of 3 both show as one square.
Where it goes nextA top view is like a map: you look down on the ground, with the front edge nearest you.
Key words
- top view
- the flat drawing of what you see looking straight down on an object
- footprint
- the ground an object covers: the shape you see from straight above
Ready to use it?
- Draw the top view of a cube building.
- Count the squares a top view will have.