Identify the whole formed when supplied geometric parts join along compatible edges.
Practise it now
Drag the pieces onto the dashed outline. Fill it completely, with no piece hanging over the edge.
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A worked example
One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.
Fitting the bump into the bite
Which single shape do these two pieces make when they are joined?
Two flat pieces that join along one edge. Neither piece may be turned over, stretched, or laid on top of the other.
TransformJoin the matching curved edges without turning either piece over.
Shape picture with transform Join the matching curved edges without turning either piece over.. Answer pictures: option 1, rotation 0 degrees, no mirror. option 2, rotation 0 degrees, no mirror. option 3, rotation 0 degrees, no mirror. option 4, rotation 0 degrees, no mirror.
Piece one: a square with a semicircle bitten out of the middle of its right-hand edge.
Piece two: a square of the same size, with a semicircle of exactly the same size sticking out of the middle of its left-hand edge.
Option A, an assembled outlineA rectangle twice as wide as it is tall, with a straight join down the middle
Option B, an assembled outlineA rectangle twice as wide as it is tall, with a semicircular bump on its right-hand edge
Option C, an assembled outlineA square the same size as each of the two pieces
Option D, an assembled outlineA rectangle twice as wide as it is tall, with a semicircular bite out of its top edge
Answer: A rectangle twice as wide as it is tall, with a straight join down the middle
How you get there
Start by looking for the two edges that could possibly meet. The bite in the right-hand edge of the first piece and the bump on the left-hand edge of the second are the same size and opposite shapes, so the bump fills the bite exactly and the curve disappears inside the join. What is left is the outline of two equal squares placed side by side, which is a rectangle twice as wide as it is tall.
Why the other answers tempt
The option with a bump still on the outside is what you get by joining two straight edges and leaving the matching curved edges unused. Check that the sticking-out part and the bitten-out part meet before you trace the final outline.
If they are stuck, say this
Find the part that sticks out and the hole that is the same size and shape as it. Those two have to meet, and once they do the rest of the outline is just the two pieces side by side.
Drag the pieces onto the dashed outline. Fill it completely, with no piece hanging over the edge.
Composing shapes is bookkeeping with squares: the outline holds 10 squares, so the pieces you use have to add up to exactly 10 and cover every square once. Corners and single-square notches are the giveaway - only one piece can reach into them. Any piece that cannot sit inside the outline anywhere at all is a decoy and never belongs in the answer.
What to say if they get stuck
Start in a corner of the outline - corners only accept one shape, so they tell you the most.
Count the squares in the outline, then count the squares on each piece. Pieces that add up to the wrong total cannot be part of the answer.
A piece that will not sit anywhere without spilling over is a decoy. Leave it in the tray.
Answered from what the skill map records about this skill, not from a template. Every answer here is on the page, and the same questions are the page's FAQ structured data.
Identify the whole formed when supplied geometric parts join along compatible edges. It is one of 22 named non-verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the spatial strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.
The option with a bump still on the outside is what you get by joining two straight edges and leaving the matching curved edges unused. Check that the sticking-out part and the bitten-out part meet before you trace the final outline. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.
Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Find the part that sticks out and the hole that is the same size and shape as it. Those two have to meet, and once they do the rest of the outline is just the two pieces side by side.
The skill map draws the line here: No stretching or overlap unless stated. A question past that line is testing a different named non-verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
The spatial strand holds 8 skills that are tested together, and the pages next to connect shape parts are count cubes in a structure, find an embedded shape and match a solid and its view. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.
Use Shape Welder, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to connect shape parts, it runs in the browser with no account to make, nothing is scored, and nothing a child does here is recorded or sent anywhere. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.
Non-verbal reasoning is the paper families most often leave until last
A free diagnostic covers matrices, series, odd one out, rotation, reflection and the 3D questions, and shows where the time is worth spending.
