Curated OER
Teach Surface Area and Volume in the Most Engaging Way!
Build a Zarcon-proof home as a math activity that will provide tremendous advantages for engagement, for differentiation, and for mastery of concepts. This activity focuses specifically on surface area and volume using mathematical...
Digital Lesson
Cereal Box Surface Area
How much math can your learners pour out of a cereal box? Your middle schoolers will explore their favorite cereal and calculate the surface area, volume, and weight ratios and log this information on the provided worksheet. They get to...
Curated OER
Nets And Surface Area
Upper graders investigate how to find the surface area when using two-dimensional shapes. They conduct an investigation in groups while working sample problems given during class discussion with the teacher. They also review how to...
Radford University
Being Green – Minimizing the Surface Area of a Soda Can
Save the world by designing a new soda can! Learners first measure the dimensions of a typical soda can and calculate its surface area and volume. They then use spreadsheet software to minimize the surface area for the volume, thus...
Radford University
Surface Area and Volume of 3-D Objects
Don't let the class tank the project. After reviewing formulas for surface area and volume, pupils design fish tanks that maximize volume. They research cost of materials online and must meet a budgetary constraint when creating their...
Curated OER
Family Activity: Gift Wrapping - Surface Area
In this surface area worksheet, students solve 6 short answer problems. Students determine the amount of gift wrap paper needed to cover a rectangular box using surface area formulas.
Curated OER
Explora-Pond: Surface Area
Students estimate the surface area of a pond using ratios and chance methods of estimation. They gain insight into how well estimations based on chance outcomes match the average of a maximum area estimation and a minimum area estimation.
Balanced Assessment
Fermi Area
Discover creative ways to use surface area formulas. In the assessment task, scholars apply estimation strategies to determine surface area in non-routine problems. They consider surface area of kitchen sponges, rock salt crystals, and...
Curated OER
Area, Surface Area and Volume of 3-D Shapes
Math whizzes examine the relationship between area and volume and the relationship between a 3-D shape and its surface area. Following discussion and practice, pupils participate in a project in which they design packaging for a new...
Discovery Education
Discovering Math: Exploring Geometry
Apply geometric properties and formulae for surface area and volume by constructing a three-dimensional model of a city. Learners use similar and congruent figures and transformations to create a city of at least 10 buildings. They trade...
Big Learning
The Antarctica Project: A Middle School Mathematics Unit
Antarctica is a big place, large enough to provide ample opportunities to learn about math. A two-week unit teaches middle school mathematics concepts using project-based learning. The resource covers functions, geometry (area,...
Denton Independent School District
Build a Geome-Tree
Geometers construct a mobile or ornament using nets of three-dimensional polyhedrons. Not only do they need to compute the volume and surface area of each figure, they also earn points for creativity, neatness, and more!
EngageNY
The Volume Formula of a Sphere
What is the relationship between a hemisphere, a cone, and a cylinder? Using Cavalieri's Principle, the class determines that the sum of the volume of a hemisphere and a cone with the same radius and height equals the volume of a...
Curated OER
ExplorA-Pond:4th Grade Surface Area
Fourth graders estimate the surface area of a pond using the chance method and the estimation method. They complete a graph and a short report comparing the results of the two methods.
Concord Consortium
Swimming Pool I
Take a dive into a three-dimensional task. Given a specific surface area, individuals must maximize the volume of a cylindrical swimming pool. They combine their understanding of surface area and volume to create a cubic function that...
Teach Engineering
Scale Model Project
Try your hand at scale models. Scholars create a scale model of an object using a scale factor of their choice. As part of the project, they give presentations on their processes and calculations. This is the last installment of the...
Radford University
Build-a-Toy
Don't toy with using a fun lesson. Scholars design new toys and then create scale drawings. They determine the volume and surface area of the toys, and then research prices of raw materials to estimate the manufacturing costs.
Indian Institute of Technology
Could King Kong Exist?
The title says it all: Could King Kong exist? Investigate how increasing the dimensions of an object affects its surface area and volume to mathematically conclude whether a creature with the weight and height of King Kong could actually...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 6th Grade Math – Target H
Knowing the surface area certainly helps when deciding how much paint to buy before a project. Scholars solve for surface area, as well as volume and area, as part of the presentation from Grade 6 Claim 1 Item Slide Shows. Geometric...
DiscoverE
Pipe Maze
Here's a lesson that is simply a-MAZE-ing! Introduce science scholars to pipeline systems through a hands-on project. Partnered pupils participate in the design, construct, and test a PVC pipeline maze. Reusable materials and clear...
Curated OER
How To Measure Area
Geometers learn how to measure the area in square units. They use the floor in the classroom as a visual to measure a square foot area. They use classmates to fill the space and expand the measured area square foot by square foot until...
Curated OER
Scale Factor- Surface Area and Volume
Students calculate the surface area and volume of shapes. In this geometry lesson, students create different scales and calculate the volume and area for each shape. They compare and contrast between the different scales and shapes.
Teach Engineering
Measuring Surface Tension
How do you measure surface tension? The fifth installment of a nine-part series is an experiment where young scientists use tubes of different sizes to measure surface tension. They calculate the average and standard deviation of the...
Teach Engineering
Projections and Coordinates: Turning a 3D Earth into Flatlands
Introduce your class to map projections and coordinates, the basics for the work done in a GIS, with an activity that uses Google Earth to challenge learners to think about the earth's shape.