Lesson 15
Distinguishing Volume and Surface Area
Lesson Narrative
This is the first of two lessons where students apply their knowledge of surface area and volume to solve real-world problems. The purpose of this first lesson is to help students distinguish between surface area and volume and to choose which of the two quantities is appropriate for solving a problem. They solve problems that require finding the surface area or volume of a prism, or both. When they choose whether to use surface area or volume, they are choosing a mathematical model for the situation and engaging in MP4.
Learning Goals
Teacher Facing
- Compare and contrast (orally and in writing) problems that involve surface area and volume of prisms.
- Decide whether to calculate the surface area or volume of a prism to solve a problem in a real-world situation, and justify (orally) the decision.
- Estimate measurements of a prism in a real-world situation, and explain (orally) the estimation strategy.
Student Facing
Let’s work with surface area and volume in context.
Required Materials
Required Preparation
Make 1 copy of the Card Sort: Surface Area or Volume blackline master for every 2 students, and cut them up ahead of time.
Learning Targets
Student Facing
- I can decide whether I need to find the surface area or volume when solving a problem about a real-world situation.
CCSS Standards
Addressing
Glossary Entries
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base (of a prism or pyramid)
The word base can also refer to a face of a polyhedron.
A prism has two identical bases that are parallel. A pyramid has one base.
A prism or pyramid is named for the shape of its base.
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cross section
A cross section is the new face you see when you slice through a three-dimensional figure.
For example, if you slice a rectangular pyramid parallel to the base, you get a smaller rectangle as the cross section.
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prism
A prism is a type of polyhedron that has two bases that are identical copies of each other. The bases are connected by rectangles or parallelograms.
Here are some drawings of prisms.
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pyramid
A pyramid is a type of polyhedron that has one base. All the other faces are triangles, and they all meet at a single vertex.
Here are some drawings of pyramids.
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surface area
The surface area of a polyhedron is the number of square units that covers all the faces of the polyhedron, without any gaps or overlaps.
For example, if the faces of a cube each have an area of 9 cm2, then the surface area of the cube is \(6 \boldcdot 9\), or 54 cm2.
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volume
Volume is the number of cubic units that fill a three-dimensional region, without any gaps or overlaps.
For example, the volume of this rectangular prism is 60 units3, because it is composed of 3 layers that are each 20 units3.
Print Formatted Materials
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Student Task Statements | docx | |
Cumulative Practice Problem Set | docx | |
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Teacher Presentation Materials | docx | |
Blackline Masters | zip |
Additional Resources
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