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...
Virginia Department of Education
Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism
Wrap up a lesson on surface area with a resource that asks scholars to use the idea of wrapping paper to investigate surface area. They draw representations of rectangular prisms on graph paper to find the areas of the respective...
Curated OER
Surface Area, Who Needs it?
In this geometry lesson on cylinders, geometers explore how to find the smallest surface area for a given volume. They use their knowledge to relate it to the real world by making a model of a livestock tank.
Curated OER
The Luxor - Pyramids, Surface Area & Volume
Young scholars investigate the surface area and volume of the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. They calculate the slant height, lateral edge, and diagonal length of the base. Using this information, students explore other areas of the hotel,...
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...
Curated OER
Surface Area of Prisms
Students compute surface area and volume of prisms. In this surface area lesson, students find the surface area and volume of rectangular and triangular prisms. Independently, students use their computers to determine the volume,...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Sugar Crystal Challenge
Blow your learners' minds with a sweet lesson on nanotechnology that uses sugar to demonstrate the difference nanoscale surface area makes in dissolving and crystal formation. Plenty of supportive background information is read to...
Teach Engineering
Boxed In and Wrapped Up
If cubes have the smallest surface area, why aren't there more cube-shaped packages? Scholars take a box in the shape of a rectangular prism, cut it up, and make new boxes in the shape of cubes with the same volume. They then brainstorm...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Nano Waterproofing
This lesson plan will make an impact, especially on scientist-athletes who may have an interest in waterproof clothing! Acting as materials engineers, they work collaboratively on waterproofing pieces of cotton fabric. This challenge is...
TryEngineering
Exploring at the Nanoscale
Discover a world too small to see. In the lesson, young scientists learn about nanotechnology and brainstorm ideas for new applications of it. They perform an activity to determine how surface area changes when objects are made smaller...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Insides and Outsides
Give small groups handfuls of unit cubes and then dare them to build as many rectangular prisms as possible using only 12 cubes. This engaging activity serves as an introduction to the volume of solid figures. In addition to volume,...
Curated OER
Surface Area and Volume
Students are introduced to the notion of surface area and volume, learn the terminology used with surface area and volume and have experimented with the surface area and volume of different prisms.
Curated OER
Surface area of a cylinder
Students construct a cylinder made of paper with detachable bases. Then they are taught the formulas for finding the area of a curved surface and the total surface area of a cylinder. A great hands-on approach!
TryEngineering
Sugar Crystal Challenge
Be sure to use this sweet resource. Scholars perform an experiment using sugar to investigate how surface area relates to the coarseness of sugar. They consider how this concept connects to nanotechnology.
California Academy of Science
Dry My Laundry!
Meant to be a pre-field trip lesson plan, this can also serve as a cute and simple activity to use when your little ones are learning about evaporation or surface area. The children cut tiny t-shirts out of paper towel material, wet...
Shodor Education Foundation
Triangle Area
While the lesson focuses on right triangles, this activity offers a great way to practice the area of all triangles through an interactive webpage. The activity begins with the class taking a square paper and cutting in in half; can they...
Curated OER
Volume of Solids: Algebra/Geometry Institute
Use this volume of solids lesson plan to have learners find the surface area and volume of cylinders, pyramids, and prisms. They place cubes inside three-dimensional figures to determine the volume. Worksheets and answers are provided.
Curated OER
Sphere Dressing
Geometric design makes a fashion statement! Challenge learners to design a hat to fit a Styrofoam model. Specifications are clear and pupils use concepts related to three-dimensional objects including volume of irregular shapes and...
Curated OER
Volume and Surface Area: Which Is More?
Students explore the volume and surface area of three dimensional figures. Through the use of video, students discover three dimensional shapes, their uses in real-life applications, and methods used to calculate their volume and surface...
Curated OER
Surface Area and Volume
Students are introduced to the notion of surface area and volume. Students review surface area and volume by finding the area of a two-dimensional shape. They practice using the computer to create different surface area shapes.
Curated OER
Processing Satellite Images
Learners comprehend the meaning of "pixel." They recognize patterns using pixels. Students observe how land use can be determined from a pixel. They measure off a 30 x 30-meter area to show the size of the surface area of one pixel....
Curated OER
Box It Up
Students calculate the surface area of prisms. In this geometry lesson, students investigate the properties of prisms and analyze ways to calculate the are of a rectangular prism. They derive the formula for surface area.
PBS
Surface Area and Volume
You and your class will like this lesson on using visual models to relate the volume and surface area of solid shapes. Learners construct three-dimensional forms using nets. They calculate the surface area and volume for each and then...
Curated OER
Maximize It!
Students design a rectangular box without a lid that has the largest possible volume using the supplied sheet of centimeter graph paper. They work in groups to construct different size boxes to determine the largest possible volume and...