Lesson 3 Volumes of Prism Drawings

    • Let’s use layers to find volume.

Warm-up Number Talk: Multiplication

Figure made of cubes.

Find the value of each expression mentally.

Activity 1 Build Rectangular Prisms

4 multicolored prisms.

The prisms on the cards are completely packed with unit cubes.

  1. Pick a card.

  2. Build the rectangular prism.

  3. Find the volume. Explain how you found the volume to your partner.

  4. Repeat.

Activity 2 Layers, layers, and more layers

The prisms are completely packed with unit cubes. Determine the volume of each prism. Explain or show your reasoning.

  1. Rectangular prism. 4 cubes by 2 cubes by 5 cubes. 
  2. Rectangular prism. 4 cubes by 3 cubes by 5 cubes. 
  3. Rectangular prism. 4 cubes by 4 cubes by 5 cubes. 

Practice Problem

Problem 1

What is the volume of the rectangular prism? Explain or show your reasoning.

  1. Prism. 3 by 2 by 1 cubes.
  2. Rectangular prism. 3 cubes by 2 cubes by 4 cubes.