Lesson 2 Measure Volume

    • Let’s count cubes.

Warm-up Which One Doesn’t Belong: Cubes

Which one doesn’t belong?

  1. Two rectangular prisms, same size. 1 cube by 2 cubes by 3 cubes. 
  2. Rectangular prism. 2 cubes by 2 cubes by 3 cubes. One cube is missing on top. 
  3. 4 Rows of cubes. First row, 4 cubes. Second row, 4 cubes. Third row, 3 cubes. Fourth row, 1 cube. 
  4. Rectangular prism. 3 cubes by 2 cubes by 2 cubes. 

Activity 1 Finding Volume

House made with multicolored cubes 

Problem 1

  1. Partner A: Build an object using 8–12 cubes and give the object to Partner B.

  2. Partner B: Explain how you would count the number of cubes in the object.

  3. Partner A: Explain if you would count the cubes in the same way or in a different way.

  4. Switch roles and repeat.

Problem 2

Which objects were easiest to count? Why?

Activity 2 Guess My Prism

What is the same? What is different?

Rectangular prism. 2 wide. 1 long.  3 cubes high. 
Rectangular prism. 2 cubes wide and 3 cubes long. 1 cube high.

The goal of the game is to get your partner to build the same prism.

    • Partner A: Use 16–24 cubes to build a prism. Describe it to your partner.

    • Partner B: Build the prism your partner describes to you.

  2. Place the two prisms next to each other and discuss what is the same and what is different about them.

  3. Switch roles and repeat.

Practice Problem

Problem 1

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

Figure made of cubes. Base: 3 cubes by 3 cubes by 3 cubes. Tower of 3 cubes vertically stacked on top of back right cube.