New American Lecture Lauren Cohn and John Weigand

Title: Surface Area vs. Volume

Subject: Mathematics
Grade Level(s): 7th
Duration: two 45 min periods
Type of Lesson: New American Lecture

Standards and Elements:

MGSE7.G.6 Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume and surface
area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons,
cubes, and right prisms.

TAG Standards:
Advanced Communication Skills:
1. The student uses written, spoken, and technological media to convey new learning or
challenge existing ideas.
8. The student participates in small group discussions to argue persuasively or reinforce others’
good points.
Creative Thinking and Creative Problem-Solving Skills:
1. The student demonstrates skills in fluency and flexibility to solve problems or create new
products
6. The student independently or through collaboration with classmates clarifies, illustrates,
elaborates on an idea for product improvement.
Higher Order Critical Thinking Skills (HO/CTS):
2. The student reponds to questions with supporting information that reflects in-depth
knowledge of a topic.

Summary:
Students will explore surface area and volume through hands-on activities, lecture, and
practice. The goal of the lesson is for students to see how to successfully calculate each and
recognize that they both represent an area inside an object but use different units of
measurement.

Enduring Understanding(s):
At the conclusion of the unit, students will be able to determine the surface area and volume of
a rectangular prism and understand their difference.
New American Lecture Lauren Cohn and John Weigand

Essential Question(s):
Are surface area and volume related to each other for all two dimensional and three-
dimensional shapes?

Evidence of Learning:
What student should KNOW:
a. Students should know how to calculate the surface area of a rectangular prism.
b. Students should know how to calculate the volume of a rectangular prism.
What student should BE ABLE TO DO:
a. Students should able to relate surface area in real-world contexts.
b. Students should be able to begin to understand the difference between surface area and
volume. Surface area is the space of two dimensional figures and volume is the empty space
within a three-dimension figure.

Suggested Vocabulary:
surface area, volume, dimensions, three-dimensional, two-dimensional

Procedure:
Hook: (ten minutes) Begin by displaying a blue print of a bedroom on the board. Ask the
students to complete a turn and talk with their neighbor. Each neighbor will get one minute to
discuss the following question, if this was your bedroom, what would you like to do if you had
an opportunity to remodel it? After each student had the opportunity to share their thoughts,
select a couple students to share their partners idea.

Once a couple students had an opportunity to share, ask the following questions, if this was a
room that was going to be remodeled, what information is necessary to ensure the remodel is
done correctly? Allow students to share paint color, flooring, etc, but ensure you lead them
into the dimensions of the room and their importance. For example, we need to determine
how much square footage of wall space to ensure we buy enough paint. Area of the floor to
determine the amount of carpet or hardwood.

Step One: (ten minutes) Provide each group with a box (no larger than a Kleenex box), grid
paper, tape, and scissors. Explain to them that they are going to determine the approximate
surface area of their box by cutting grid paper out for three of the different sides. Once
directions have been provided, give the students five minutes to work through the activity. (If
needed, you can give an extra minute, but ensure groups are steady working.)
New American Lecture Lauren Cohn and John Weigand

(five minutes) Pose the following: In the instructions I only asked you to cover three different
sides to determine the surface area of your prism, why did you only need to cover 3 of the
sides? Give mathematical reasoning with your answer.

(five minutes) Based on the student response, demonstrate and model how to calculate the
surface area of the rectangular prism on an anchor chart for students to reference at a later
time/date. I would model two different methods: 1) determining the area of one face and
multiplying it by two, followed by the remaining faces, then add them together; 2) calculate the
area of each different face, then add the areas, multiply sum by two.

(five minutes) Students would then calculate the surface area of their assigned box in step one.
If this has already been completed, students will have an opportunity to complete their
example on their organizer.

(five minutes) Provide students with picture of a triangular prism. Students work in their
groups to determine the surface area. Each group will have a manipulative to assist them with
their calculations.

(five minutes) Based on the student response, demonstrate and model how to calculate the
surface area of the triangular prism on an anchor chart for students to reference at a later
time/date. I would model two different methods depending on the type of triangular prism.

Students complete ticket out the door on determining surface area of a figure.

Day Two
Hook: Students will calculate the surface area of a rectangular prism or triangular prism. Using
document camera, student will share their work for each prism.

Step Two: (ten minutes) Each group would receive a small rectangular prism constructed out of
grid paper. (see Handout) Groups will first estimate the number of cubes that fit into prism.
Once the estimation has been completed, students will fill their prism with the centimeter
cubes to determine the number that fit inside. Students will then reference their estimation
and compare it to the actual number.

(five minutes) Pose the following question, determine the number of cubes that fit into the box
which used to find the surface area. Explain how you would can use what you learned in the
second activity (cubes in prism) to determine your answer. Allow students to the opportunity
New American Lecture Lauren Cohn and John Weigand

to discuss with the question with their group. Provide an opportunity for a few to share their
responses.

(five minutes) Demonstrate how to calculate volume on an anchor chart using length x width x
height and relate to their work in the above sections.

Step Three: (5 mins) Refer back to the essential question, are surface area and volume related
to each other for all two dimensional and three-dimensional shapes? Allow students to debate
within their groups. Instruct students to use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast to help
them develop an argument. (NOTE: Some students may say yes because they both deal with
looking at an amount of space in an object. Others may say NO because surface area works
with two-dimensional figures while the volume is three dimensional.) Allow students to share
some of their responses.

Closing (5 mins) Using student responses and discussions in class, guide students into the
understanding that they do both measure the amount of space, but volume is measured in
cubic units because we are identifying the amount of space in a 3D object, where in surface
area, we are calculating the area of each face, which are 2D, on a 3D object.

Assessment:
Informal observations will be conducted during non-lecture portions. Will record names of
students having difficulty determining surface area and volume. Identify kids with
misconceptions during discussions to remediate the following day while providing students
with extension or additional practice.

Differentiation:
Differentiation in this lesson is through hands-on exploration with opportunities to
reflect/discuss situations with students.

(*Some teachers may say this is elementary and not needed because students are introduced
to volume in 5th grade and area in 4th grade. Students build on surface area and volume in 6th
grade. After working with my 7th grade ACC math students on an activity, many still confused
the relationship between the two. Even currently on scale drawings, students did not know
terms of dimension, perimeter, and basic area.)

Resource(s)/Material(s):
Resources:
Handout 1: Organizer
New American Lecture Lauren Cohn and John Weigand

Power Point: Hook Blue Print

Materials:
grid paper, unit cubes, various small boxes, scissors, tape