Megan Geisel

Grade 5

TITLE/TYPE OF ACTIVITY

Measurement Lesson: Volume of Three-Dimensional Irregular Shapes

CONTEXT OF ACTIVITY

This lesson is part of a unit on measuring, specifically dealing with the volume of three-
dimensional irregular shapes. The students will have already studied and practiced how to find
the volume of a variety of rectangular prisms through using the volume formula (length x width
x height) and the utilization of one-centimeter cubes.

CONCEPTS TO BE COVERED

This lesson uses childrens literature, and an activity that provides a setting in which students
will explore volume relationships between a variety of three-dimensional shapes. In addition, the
students will be briefly introduced to the mathematical measurement term, capacity.

RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

5.8 The student will
a) find perimeter, area, and volume in standard units of measure;
b) differentiate among perimeter, area, and volume and identify whether the application of
the concept of perimeter, area, or volume is appropriate for a given situation;
c) identify equivalent measurements within the metric system;
d) estimate and then measure to solve problems, using U.S. Customary and metric units; and
e) choose an appropriate unit of measure for a given situation involving measurement using
U.S. Customary and metric units.
LESSON PLAN OBJECTIVES

1. Students will demonstrate their ability to measure the volumes of three-dimensional
shapes.
2. Students will determine that there is a three-to-one relationship between almost all three-
dimensional pairs with the same base area and height in relation to the volume.

ASSESSMENT PLAN

1. Objective 1- The student will measure, compare and record the volumes of three-
dimensional shapes on the large chart on the whiteboard and in their notebooks.
2. Objective 2- The student will construct a rectangular prism with the same base and three
times the volume of a given rectangular pyramid.

MATERIALS NEEDED

Room for Ripley by Stuart J. Murphy
Student Sheet 15- 10 copies.
Several small containers for each group as a holding place for the three-dimensional
shapes.
Student Sheet 16-25 copies
One-centimeter graph paper- 25 copies
Scissors and tape (each table)
Investigation 4 Containers and Cubes-Solids A-K (1 set per table).
Rice (1 bag per table)
1 centimeter cubes (1 bag per table)
Overhead projector/document camera
Smartboard
Whiteboard
Lined paper
Pencils

ARTICLE REACTION

The article that I read was This Little Piggy written by Daniel J. Brahier, Monica Kelly, and
Jennifer Swihart. The topic of my lesson is volume and capacity. I chose this article because it
presents several differentiated learning activities focused on volume and capacity for students in
grades three through six. In these learning activities, students work together to estimate, predict
and measure the capacity of a piggy bank. The learning activities are challenging, yet fun and
interesting as the children participate in a variety of hands-on activities in both partners and
small groups. What I specifically liked about this article and the activities they described is that
the problems they posed to the students were realistic and could be used in the real
world/everyday life. I believe it is important in math to create problems that can be used in our
everyday lives so the students can understand why they are learning these concepts/skills. In
addition, the mathematical learning activities allow the students to practice communication skills
as they have to present many of their findings and observations to the class. Overall, I found this
article to be important in the sense that mathematical activities should be made as realistic to the
students as possible, should be hands-on, and should be designed where students will be working
individually, with partners, and/or in small groups.

MODIFICATIONS

Challenge:
For students/groups who finish early and need an additional challenge, I will give them two
mathematical problems to see if they can apply what they learned about each pair (3-to-1
relationship) in finding the volume of irregular three-dimensional shapes.

1) A pair of three-dimensional shapes have the same height and base. A rectangular prism
has a volume of 30 centimeters cubed. What would the volume of the rectangular
pyramid be? Dont forget your units!
2) A pair of three-dimensional shapes have the same height and base. A rectangular pyramid
has a volume of 8 centimeters cubed. What would the volume of the rectangular prism
be? Dont forget your units!

Remediation:
For students who are struggling to construct a rectangular prism that would be three times the
volume of a rectangular pyramid, I will provide each of these students with a pre-constructed
rectangular prism. From what we learned in the activity, I will ask the students to simply write
one to two sentences with a prompt saying, Observe this three-dimensional pair. Do they have
any similar and/or different features? How do you think that we would find the volume of each
one? With the rectangular prism already constructed, I believe that the students who are
struggling will have an easier time communicating through writing down their thoughts and
observations rather then spending the majority of their time figuring out how big to build the
rectangular prism.

PROCEDURES

Before
These students have begun to study volume. They have already practiced comparing volume
through a learning activity in which they measured how much rice would fit in different
household containers. After measuring the rice, they ordered the volume of the household
containers from least to greatest. In addition, they have filled a variety of three-dimensional
rectangular prisms with one-centimeter cubes. From filling up various rectangular prisms with
one-centimeter cubes, they were able to determine the volume of each three-dimensional
rectangular prism by counting the number of cubes that could fit in each shape. In addition, they
have been introduced to the formula for volume (length x width x height). We have spent several
days in class practicing volume by utilizing a variety of math manipulatives. From utilizing math
manipulatives the students are starting to understand that volume is the amount of space in a
three-dimensional shape that is being occupied. Before we investigate finding the volume of
three-dimensional shapes that are irregular, we will review what we have learned about volume
thus far through utilizing the classroom smartboard. The students will be asked several review
questions.

We have been talking about volume in math for a few weeks now, and we have learned that
volume is the amount of space an object takes up. How can we find the volume of a three-
dimensional shape again? Discuss this question with the person sitting next to you (Think-Pair-
Share). Give the students approximately 30-40 seconds to discuss. After the students have the
opportunity to discuss the question, bring the class back together.

Question 1: How can we find the volume of a three-dimensional shape again?
Possible student answers Teacher follow-up questions
We can use the cubes that we utilized in
class the other day. We would fill up the
shape with the cubes, and count how many
cubes it takes to fill it up. That would be its
volume.
That is right! What kind of shapes have we
used the centimeter-cubes for finding the
volume?
We can find the volume by multiplying the
length by the width by the height.
That is correct! But what if I know the
length, width and the volume of the shape,
but I dont know the height? What can I do
to find the height of that shape?
You multiply the length and the width to
find the volume (Incorrect Response).
We multiply only the length and width to
find the area of a shape. What else do we
need to multiply besides the length and
width of a three-dimensional shape?


http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=865d132f-5a69-48e6-ac56-65c977b06ffc

After we quickly review how we find volume, the students will participate in a learning activity
on the smartboard. This smartboard learning activity, Volume, allows students to practice
calculating the volume when they are given the length, width, and height. It also allows them to
come up to the smartboard to build different blocks when given different dimensions. This will
be a great, quick review for students before we explore experimenting and learning how we find
the volume of irregular three-dimensional shapes.

During
The students will work at their tables in groups of three to four. Each group will be handed five
different colored worksheets (Investigation 4 Containers and Cubes-Solids A-K). Each colored
worksheet displays geometric cutouts. Overall, the students should have a total of eleven
geometric cutouts from the worksheets they received. Working as a team, the students will cut
out each shape, taping the sides of the shapes together to make them into figures that are three-
dimensional. Each three-dimensional shape should be paired with another figure that has the
same base and height measurements (i.e. pyramids are paired with related prisms).

Once all the students have their geometric cutouts taped and built into shapes that are three-
dimensional, tell the students to pair the shapes together (i.e. Rectangular prism A pair 1 will be
grouped with Rectangular pyramid B pair 1). Give each group of students the Student Sheet 15
to refer to when pairing their solids together. The Student Sheet 15 will also be displayed on the
smartboard through the utilization of the idoc camera. Once all groups have paired their three-
dimensional shapes correctly, ask the following question:

Question 2: By looking at each of the three-dimensional pairs, how are they the same or
different?
Possible student answers Teacher follow-up questions
Each pair is the same because they both
have the same base.
How do you know that the base is the
same?
They are different because the base and the
top of one of the shapes in the pair are the
same, whereas the top of the other shape
comes to one intersecting point.
Can you show us what you mean by
utilizing one of the three-dimensional pairs
that you just constructed?
They are similar because each pair is the
same height.
How do you know that they are the same
height? Are all of the pairs the same
height?

After several student responses, the teacher should say, We have observed the three-
dimensional pairs and believe that pairs 1-3 have equal bases and/or height measurements, but
pair 4 does not. Ask the students, By looking at the pairs again, do you think that one shape
will have a bigger volume then the other or do you think that they will be the same?

Question 3: By looking at the pairs again, do you think that one shape will have a bigger volume
than the other or do you think that they will be the same?
Possible student answers Teacher follow-up questions
I think that they will both have the same
volume.
Why do you think that they will have the
same volume? How did you reach that
conclusion?
I think rectangular prism A will have a
larger volume than the rectangular pyramid
B because the rectangular prism is a bigger
shape.
Besides it looking bigger, do you observe
anything else that would make rectangular
prism A have a bigger volume than
rectangular pyramid B? Do you see any
other pairs where one solid might have a
larger volume than the other?
I think that cylinder G and cone H have the
same volume. Even though they are shaped
differently, they almost look like they are
the same size.
How about the other pairs? Do you think
that all of the pairs have the same volumes?

After discussing and observing each paired three-dimensional shape with the students, tell the
students that they will now try to find the volume of each pair utilizing one-centimeter cubes.
The teacher will hand out one bag of one-centimeter cubes to each table. The students have used
these cubes in previous mathematical learning activities to find the volume of various rectangular
prisms. Give the students approximately five minutes to utilize the one-centimeter cubes. While
investigating the students should discover for example that they couldnt fill up all of the space
with the one-centimeter cubes in rectangular pyramid B, and therefore couldnt find the volume
like they were able to for rectangular prism A. Ask the students the following question: What
did you discover when trying to find the volume of each pair utilizing the one-centimeter cubes?

Question 4: What did you discover when trying to find the volume of each pair utilizing the one-
centimeter cubes?
Possible student answers Teacher follow-up questions
By using the cubes I found out that the
bigger shape has a larger volume than the
smaller shape.
Were you able to fill up the entire space in
rectangular pyramid B to determine the
volume of that shape?
I discovered that it was easy to find the
volume of all of the shapes by using the
one-centimeter cubes.
Do you think it was harder using the cubes
to find the volume of the triangular
pyramid?
I discovered that I couldnt find the volume
of the cylinders, cones, and pyramids as I
did for the rectangular prisms because the
Why do you think the cubes dont fit in all
of the three-dimensional figures?
cubes dont fit.

After discussing with the students the discovery that one-centimeter cubes dont work in finding
out the volume of three-dimensional shapes that are irregular like cylinders, cones, and pyramids,
tell them to place all of the one-centimeter cubes back into their bags. Collect the one-centimeter
cube bags from each table. After collecting all of the bags, hand out a bag of rice to each table.
Once all of the bags of rice are handed out, tell the students that within the pairs that they are
going to use the rice to find out how the volume of the larger shape compares to the volume of
the smaller shape.

Tell the students that they can use whatever methods they choose to compare the volumes of the
two solids. Make sure to express to the students that everyone wont get the same exact answers
due to the fact that it will depend on how they cut and taped their shapes together. Have the
students round their answers to the nearest whole or half unit.

As the students are working together, circulate around the classroom to observe how students are
utilizing the rice to discover and compare the volume of each pair. After the students have
compared and determined the volume of each pair, have the students designate one student from
their group to come up the whiteboard to record their findings (The students should have also
written down their findings on a lined sheet of paper).
The chart on the whiteboard should look something like this:

Pair Solids Number of the smaller solid needed to fill the larger solid
1 A, B
2 C, D
3 E, F
4 G, H
5 I, J
6 I, K

**Note: The students should find a 3-to-1 relationship between the pairs.

After all the students have recorded their results on the whiteboard, ask the students the
following questions, What did you discover when utilizing the rice to find the volume? How do
the volumes of the solids in each pair compare?

Question 5: What did you discover when utilizing the rice to find the volume? How do the
volumes of the solids in each pair compare?
Possible student answers Teacher follow-up questions
I found that it was easier to measure the
volume of the pyramids, cylinders, and
cones with the rice instead of using the
one-centimeter cubes.
Why do you think it was easier? What did
you find was different when utilizing the
rice versus the one-centimeter cubes?
I discovered that they all had different
volumes.
What volumes did you get? Did you round
your answers to the nearest whole or half
unit?
In pairs 1, 2, 3, and 6 the bigger shape has
three times the rice than the smaller shape
does. Pairs 4 and 5 were different.
Why do you think the volume of pairs 4
and 5 were different compared to pairs 1, 2,
3, and 6?

Question 6: What was special about the solids that have a 3-to-1 relationship?
Possible student answers Teacher follow-up questions
The pairs that have the 3-to-1 relationships
all seem to have the same base.
How do you think we can use the shapes to
check if the bases are the same?
With the exception of pair 4, all of the
heights are the same.
Okay, great observation but what does
height mean? Can you show us what the
height is with one of the pairs that have a
3-to-1 relationship?
When the heights were the same, the
straight ones were three times bigger.
Were all the shapes that were considered
straight ones three times bigger? Which
ones were they?

Through asking these mathematical questions to the students, students should see that the three-
dimensional shapes with a flat top such as a prism or cylinder have the same height and base as a
pointed-top shape such as a pyramid or cone. In addition, the students should see that the volume
of a flat-topped three-dimensional shape is three times that of a pointed-top three-dimensional
shape.

To expand on what the students have observed and discovered, ask them about the height and
base of the three-dimensional solids.

We have discovered that many of the pairs that have the 3-to-1 relationship have the same
height. What does height mean? How do we define height on these shapes?

Question 7: What does height mean? How do we define height on these shapes?
Possible student answers Teacher follow-up questions
Height is how tall something is. Thats correct! Whats an example of
height?
Height is from the bottom of the shape to
the top of the shape.
Youre right! Can you show us utilizing
one of your three-dimensional pairs what
you mean when you say that the height is
from the bottom of the shape to the top of
the shape?
Height is found by measuring around the
shape.
Measuring around the shape would be the
width of the shape. What/where do you
think the height of the shape would be, if
around the shape is considered the width?


After specifically discussing with the students what the definition of height is, ask the students a
question to wrap up this mathematical learning activity.

Question 8: How can we prove that the base and height have something to do with the 3-to-1
relationship?
Possible student answers Teacher follow-up questions
The bases are the same for I and K, but J is
different. And the heights are the same.
Shape I didnt have 3 times the rice that J
did.
So, is the same height enough to prove the
3-to-1 relationship?
Because all of the heights and bases are the
same for pairs 1,2,3, and 6 and they all
have a three-to-one relationship but for
pairs 4 and 5, they do not have both the
same height and base.
Do you need to have the same height and
base in order to have a three-to-one
relationship or can a pair of shapes just
have one or the other i.e. same base or
same height?
A pair only has to have a different base or a
different height in order to have a three-to-
one relationship.
Can you show me an example utilizing one
of the three-dimensional pairs that have a
3-to-1 relationship that only has either the
same height or same base?

After discovering that most of the pairs have a three-to-one relationship, I will ask students to
construct a rectangular prism with the same base and three times the volume of a given
rectangular pyramid for assessment purposes. In order to do this, hand each student a copy of
Student Sheet 16, Pyramid and Prism Partners. Make sure to have extra sheets of one-
centimeter graph paper available for students who might need them.

In the six solid pairs that you worked with thus far, some of the solids had three times the
volume of their partners solid. This sheet gives you a pattern for another rectangular pyramid.
First you need to cut out, fold, and tape the pattern to make a pyramid. Then your job is to make
a partner for this pyramid by making a rectangular prism that has three times the volume of the
rectangular pyramid. Make the pattern for your prism from the grid at the bottom of the sheet.
You can check your solution using the rice or any other method that you chose. After you build
your rectangular prism, write one to two sentences telling me how you decided what size to
make your prism.

After giving the directions and answering any questions that the students may have, tell the
students that they have five to ten minutes to complete this learning activity. Ask three to four
students to show the rectangular prism that they constructed to the class, and how they
determined what size to make it.

After
Clean up all materials. Tell each group to place their three-dimensional solids into the box. As a
closure to exploring volume of three-dimensional irregular figures, another measurement concept
will briefly be introduced to the students. The students will be introduced to the word capacity.
Because both volume and capacity are similar in that they both measure the size of three-
dimensional regions, its important for the students to understand the difference between the two
mathematical terms. The term capacity will be introduced through reading a book aloud to the
class called Room for Ripley by Stuart J. Murphy. The story begins with a young boy named
Carlos who visits a local pet store daily because he really likes a fish he names Ripley. He is
determined to buy Ripley with his allowance, but before he can do that, he must make Ripley a
good home. With help from his sister, Ana, they build a home for Ripley by using measuring
cups to determine how much water they need to place in a fishbowl. After reading the story, tell
the students that we will continue to work on finding the volume of three-dimensional shapes,
and understanding and finding the capacity of various objects.

SMARTBOARD:

Volume is from SMART exchange http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=865d132f-
5a69-48e6-ac56-65c977b06ffc. This smartboard learning activity is a great tool to review basic
concepts of volume before exploring the material further. The students will be given a quick
review on how to find volume, and then will have the opportunity to come up to the smartboard
to build a block with the dimensions that are given. Once the block is built, the students can
calculate the volume by using the volume formula (length x width x height). After a quick
review on volume, the students are given two test questions that can be done individually, and
then shared and reviewed with the class. This learning activity is a great tool to utilize when
introducing the measuring concept of volume to students and/or as a review to what has been
taught thus far in this unit.

VISUAL REPRESENTATION:

My visual representation is a poster displaying the various three-dimensional shapes that we will
be working with. It will display the formula to find a rectangular prism (length x width x height),
and show a display of the 3-to-1 relationships we worked with during this specific lesson. In
addition to the formulas and three-dimensional shapes, the definitions of both volume and
capacity will be shown. A visual demonstrating the definition of capacity will also be present.

NCTM PROCESS STANDARDS

Problem Solving:
The students must use problem-solving skills during the smartboard activity in the before
phase to build a block based off of the dimensions given by the program. In the during phase
the students will use problem solving skills when discovering how/why centimeter cubes dont
work versus rice to find the volume of three-dimensional irregular shapes. In addition, the
students will use problem-solving skills to compare the volumes of each pair. The students will
also use problem-solving skills to develop a rectangular prism that will be three times the volume
of a rectangular pyramid (self-assessment). Last, the students will problem-solve to discover that
within the pairs that have the 3-to-1 relationship, they each have the same exact base and height.

Reasoning and Proof:
The students can use reasoning and proof as they figure out the volume relationship between
each pair of three-dimensional shapes and observe that each pair that had this attribute both had
the same exact base and height. The students will be able to distinguish the mathematical
difference in finding the volume of rectangular prisms versus irregular shapes such as a
triangular prism through utilizing the rice.

Communication:
Talking with a partner in the before phase about how to find the volume of a three-dimensional
shape and working as a group in the during phase through constructing the three-dimensional
shapes will allow the students to work together as well as communicate with one another using
mathematical terms/language. In addition, the questions posed by the teacher during the lesson
will initiate and/or guide student participation about the mathematical concept. At the end of the
lesson the students have a chance to share the rectangular prisms that they constructed to the
class.

Connections:
The students are able to connect what they have previously learned about finding the volume of
rectangular prisms, and apply their knowledge in figuring out the relationship of three-
dimensional irregular shapes.

Representation:
Through the construction of several three-dimensional shapes, the students were able to use the
models that they built to figure out the 3-1-relationship among several of the pairs.
Representation was also present as the students created their own rectangular prism to
communicate their understanding of mathematical ideas related to volume.

REFERENCES

Battista, M.T. & Berle-Carman, M. (1997), Containers and cubes: 3-D geometry and volume (1
st

ed.). Lebanon, IN: Dale Seymour Publications.
Brahier, D.J., Kelly, M., & Swihart, J. (1999). This little piggy. Teaching Children
Mathematics 5, 274-80.
Murphy, S.J. (1999). Room for Ripley. New York: Harpers Collins
SMART Technologies. Volume. SMART Notebook Lesson. 2009,
http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=13dfe619-79fc-4766-a7c2-7e4fcaa0b164