SDMS Grade 6 Lesson Four

SDMS 6 Lesson Four

The following is a sample of an integrated lesson plan with Lego® constructives and the existing SDMS 6th Grade Math Curriculum.

VOLUME OF CUBES:

OBJECTIVE: Students will be able to identify and calculate the volume of a cube.

KEY VOCABULARY: Volume, Cube, Length, Width, Height

MATERIALS: Paper, pencil, ruler, AOE Lab

DISCUSSION:

Lead a class discussion about volume. Volume is a measurement of how much does a container hold or how much space does it occupy...volume refers to containers of all shapes and sizes. Usually volume is expressed in cubic units, such as cubic centimeters. A cube is a solid shape with six square sides in which the length, width, and height are equal and the angles are right angles. It is held that the calculation of a cube's ( or any square or rectangle shape's ) volume is "volume = length times width times height." ( V = lwh )

Have students measure Lego& bricks. Each brick should be about .96 cm tall ( excluding the height of the cylindrical studs ). Each stud length is equal to about .8 cm. So a 2x4 brick would be 1.6 cm on the short side and 3.2 cm on the long side.

ACTIVITY 1: Require students to build a Lego® block. The block will contain a total of six 2x4 bricks...stacked three bricks tall and having a width and length of 4 studs. Have students calculate its approximate volume ( not accounting for the studs ).

Hint:

3 times .96 = 2.88

4 times .8 = 3.2

2.88 times 3.2 times 3.2 equals 29.4912 cubic cm

ACTIVITY 2: Require students to calculate a much larger Lego® block built by the instructor, using fortyeight 2x4 bricks...stacked 6 bricks tall and having a width and length of 8 studs.

ACTIVITY 3: Require students to calculate how many of the instructor's block would be required to fill the room.

ACTIVITY 4: Challenge students to calculate the volume of a Lego® brick including the volume of the studs.

SDMS 6 Math Curriculum