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The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

SURFACE AREA - Prisms Around Us!

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SURFACE AREA

of RECTANGULAR PRISMS

A 6th & 7th grade STEM lesson

Regie H. Padre

01/20/2024

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Notes for teachers

  • Context: This lesson will make the students understand the concept of Surface Area of Prisms through a real-life application.
  • This topics will use real-life objects inside the classroom that represents prisms to be used as models for discussions.
  • The teacher must give a demonstration on how to measure dimensions of a prism using a shoebox or other objects then show how to compute its Surface Area.
  • Students will enjoy the measuring activity.

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List of Materials

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Yard/Meter Sticks

Ruler

Real-life objects (prisms) inside the room like the cabinet, shelf, books, shoebox, rectangular containers, tissue box and etc.

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Standards

Standards:

6.G.A. Solve mathematical problems and problems in real world context involving Surface Area.

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Mathematical & Engineering Practices

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  • ask questions
  • develop and use strategies
  • use mathematical and computational thinking
  • engage in argument from evidence
  • obtain, evaluate and communicate information

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Standards

7.RI.3 Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

7.SL.5 Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.

7.G.B Solve mathematical problems and problems in real-world context involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume.

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Objectives:

  • Today we will learn the concept of the Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms using real-life objects.
  • Today we will learn about the formula used to compute the Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms.
  • Today we will appreciate how geometry relate to real-life.

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Agenda (Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms - 60 minutes)

What is Surface Area?

How to compute the Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms?

What is the formula used to compute the Surface Area of Rectangular Prism?

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What is Surface Area?

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Surface Area of Rectangular Prism

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Surface Area of Rectangular Prism

NOTES for the TEACHER:

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  • Use the figure at the right or a similar object that represents a Rectangular Prism available in your room.
  • demonstrate how to find the dimensions of the box using a ruler or other measuring tool.
  • Using the dimensions of the box, show to the students the step-by-step process of computing the Surface Area of the prism (box)
  • You can also ask a student to measure the box for participation (they will like it for sure).

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GROUP ACTIVITIES

  • Divide the class into 5 groups.
  • Using the rectangular prisms available in your room, assign each group an object to measure and compute its Surface Area.
  • Provide the students with materials needed for this activity.
  • Monitor the progress of the group.
  • Sample objects are provided for this activity. Teachers can be very creative on this!

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EXIT ACTIVITY:

Present this problem to each group as their exit activity. They need to help each other to solve this problem as an application of the volume of prism.

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Assessment

  • Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5 members depending on your class size. Each group will be given a piece of paper, marker and a yard/meter stick.
  • Each group will be assigned to one of the rectangular object present in the room (cabinet, shelf, container, boxes and other rectangular objects available).
  • Using the object assigned and the materials provided to them, they will work together toto find the dimension of the object then show the computation of the Surface Area in the paper.
  • Each group will be given 15-20 mins to do the task and report to the teacher once they finished the activity.
  • The teacher must monitor the progress of each group to check if they are doing it correctly or not.

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Differentiation

Worksheets and additional lectures will be provided for those students who are still confused of the lesson. Online activities will also be given for the mastery of the topic.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

Allow the students to give their feedbacks about the activity. Ask them how did they feel about the task and how can they use it in the future. This will serve as an Exit ticket for the class.

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Students can create their own rectangular prism and find the surface area of it!