1.11 Surface Area and Volume
The Polyhedron
Pacing:This lesson should take one class period
Goal: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to three-dimensional figures. Polyhedral figures are
presented in this lesson and common terms such as edge, vertex, and face are explained.
Grocery Shopping!Begin gathering objects from home that you can use in subsequent lessons. Collect empty cereal,
rice, or pasta boxes, empty or full cans of soup, Stackers containers (triangular prisms), etc. These objects will help
students visualize nets, presented in the next lesson.
Arts and Crafts Time!Download the nets found on Mathforum’s website. Have students color, cut, and adhere the
edges together to form Platonic polyhedra. http://mathforum.org/alejandre/workshops/net.html
For More Information- Click on the following link to gather more information regarding polyhedral figures. http
://mathforum.org/alejandre/workshops/unit14.html
Upcoming Vocabulary! Lateral face and lateral edge are two common vocabulary words students should learn.
Lateral faceis a non-base face (usually the sides).Lateral edgeis the segment where two lateral faces meet.
Representing Solids
Pacing:This lesson should take one to two class periods
Goal: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the various types of representations of solid figures.
Most will come naturally to students and should be presented as a fun lesson.
Become an Architect!After discussing orthographic views, collect students into groups of 2 or 3. Offer each group
a collection of wooden blocks. Their only rule is to build something – a building, house, the Parthenon, etc. Explain
to students that architects will often visualize the completed 3-D building from two-dimensional drawings.
Once all the creations are complete, students will rotate to a different structure and sketch its top, front, back, and
side views. Students are drawing the orthographic views of a 3-D structure. Students may complete additional
drawings as an assignment, in-class activity, or extra credit.
Cross Section View, Using a Breadknife!When discussing cross-sections, bring in a loaf of bread and a breadknife.
Illustrate the perpendicular cross by cutting through the bread vertically. You could also show non-perpendicular
cross section by cutting through the bread at different angles.
Nets.Using the collected cereal boxes, have students turn these into nets of prisms and draw sketches.Students will
use real life objects to visualize nets.
Prisms
Pacing:This lesson should take one to two class periods
1.11. Surface Area and Volume