Big or Small: Measure It All
Western Reserve Public Media
 
 

Ohio Virtual Tour: Farmland
New McDonald’s Farm — Selling the Corn

 

Overview
In this lesson, students learn how to compute both surface area and volume for a container that will be used to process a product made from corn.

 

Outcome
Students will understand and calculate both surface area and volume.

 

Standards Addressed — Mathematics

Grade 5
Measurement Units, Benchmark F

03. Demonstrate and describe the differences between covering the faces (surface area) and filling the interior (volume) of three-dimensional objects.

Measurement Units, Benchmark G
03. Demonstrate and describe the differences between covering the faces (surface area) and filling the interior (volume) of three-dimensional objects.

Grade 6
Measurement Units, Benchmark F

01. Understand and describe the difference between surface area and volume.

Measurement Units, Benchmark G
01. Understand and describe the difference between surface area and volume.

Use Measurement Techniques and Tools, Benchmark E
04. Determine which measure (perimeter, area, surface area, volume) matches the context for a problem situation; e.g., perimeter is the context for fencing a garden, surface area is the context for painting a room.

Grade 7
Use Measurement Techniques and Tools, Benchmark A

05. Analyze problem situations involving measurement concepts, select appropriate strategies and use an organized approach to solve narrative and increasingly complex problems.

Use Measurement Techniques and Tools, Benchmark F
09. Describe what happens to the surface area and volume of a three-dimensional object when the measurements of the object are changed; e.g., length of sides are doubled.

Grade 8
Use Measurement Techniques and Tools, Benchmark B

4. Derive formulas for surface area and volume and justify them using geometric models and common materials. For example, find the following:

the surface area of a cylinder as a function of its height and radius

 

Materials

 

Procedure

  1. Students should have a partner or be in a group of three.

  2. Each group needs a cereal box or a round cereal container. This will be the container for their new product.

  3. They must first find the volume of the container.

  4. Then they must find the surface area. They can do this by covering each of the sides or the outside of the cylindrical container.

  5. They may name their cereal and decorate the box.

  6. Using some type of corn cereal that you have in the classroom, they can fill the container and find the weight (mass).

  7. If you feel the students need some help in understanding the concept, a master list of measurements could be kept so that the formulas could be generated using the data gathered.

  8. Have another group check the work of each group and sign the assignment sheet.

  9. Extension: Have a corn festival. Have each group make a corn dish to pass. The items can be made at home or at school. Recipes can be put into a book to be shared with the class. Creation of the recipe book could be an extra-credit project. Some recipe sources are:

    www.basic-recipes.com/veget/cn/

    http://whatscookingamerica.net/vegetables/cornrecipes.htm

    www.doityourself.com/stry/cornrecipes

 

Evaluation

Measurement
Volume measure is accurate. 10 points
Surface area measure is accurate. 10 points
Weight of the cereal is accurate. 10 points
 
Container
Container is creative. 10 points
Group worked together effectively. 10 points
 
Total 50 points

 

 

 

pbs.org
Copyright©2007, Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc. All rights reserved.