Lesson plan

Determine the volume of a right rectangular prism by packing it with fewer unit cubes than would fill the solid

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teaches Common Core State Standards 5.MD.C.5.a http://corestandards.org/Math/Content/5/MD/C/5/a
teaches Common Core State Standards MP1 http://corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP1
teaches Common Core State Standards MP2 http://corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP2
teaches Common Core State Standards MP3 http://corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP3
teaches Common Core State Standards MP4 http://corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP4
teaches Common Core State Standards MP5 http://corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP5
teaches Common Core State Standards MP6 http://corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP6
teaches Common Core State Standards MP7 http://corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP7
teaches Common Core State Standards MP8 http://corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP8
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Big Ideas: The volume of a right rectangular prism can be found by packing it with fewer unit cubes than needed to fill the space because we can use our knowledge of length, width and height to estimate the volume. Volume can be measured by finding the total number of same side units of volume required to fill the space without gaps or overlaps. This lesson builds on students' work with finding volume using unit cubes. The task uses a real-world problem to contextualize the idea of determining the volume of a space by packing it with fewer cubes than will fill the entire space. Students are asked to persevere in solving a problem with unknowns, by using what they know about finding volume using cubes. The mathematical content in this lesson builds towards students' future work with applying formulas to calculate volume. Vocabulary: cube, cubic unit, space, gaps, overlap, length, width, height, base, layers