MEASUREMENT
Lesson 5

PHYSICAL SCIENCES – MEASUREMENT

LESSON 5.  Surface Area and Volume  (Lab)

Objective: Identify the relationship between surface area and volume

Materials:

            Cube worksheets

            Scissors

            Glue sticks

            Ruler

Teacher Notes:

In this lesson we will concentrate just on the surface area and volume of a cube.  We have not introduced the rest of the formulas because we want students to “feel” the difference of just one shape.  Collecting data, plotting the data, interpreting and then comparing graphs should be the emphasis of this lab.

Students will have to learn to calculate surface area and volume of a solid.  They will plot the information on the given data sheet and plot the data on a graph to see if there is any relationships. 

The students will have to make measurement of the enclosed work sheet in respect to its volume and surface area.  They will also cut the squares out and make 4 models.  They will also compare with another graph of surface area to volume.

As the size of an object increases there is a greater increase in volume than in the surface area, as a result the ratio of surface area to volume decreases. 

SURFACE AREA - Is calculated by finding the area of one square and multiplying it by six.  You may want the students to figure this out before you tell them.

VOLUME - Is calculated by multiplying one side of the cube by itself three times.

RATIO OF SURFACE AREA/VOLUME is a fraction representing x and y axis of the graph

ANSWERS: 

As the size of an object increases there is a greater increase in volume than in the surface area, as a result the ratio of surface area to volume decreases.