CKMath Unit 1: Finding Volume
Focus:
This unit introduces students to the concept of volume by building on their understanding of area and multiplication. Students learn that the volume of a solid figure is the number of unit cubes that fill it without gaps or overlaps. First, they measure volume by counting unit cubes and observe its additive nature. They also learn that different solid figures can have the same volume. Next, they shift their focus to right rectangular prisms: building them using unit cubes, analyzing their structure, and finding their volume. They write numerical expressions to represent their reasoning strategies and work with increasingly abstract representations of prisms. Later, students generalize that the volume of a rectangular prism can be found by multiplying its side measurements, or by multiplying the area of the base and its height. As they analyze, write, and evaluate different expressions that represent the volume of the same prism, students revisit familiar properties of operations from earlier grades. Students apply these understandings to find the volume of solid figures composed of two non-overlapping rectangular prisms and solve real-world problems involving such figures. In doing so, they also progress from using cubes to using standard units to measure volume.
Number of Lessons: 11 and 1 optional
Instruction Time:
Approximately 60 minutes
(Please note that each lesson is designed for one instructional block, and may be divided into shorter or longer segments based on teacher pacing and student needs.)
