Teaching Volume

Volume is can be a tricky concept for my fifth graders to understand. They always want to revert back to their fourth grade knowledge of area and perimeter. I’ve finally settled on a hands-on activity that allows the kids to explore volume and discover the volume formula on their own.

Start with Unifix cubes and several plastic containers. I like to give every group the same size container for their first try. This way we can compare our answers and share our ideas.

Give each team a pile of Unifix cubes, but be sure to NOT give them enough to fill their entire container. The goal is for your students to struggle through to the discovery that length x width x height = volume.

Once we’ve discovered the formula for volume, I have several other empty rectangular prism containers waiting for the kids to measure. These are literally just random containers that I have in my classroom. Amazon boxes work fabulously for this as well!

I have found that this hands on time really helps my fifth graders to not just be able to calculate volume, but truly understand what volume means.

Happy exploring!

- Emmy