Volume Performance Task

In closing our volume unit we did the following volume performance task. 

Standards addressed:

Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume.

               a. Find the volume of a right rectagular prism with whole-number side legths.

               b. Apply formulas V= l * w * h for rectagular prisms to find volumes with number edge lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical problems. 

 

Essential questions:

How do we find volume of rectagular prisms?

For what purpose do we calculate volume?

 

Thining strategies used:

Schema, syntesizing, monitoring for meaning, and determining importance.

 

This was an independent performance task used at the end of the unit to assess the students final understanding of volume.  Students were able to use a calculator if they wanted.  My purpose was not the actual computation, but rather the use of the information in the problem and the ability to determine what needed to be done in each situation to see how many ipads could be shipped.  Several students were able to complete the task with no assistance.  I made the students work through the problem for 30+ mins before I would assist them.  Some of the students were way off after the 30 mins and as a class we  discussed if it made sense that the trucks could carry over 1,000,000 ipads,  I asked the students if they thought we could stack that many ipads in the classroom.  It was determined that that could not happen so it would not make sense that the trucks could carry that many.  Some students were on the other end with just over 100 ipads on each truck.  We decided that that would also not make sense.

I felt this was a great question to syntesize the student's knowledge at the end of the unit.  However, I would like to find more atucal hands on activities for next year.