6th Grade Math Lesson
Wrap It Up: Surface Area of Prisms and Pyramids Using Nets
Shared by A STEM Educator
6th Grade3-Act Math45 min
Learning Objective
Students will calculate the surface area of rectangular prisms and square pyramids by drawing and labeling nets, finding the area of each face, and summing those areas.
Lesson Overview
Students explore surface area by connecting the real-world context of wrapping gifts and building shipping boxes to the concept of unfolding 3D shapes into 2D nets. They estimate, calculate, and compare surface areas of rectangular prisms and pyramids.
Materials
- Paper
- Pencils
- Whiteboard and markers
- Basic calculator or phone calculator
Scaffolded Task Progression
1Task 1
A gift box is sitting on a table ready to be wrapped. Before you know any measurements, look at the rectangular box shape and estimate: How many square inches of wrapping paper would cover the entire outside? Record a 'too low,' 'too high,' and 'best guess' estimate.
2Task 2
Take a piece of paper and sketch what you think the gift box would look like if you cut it apart and laid it completely flat (a net). Label each face: Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Left, Right. How many faces are there total?
[ Interactive graph / diagram, available in the full lesson ]
[ Interactive graph / diagram, available in the full lesson ]
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