Introduce Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism(Cuboid).
A Prism is a solid shape that is bound on all its sides by plane faces. There are two types of faces in a prism; the top and bottom faces are identical and are called bases. A prism is named after the shape of these bases. For example, if a prism has a triangular base it is called a triangular prism. If a prism has a rectangular base it is called a rectangular prism. In this activity, you are going to discover how the surface area of a prism is found. Just follow the instructions below.
Take a few minutes to interact with the rectangular prism shown here.
After doing so, create one that has a length = 5 units, width = 4 units, and height = 3 units.
Move the CREATE NET to the right to see how Surface Area occurs as a net (envelope).
Interact more with the sliders to understand Surface Area.
Move the OPTIONS slider through three different steps to see the three sets of faces whose area is added.
Activity #2
Find Surface Area by Examining the NET Structure.
The Net structure of a solid figure can be used to find the surface area. Follow the instructions below to find out how.
Check the “Show/Hide net” box.
Check the “Show/Hide surface area” box to see the surface area of a unit cube. Note how Surface Area can be found from the net structure.
Move the “length” slider to see the effect on the figure and the surface area.
Repeat same with the “width” and “height” sliders.
Activity #3
Draw Polygon with a Given Area.
The simplest polygon is the triangle. in this activity, you are going to practice drawing a triangle when the area is given.
Draw an example of a right triangle with an area of 6 square units.
Draw an example of an Acute triangle with an area of 6 square units.
Draw an example of an Obtuse triangle with an area of 6 square units.
Challenge #1
Challenge #2
Challenge #3
Adjust the dimensions of the rectangular prism shown below to create one with the given surface area.
The edge lengths of this prism are positive integers ranging from 1 to 9.
A prism having LENGTH = 4, WIDTH = 5, and HEIGHT = 6 is equivalent to a prism having LENGTH = 6, WIDTH = 4, and HEIGHT = 5.