Don't be fooled: the taller glass doesn't always hold the most. Given the dimensions of different cylindrical containers for beverages and popcorn, pupils calculate the volumes. They see how changing the dimensions affects the volume and...

Don't let the task slip through your fingers like sand. Scholars design sand castles using hemispheres, pyramids, cones, and cylinders of different sizes. They calculate the volume and surface area and consider how changing the...

Double the dimensions, quadruple the surface area. Pairs build similar prisms and compare the ratios of their surface areas and volumes to the ratio of the heights. Given two similar cones, partners determine the ratios of the lateral...

Third graders experiment with beakers of water and balloons to measure the volume of the gas in the balloon. They determine ways to change the volume of air in the balloon which changes its size but not its physical state. By heating the...

Take a "conservative" approach to planning your next unit on mass and matter! What better way to answer "But where did the gas go?" than with a lab designed to promote good report writing, research skills, and detailed observation....

Five questions—multiple-choice, fill in the blank, and discussion—make up an interactive that challenges scholars to mail a teddy bear using the smallest box possible without squishing it. A box with movable sides allows mathematicians...

There are underwater rivers that flow on the ocean floor thanks to a difference in density. Scholars learn about the density in both liquids and solids in the second lesson of an 11-part series. They then determine the density of water,...

Third graders use pattern blocks of one shape at a time to try to create a similar shape. They compare the perimeter of the new figure with the perimeter of the original shape and look for a pattern. Students use the pattern to predict...