As the saying goes, a penny saved is a penny earned. Young scholars use a penny activity to earn their way to an understanding of volume. Given three different-sized cylindrical containers, individuals make calculations to determine the container with the greatest volume.

Concepts

volume of cylinders, radius, dimensions, math modeling

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Include during a unit on volumes of solids
• Prior to calculations, ask learners to guess which container holds the most pennies and then defend their answers

Classroom Considerations

• Expects proficiency with volume calculations

Pros

• Creates a real-life problem-solving situation that compares volumes of cylinders
• Offers ideas to extend the lesson to a comparison of the effect of height and radius on the volume of a cylinder

Cons

• The lesson does not provide the dimensions of the cylinders but instead expects pupils to estimate their heights and radii

Common Core

8.G.C.9 HSG-GMD.A.3