8.7 Volume
This is a set of guiding questions and materials for creating your own lesson plan on the
introducing the concept of volume, along with some volume formulas.
Common Core State Standards: G-GMD.1, G-GMD.3
Learning Objectives
 To understand the concept of volume.
 To understand how to calculate the volume of a rectangular prism and make a
connection between a rectangular prism and a box.
 To understand informal arguments for the formula for the volume of cylinders, cones,
pyramids, and spheres.
 To apply the formulas mentioned above.
Guiding Questions
 What is volume?
o Volume is a measurement of space.
 How can we measure volume?
 What is the volume of a rectangular box of dimensions w, l, h?
o V  wlh
 What is the volume of a cylinder of height h and radius r?
o Use the idea of a rectangular box (area of the base x height) to construct the
formula for the volume of a cylinder.
o V   r 2h
 What is the volume of a cone?
o Show the video below, or better yet, do the demo shown in the video in your
classroom.
o

V
Bh  r 2 h

, where B is the area of the base of the cylinder (a circle) and h
3
3
is the height.
What is the volume of a pyramid?
o Use the idea for the formula of a cone to find the formula for the volume of a
pyramid.
o
V
Bh
, where B is the area of the base and h is the height.
3
Notes for Teachers
 I have indented some suggestions in the questions above.
Video of the Day
 Three videos have been included under Online Resources.
Exercises and Problems
 Successful Mathematics: North Carolina Common Core Math 1 Item Bank, Nagy-Lup, pp.
92-93, problems 6-27.
Online Resources



Volume of a cone
Volume of a pyramid
Volume of a sphere