Volume and Surface Area of Cuboids
Key Stage: 3 ★★
What is the largest volume of box you can cut out from a square sheet of paper?
This problem offers opportunities for visualising, and for consolidating the formula for working out the volume of a cuboid, while at the same time challenging students to conjecture, test out ideas and compare different strategies for arriving at an optimum solution.
This resource has comprehensive teachers' notes and resources, linked from the problem page. This includes possible approaches and key questions, as well as possible support and extensions.
The file attached is a HTML file, which, when opened, automatically redirects you to the problem on the NRICH website.
Key Stage: 3 ★★
What is the largest volume of box you can cut out from a square sheet of paper?
This problem offers opportunities for visualising, and for consolidating the formula for working out the volume of a cuboid, while at the same time challenging students to conjecture, test out ideas and compare different strategies for arriving at an optimum solution.
This resource has comprehensive teachers' notes and resources, linked from the problem page. This includes possible approaches and key questions, as well as possible support and extensions.
The file attached is a HTML file, which, when opened, automatically redirects you to the problem on the NRICH website.
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An excellent activity from the amazing NRICH, this classic problem is a great investigation for students of all ages. As an extension, students could consider starting with an A4 piece of paper instead of a square, or even think about the biggest cylinder that could be made. As always, check out the teacher's notes on the linked page.
I used this with my top set year 7 class, they really got into it, find the best volume. Great fun!!
Another nice problem from nrich perfect starter or plenary with lots of discussion points
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