This activity is a hands-on experience, in which students compare the volume of a cylinder to the volume of a cone with the same height and radius in order to discover the relationship between volume of a cylinder and volume of a cone.
At the start of the activity, students are broken up into groups and each group is given a cylinder. Each group must determine their cylinders height and radius and construct a cone with the same height and radius as their cylinder. Once the students have constructed their cone, they fill their cone with pom-poms and pour the pom-poms into their cylinder. They repeat this process until their cylinder is full.
This leads to the discovery that a cone's volume is 1/3 a cylinders volume when the corresponding height and radius are equal.
At the start of the activity, students are broken up into groups and each group is given a cylinder. Each group must determine their cylinders height and radius and construct a cone with the same height and radius as their cylinder. Once the students have constructed their cone, they fill their cone with pom-poms and pour the pom-poms into their cylinder. They repeat this process until their cylinder is full.
This leads to the discovery that a cone's volume is 1/3 a cylinders volume when the corresponding height and radius are equal.
Reflection:
This activity is a great way to make sure your students are engaged in learning mathematics. I like this activity because it helps build students' conceptual understanding of volume of a cylinder and volume of a cone. Of course we want our students to know the formulas for the volume of a cylinder and volume of a cone and to be able to apply these formulas to solve-real world and mathematical problems. However, in addition to having this procedural understanding of volume of a cylinder and cone, we also want to make sure that they our students understand what these formulas mean and why they are written the way they are written. We want our students to come to the conclusion that the formula for volume of a cone has that extra 1/3 component because a cones volume is one-third a cylinders volume when the corresponding radius and height are equal.
This activity is a great way to make sure your students are engaged in learning mathematics. I like this activity because it helps build students' conceptual understanding of volume of a cylinder and volume of a cone. Of course we want our students to know the formulas for the volume of a cylinder and volume of a cone and to be able to apply these formulas to solve-real world and mathematical problems. However, in addition to having this procedural understanding of volume of a cylinder and cone, we also want to make sure that they our students understand what these formulas mean and why they are written the way they are written. We want our students to come to the conclusion that the formula for volume of a cone has that extra 1/3 component because a cones volume is one-third a cylinders volume when the corresponding radius and height are equal.
Worksheet | |
File Size: | 683 kb |
File Type: | docx |