What is special about a square?

All the sides are congruent, and all the angles are congruent.

How is a rectangle the same as a square? How is it different?

Rectangles still have four congruent angles. They have two pairs of congruent sides instead of all four congruent sides. So, a square is a special kind of rectangle.

How do you find the areas of squares and rectangles?

For any rectangle, I can multiply length by width, or base by height. If it’s a square, I can multiply one side length by itself.

How do you find the area of a triangle?

Base times height divided by two, or half the base times the height.

What is a prism? What is a pyramid?

A prism is a solid object with two identical ends and flat sides connecting them. A prism where all of the sides are squares is called a cube. A pyramid is a solid object where there is a polygon on the base and the sides are triangles that meet at a point at the top.

How would you find the surface area of a cube?

Find the area of one face, then multiply by 6.

How does finding the surface area change if the prism’s sides are not squares?

I have to add up all of the face’s areas, some of them might be triangles or other shapes.

How is the net of a prism different from the net of a pyramid?

The prism consists of rectangles along with whatever shape the two bases are. The pyramid has triangles along with whatever shape the one base is.

How do you draw a 2D net that represents the same surface area as a 3D shape?

Picture unfolding the shape until it lies flat, and make sure that only congruent sides are touching.

Surface Area Using Nets (Prisms & Pyramids)

LESSON MATERIALS move

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What you will learn from this videoWhat you will learn

We'll learn how to find the surface areas of prisms and pyramids using nets.
We’ll also learn to identify 3D shapes based on their 2D nets.
And we'll see how this knowledge can help us go camping, make owl boxes, and even start a business.

Discussion Questions
- Before Video
  What is special about a square?ANSWER
  - All the sides are congruent, and all the angles are congruent.
  How is a rectangle the same as a square? How is it different?ANSWER
  - Rectangles still have four congruent angles. They have two pairs of congruent sides instead of all four congruent sides. So, a square is a special kind of rectangle.
  How do you find the areas of squares and rectangles?ANSWER
  - For any rectangle, I can multiply length by width, or base by height. If it’s a square, I can multiply one side length by itself.
  How do you find the area of a triangle?ANSWER
  - Base times height divided by two, or half the base times the height.
  What is a prism? What is a pyramid?ANSWER
  - A prism is a solid object with two identical ends and flat sides connecting them. A prism where all of the sides are squares is called a cube. A pyramid is a solid object where there is a polygon on the base and the sides are triangles that meet at a point at the top.
- After Video
  What 3D shape consists of six squares?ANSWER
  - A cube.
  How would you find the surface area of a cube?ANSWER
  - Find the area of one face, then multiply by 6.
  How does finding the surface area change if the prism’s sides are not squares?ANSWER
  - I have to add up all of the face’s areas, some of them might be triangles or other shapes.
  How is the net of a prism different from the net of a pyramid?ANSWER
  - The prism consists of rectangles along with whatever shape the two bases are. The pyramid has triangles along with whatever shape the one base is.
  How do you draw a 2D net that represents the same surface area as a 3D shape?ANSWER
  - Picture unfolding the shape until it lies flat, and make sure that only congruent sides are touching.
Vocabulary
- Area DEFINE
- Decompose DEFINE
- Surface Area DEFINE
- Net DEFINE
- Rectangular Prism DEFINE
- Cube DEFINE
- Prism DEFINE
- Right Triangle DEFINE
- Pyramid DEFINE
Reading Material
Practice Word Problems
Practice Number Problems
Lesson Plan
Teacher Guide
Assessment
Online Quiz Game Quiz PDF Exit Ticket