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Year 5

Explain how to calculate the volume of a cuboid and a cube

I can explain how to calculate the volume of a cuboid and a cube.

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New
New
Year 5

Explain how to calculate the volume of a cuboid and a cube

I can explain how to calculate the volume of a cuboid and a cube.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A cube is a special cuboid where the faces are all square and all the edges are the same length.

Common misconception

Pupils find the incorrect volume of a cuboid or cube by only counting what they can see. This may be the faces or whole cubes that are forward facing.

Encourage pupils to create the cuboids or cubes for themselves as well as show pupils how the cuboids or cubes are constructed as layers of rows and columns.

Keywords

  • Cubic centimetre - A cubic centimetre is volume that is made by a cube that is 1 centimetre on each edge.

  • Cubic metre - A cubic metre is volume that is made by a cube that is 1 metre on each edge.

  • Cube number - A cube number is the product of three repeated whole numbers.

It is vital that pupils spend time developing their 'sense' of volume. Providing time for pupils to construct shapes with standard units will further develop this, allowing them to better abstract their understanding of cuboids drawn in 2D.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What might you measure in cubic centimetres?
Correct answer: A water bottle.
A classroom.
Correct answer: A pencil case.
An ant.
Q2.
Each cube in the image above is one cubic centimetre. What is the volume of this shape? cm$$^3$$
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 27
Q3.
Each cube in the image above is one cubic centimetre. What is the volume of this shape? cm$$^3$$
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 24
Q4.
What is 12 × 6 =
Correct Answer: 72
Q5.
17 × 9 =
Correct Answer: 153
Q6.
23 × 7 =
Correct Answer: 161

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Tick all of the shapes which are cuboids.
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Q2.
How can you describe the number of cubes in this cuboid?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: There are 3 rows of 6 cubes in a layer. There are 2 layers.
There are 3 rows of 6 cubes in a layer. There is 1 layer.
There are 3 rows of 6 cubes in a layer. There are 6 layers.
Q3.
Complete the expression which would calculate the volume of this shape. 3 × 3 ×
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 2, two
Q4.
Which of these expressions give the volume of this shape?
An image in a quiz
2 × 4
Correct answer: 2 × 4 × 5
2 + 4 + 5
4 × 5
Q5.
What is the volume of this shape? cm$$^3$
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 42, forty two
Q6.
Which of these is a cube number?
Correct answer: 1
9
Correct answer: 27
50