Why does surface area have to be so intimidating? My kids are excellent at calculating the areas of squares, rectangles, and triangles. Buuuuuut, the second you throw multiple parts and pieces together, it becomes instantly overwhelming.
To practice finding surface area, I passed out random nets to my students in class. I asked them to neatly cut them out. (I know, I know….I’m asking a lot here.)
They folded up their shapes, and named the solid figure that they had created.
Then, they assigned a measurement or measurements to their shapes.
Students with more complex shapes loved the opportunity to only label a portion of the net. Later, this will require their friends to figure out the missing measurements.
After each solid figure was ready for calculating the surface area, I walked around the room and numbered each figure.
Then, we played a good ol’ game of Scoot! This was quite a challenge for them, but they LOVED it!
You can grab this set of nets for FREE by clicking the image above!
You can also grab this set of task cards to use for centers, review, or small groups!