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by Jane Oh
Topics: Fifth Grade, Math
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Every object can be measured with length, width or height, and those measurements can be used to find the volume and area of the object. Have your child observe, measure and record the amount of space objects occupy, and you'll have an indoor space explorer on your hands in no time!

What You Need:

  • ruler or tape measure
  • pencil
  • paper
  • calculator (optional)

Simply stated, area and volume is all about space. Area is the amount of space taken up by 2-dimensional closed figures, while volume is the amount of space occupied by 3-dimensional objects. Below are the area and volume formulas for the basic shapes in geometry. They may look intimidating to your child, but with a little practice, these formulas will be a piece of cake!

Area Formulas

Square

side2

Rectangle

length x width

Parallelogram

base x height

Triangle

base x height / 2

Trapezoid

height x (base1 + base2) / 2

Circle

pi*x radius2 **



Volume Formulas

Cube

side3

Rectangular Prism

side1 x side2 x side3

Sphere

(4/3) x pi x radius3

Cylinder

pi x radius2 x height

Cone

(1/3) x pi x radius2 x height *

Pyramid

(1/3) x (base area) x height

*Pi=3.14

**radius=the distance from the center of the circle to the outside edge

What You Do: