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Volume and Surface Area Worksheet - Doghouse Maths

A model doghouse's surface area and volume are calculated using tables covering its rectangular and triangular prism sections.
Year groups
Lower Secondary, Year 7
Pages
6
File type
PDF
Answer key
Included

Updated Jan 04, 2025

Subject
Measurements, Geometry, Maths
Topic
Surface Area, Volume
Resource types
Word Problems, Worksheets, Worksheets & Printables
Answer key
Included

From the author

About this resource

A model doghouse, drawn as a combined rectangular-and-triangular prism with labeled dimensions, gives students a real-world reason to calculate surface area (to determine how much paint to buy) and volume (to reason about what could fit inside). Students first sketch the shape's four unique faces on a grid, accounting for one edge with a fractional length of one-half inch, then use a table to calculate the area of each face type, multiply by how many of each face the doghouse has, and sum them for a grand total; a second table walks through the volume of the rectangular and triangular prism sections separately. Five closing discussion questions ask students to explain why the base isn't painted, calculate how many paint containers to buy given a coverage rate, and justify which formula they used for each volume calculation. A complete answer key follows with every calculated area, the total volume in cubic inches, and model responses to all five discussion questions.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Students calculate the surface area of a compound 3-D shape by finding and summing the area of each unique face.

  • Students calculate the volume of a rectangular prism and a triangular prism that together form one compound shape.

  • Students apply a surface-area calculation to a real-world purchasing decision (how many containers of paint to buy).

  • Students explain, in writing, which formula they used to calculate each volume and why one face of the shape is excluded from the paint calculation.

Teaching tips

  • Have students sketch the four unique faces on the grid before touching the calculation tables, since the hint in the file notes there are exactly four distinct face shapes to find.

  • Walk through the fractional edge length (one-half inch) as a class first, since it appears in the triangular roof section and could trip up students calculating area from the grid.

  • Use the coverage-rate question (200 square inches per paint container) as a checkpoint for whether students can move from a calculated total back to a real-world purchasing decision.

Skills covered

  • Surface area of compound 3-D shapes — students find and sum the area of each unique face of a combined rectangular-and-triangular prism.

  • Volume of rectangular and triangular prisms — students calculate and total the volume of each prism section separately.

  • Real-world measurement application — students convert a calculated surface area into a paint-container purchasing decision using a given coverage rate.

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