If you missed my fantastic DIY and introduction to LEGO Math Ideas, read more about it here.
LEGO bricks are a tangible way to introduce volume. Common Core Standard 5.MD wants students to find the volume of a shape using V=l X w X h.
Pull out your LEGO bricks and begin with a 1 by 1. Write down the formula for finding volume. Ask your student if they know the volume of this brick, using a 1 by 1 as our measurement. V=1 X 1 X 1. It’s one.
Use different LEGO bricks of varying heights and thickness and practice finding it’s volume. What happens if you use a very skinny LEGO piece where it’s height is about 1/3 the size? Talk about using .33 in the formula. Note how the number changes.
Let student build a shape and then find it’s volume. They most likely would need to build it and then label how many chunks they can break it into and find the volume of those pieces, then finish by adding all of those volumes together.
Update! Here are the direct links to all 5 parts of this series:
I hope you’ve enjoyed some of my LEGO Math Ideas. If you have any other great ideas and would like to share them with me, please do so in the comments area! I would love to hear what other ways you can use LEGO bricks.
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