Fun, Engaging Way to Consolidate Learning

To help us reflect on what we have discovered in our unit exploring the following central idea: 

I thought of a way we could consolidate our understandings in a fun way.

Partners were given a Venn diagram and 10 minutes to add as many things as they could to compare / contrast measuring volume with measuring capacity.

To make it a bit more fun, each time they recorded a thought on their Venn diagram, they earned 1 cubic centimetre.  The partners would use them to build a cuboid.  We would then see which partners were able to build the cuboid with the largest volume. (We needed a quick discussion to remember the difference between a cuboid and rectangular prism)

To make it even more interesting, a student suggested that they could earn two cubic centimetres for each idea they could add to the middle section- what volume and capacity has in common. 

We liked that idea a lot so agreed to it. 


This activity was a really engaging way to consolidate what they had learnt during our unit as well as expanding understandings by discussing with a classmate.  It also helped students to deepen their understandings of what measuring volume / capacity is about and identify connections.

Some sample Venn diagrams:

The other interesting thinking involved was how to build a completed cuboid using the cubic cms earned. As they continued being able to add cubes, students experimented with different ways to build the shape. 

When the time was up, they could only measure the volume of a completed cuboid. Therefore if they were missing one cube, they would have to take away some of the cubes:

This pair had to take the 3 cubic centimetres away to measure a cuboid:

When the ten minutes was up, we measured and shared the volume of the cuboids we managed to create:

To conclude our enquiry into volume / capacity, we then decided on an investigation we wanted to explore in depth.  These will be done either in small groups or individually.

To help decide, we used a Google form and nominated one investigation that grabbed our interest.  These were some of the wonderings students had created during our unit and had placed on our wonder wall.  They were chosen because I felt they could create some deep investigations.

They also had the option to add their own idea for an investigation.

Our choices for our personal maths enquiries:

(17 responses)

CONNECTIONS: How are cubic cm / m connected with ml / litres?	1
STRATEGIES: How can we measure the volume of other prisms? eg, hexagonal prisms etc	6
CREATIVITY: How many 3D shapes can I make with a volume of 24 cubic centimetres?	5
STRATEGIES: What is the volume of the oddly shaped prism in litres?	1
PATTERNS: What patterns exist when we multiply the L / H / W of a prism by the same number?	4
Other	0

Giving students opportunities to take their own learning further in a more independent way is a key element to creating an enquiry-based maths learning environment. 

The children gain a wonderful sense of pride and confidence in the types of mathematicians they are.