Popcorn Volume

I have been SO behind on blogging!

We are two weeks into our Inferences unit, but I wanted to share this activity that I do every year with our Geometry unit, which we finished before Inferences.

One of our standards is to apply volume and surface area to real life situations. We have a problem where students have to determine the volume of two different popcorn containers and defend which container movie theaters should use.

This always turns into a great discussion because they usually assume the wrong container will hold more. And, we talk about who this decision affects (owners vs. movie viewers) and the differing opinions that brings into play (not wanting it to hold as much vs. wanting it to hold as much as possible).

Some years I do this with prisms and cylinder. This year with my AIG class, we did both. With my regular classes, we only had enough time to do prisms.

Each group gets two sheets of standard 8.5x11 copy paper. One they roll or fold long ways into a container and then they roll or fold the other way for the second container. Next, they have to get their measurements and calculate the volume.

This year my PLC took it to a new level of fun by getting popcorn for everyone to enjoy. With my plus class, I let them bring me the container they thought held the most and I filled it with popcorn for them to share. I quickly realized I was not going to have enough popcorn for that. So, with my other classes, once they completed the assignment, I just gave them a cup full to enjoy.

A lot of students assumed since the containers were being made from the same size sheet of paper that they would have the same volume so this definitely gave them a better perspective on dimensions and how that affects volume as well as decision making that has to happen for companies like movie theaters.