Lesson 10: Volume of Rectangular Prisms6.GR.2

I can…

I can find the volume of a rectangular prism, including ones with fractional edge lengths, using base area × height.

Key words

• Volume of Rectangular Prisms — Length times width times height.
• Volume — How much space is inside a solid shape.
• Rectangular prism — A box shape with six flat sides.
• Cubic units — A cube with sides 1 unit long. It measures volume.
• Dimensions — How long, how wide, and how tall something is.
• Base area — The space covered by the bottom of a solid.

Steps

1. My capsule is 2 ft long, 1.5 ft wide, and 1 ft tall. I write V = length × width × height.
2. I put in the numbers: V = 2 × 1.5 × 1.
3. First I multiply 2 × 1.5 = 3.
4. Then 3 × 1 = 3.
5. So the volume is 3 ft³. A fractional edge like 1.5 did not change my steps at all.

Try it

A garden planter box has l = 8 ft, w = 3 ft, h = 2 ft. What is the volume?

Check your answer

48 ft³

V = 8 × 3 × 2 = 48 cubic feet. Remember: volume uses cubic units (ft³).

Sentence starter

I know ___ because ___.

Goal: I can explain my work using the words volume, rectangular prism, dimensions, and base area.