Materials (per team)
1- piece of paper (size to be determined by the teacher)
12"- masking tape
I prefer partners for this exercise so that both students can be fully engaged. The older students will most likely do some calculations to maximize the volume and then fold and tape their box. As a result, I like to provide them less time than normal, making speed and careful decisions a factor. Younger students will generally use a trial and error approach, so have lots of the same size and type of paper handy.
The paper can be any size, but I like to cut it to whole numbers for younger students to make the math easier. So, if I use an 8.5" x 11 sheet for older students, I'll cut it to 8" x 10" for the younger ones. Thicker paper like tagboard or construction paper seems to works better too.
I also like students to keep track of their different attempts chart-style as they progress through the challenge. With older students, I use this as an introduction challenge and then challenge each team to come up with the container (meaning any shape) that will hold the most volume. This variation is a nice review of different volume formulas.
A variation for younger students is to use centimeter cubes, popcorn or packing peanuts to determine the volume instead of having them do the calculations. If you choose to use popcorn, be sure to remind students not to eat it as it will fall on the floor, etc.
So, what did we learn?
Next Generation Science Standards: SEP- , , ; CCC- Patterns, Scale, Proportion and Quantity
CCSS Math: Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Measurement and Data, Geometry, Ratios and Proportional Relationships
Other Skills- Team-building, cooperative learning, decision making, data-collecting
