Mike posts the hand-out he gives his students for the volume activity. In this way other teachers can use his ideas in their classrooms.

Subj: Handout for "Volume of ClassRoom"
From: Mike

This is this year's version of the hand-out that I will give my students Tuesday August 23, their first day back for the new year. The reasoning for this is explained in the first message on this folder called " Volume of Class room" My thanks to Carole Escobar for the inspiration for this activity.

Physics Investigation Number 1
Determining the Volume of the Physics Lab
An activity for each class member to do independently and creatively.

By a method understood to you determine the volume of this room. A ruler (12 inch) will be provided by the teacher but you are not limited to this for making measurements. You may not use information obtained by other students. You will have this class period to make your measurements and are expected to do the calculations and explanations at home ( HOMEWORK)

TODAY - IN CLASS:
1) Make a sketch of the room. On this sketch indicate unusual features such as square corners, round walls, etc. It might be handy to note on your sketch how long and what size various features of the room are.

2)Take all necessary measurements.

TONIGHT- AT HOME Calculate volume of the room. What value did you get in cubic feet ? What would this value be in cubic meters ? What is the ratio of cubic meters to cubic feet ? Explain your answer, do not merely give a naked number. Explain how you determined the volume of this irregularly shaped room. In your explanation, you might use the following ideas as a guide. What assumptions did you make? What short cuts (if any) did you take ? Did you have any ideas or methods that you " threw out" because they seemed unreasonable? Did you make any estimates or approximations?

NOTE: THE MAJOR EMPHASIS IN THIS ACTIVITY IS ON THE PROCESS THAT YOU USED IN DETERMINING THE VOLUME. The numerical answer ( the PRODUCT) is not nearly as important as the thinking that you do to arrive at your conclusion. Attention to detail, the explanation of assumptions that you made are much more important than the "right" answer. Reasonable answers will be looked upon more favorably than those that are way off, however. You would do well to explain why you think your process is valid and your product is reasonable.

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