Summary
What matters most is on the outside—at least when it comes to surface area! In geometry, that's the total space on the faces of a three-dimensional object. As any experienced gift wrapper knows, many common objects we deal with are prisms: three-dimensional shapes with at least one pair of identical, parallel faces. One way to find the total surface area of a prism is to unfold it into a flat, two-dimensional shape called a net. Then calculate the area of each face—whether it's a square, triangle, circle, or some other shape—and add them all up! Depending on the shape, you can also use some helpful tricks, like doubling parallel faces in a rectangular prism or viewing a cylinder as a rolled-up rectangle. So, get those formulas ready and press "play" to learn more—we've only scratched the surface!
Viewer safety
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
A few questions to talk through after watching Surface Area:
- What is one new thing you learned about surface area?
- Can you explain it to a partner in your own words?
- Where might you see this in the real world?
- What is one question you still have?
Quick work-a-long
Try it:
- Write one sentence explaining surface area.
- Draw or give one example of your own.