Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 8
Volume of prisms
I can use the constant cross-sectional area property of prisms to determine their volume.
- Year 8
Volume of prisms
I can use the constant cross-sectional area property of prisms to determine their volume.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The shape and area of the base of a prism can be found.
- The area of the cross-section multiplied by the length gives the volume of the prism.
- This can be used to find the volume of any prism.
- Unknown lengths can be found when the volume of a prism is known.
Keywords
Cross-section - a 2D face made from cutting straight through any plane of a 3D object.
Volume - the amount of space occupied by a closed 3D shape.
Common misconception
Pupils may multiply all lengths on the diagram rather than find the area of the cross-section.
Draw the cross-sectional polygon out, find the area and then multiply by the length of the prism.
To help you plan your year 8 maths lesson on: Volume of prisms, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 maths lesson on: Volume of prisms, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 maths lessons from the Perimeter, area and volume unit, dive into the full secondary maths curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Licence
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The area of a triangle with a base length of 12 cm and a perpendicular height of 7 cm is $$\text{ cm}^2$$.
Q2.Which of these calculations, will correctly work out the area of this composite rectilinear shape?

Q3.A prism is a polyhedron with a base that is a polygon and a parallel opposite face that is identical. The edges of the two polygons are joined by parallelograms.
Q4.Select all the units of area.
Q5.Which of these equations has a solution of $$x=4$$?
Q6.Starting with first line, put the lines of working in the correct order to solve an equation.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1. is the amount of space occupied by a closed 3D shape.
Q2.All units for volume are units, such as cm³ or feet³.
Q3.The volume of a cuboid with dimensions 8 cm by 9 cm by 15 cm is $$\text{ cm}^3$$.
Q4.Select the triangular prism with the volume of 1800 cm³.




Q5.An L-shaped prism has a volume of 250 m³. It also has a length of 12.5 m. The area of the 'L-shape' is m².
Q6.The volume of this triangular prism is 2100 cm³. The length marked $$x$$ is cm.
