Looking for patterns

We continued our investigation of prisms today.  

Once we made a lot of prisms all with a volume of 300 cubic centimetres, we calculated the surface area of each.

We made a summary chart, and then tried to make a box with a bigger area than those listed, and tried to make a box with a smaller area than those listed.

We learned that a cube has the smallest surface area, and that a long skinny box would have the largest surface area.

We also had a few patterns from visualpatterns.org that intrigued us.

We’re looking at how the visual and the algebraic patterns are connected.
It’s a new way of thinking!