Skills Covered

How to Use This Pack

Five pages about building with unit cubes and counting them. Page 1 states the rule for every picture (no cubes are hidden except the ones holding others up), works one figure layer by layer, and asks for the cubes in eight more figures of 4 to 14 cubes. Page 2 shows six box shapes; students fill in a table with the cubes in one layer, the number of layers, and the cubes in all. Page 3 matches four figures to five building plans, where each square of a plan shows how many cubes stand on it, and asks for each total. Page 4 has four clear boxes with a row of cubes along two bottom edges and a stack in the corner: students find the cubes in one layer, the layers, the cubes that fill the box, and the cubes that fill half of it. Page 5 compares figures, finds how many more cubes make a box shape, and has four word problems.

In the Classroom

Hand out connecting cubes before page 1 and build the worked example together: four on the bottom and one on top, with one cube hidden underneath. On page 3, let students build each figure on a paper plan, then turn the plan so its front faces them and compare it with the picture. Before page 4, fill a small box with cubes one layer at a time and count the layers out loud.

At Home

Stack sugar cubes, dice, or blocks into a small box shape and count them two ways: one at a time, and as layers. Ask how many would fill a shoebox if one layer holds 12 blocks and it holds 3 layers.

Tips for Success

• Count one layer at a time, from the bottom up
• A cube that holds another cube up is there even if you cannot see it
• In a box shape every layer has the same number of cubes, so multiply
• The front of a building plan is its bottom row; turn the plan to face the picture
• Half of a box is half of the cubes that fill it