A cup of wooden or plastic beads about the size of small lima beans. To introduce this activity, link the students' experiences with the concept of volume. Here is a way to build containers of different shapes and find out how much each will hold. Divide the students into groups of three. Each group receives three equal strips of card stock and a cupful of small beads in a shallow tray.
Groups are to build three containers of different shapes.
The tray bottom serves as the container's bottom piece. For all shapes except a cylinder, creases in the strip help define the shape. The children will need to work together to tape the strips. Ask the children to predict which shapes will hold the most material and record their responses on a class chart. Then the group fills one container with beads, counts the number it holds, and records its results for that shape.