Samples of the models, construction paper, glue, scissors, and classroom. Carolyn Weber Wilkins Junior High School 80th and 82nd Ct. Often, students are asked to find the volume and surface area of common objects such as squares or cubes. This investigation explores a more difficult polyhedron, the rhombic dodecahedron.
Students gain a concrete representation of volume and surface area.
They construct two 4 cm cubes. Next, students construct six square pyramids whose base is the same size as each of the cube's faces, and whose height is one-half the height of the cube. They glue these pyramids to the faces of one cube. When the figure is folded inward, it makes a rhombic dodecahedron. When the figure is folded outward, it makes a dodecahedron whose center is the other cube.