Volume of cuboids – Year 6 maths lesson
Lesson 22 of 32 in the Year 6 maths course
UK version. UK school years, UK spelling and pounds (£). · US Math Department
A complete 45-minute lesson for Year 6 (ages 10–11) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is marked straight away, with a worked explanation.
- Time
- 45 minutes + 20 min homework
- Year
- Year 6 (ages 10–11)
- You need
- Paper, a pencil and this page
- Marked
- Instantly, with explanations
For parents: how to use this lesson
You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.
- Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
- Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
- Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
- Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Can two different boxes have the same volume?”
- Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.
Watch out for
- Adding the lengths instead of multiplying. Build a layer of cubes: rows times columns, times layers.
- Using square units (cm²) for volume. Volume is three-dimensional: cubic units, cm³.
Tip for home: Estimate then work out the volume of cereal or shoe boxes.
What your child will learn
We are learning to find the volume of cuboids by counting cubes and by using length × width × height.
Success looks like
- I can count cubes to find volume.
- I can use length × width × height.
- I can find a missing length.
Key words
- volume
- space taken up by a solid
- cubic centimetre
- a cube 1 cm on each side (cm³)
- cuboid
- a box shape with rectangle faces
- dimensions
- length, width and height
What to have ready
- Paper and a pencil
- This page on a computer, tablet or phone
- For the hands-on part: Fill a small box with cubes or sugar lumps, count one layer and the number of layers, then multiply.
The big ideas (for the adult)
Volume is the amount of space a solid takes up. It is measured in cubic units such as cm³.
For a cuboid, find how many cubes fit in one layer (length × width), then multiply by the number of layers (height).
If you know the volume and two lengths, divide to find the missing length.
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter: quick recall | 5 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 10 min | Not assessed, self-checked |
| Worked examples and guided practice | 9 min | Not assessed, marked by Classfern |
| Independent practice | 15 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Plenary and exit ticket | 6 min | Marked by Classfern, self-checked |
Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are marked by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.
The lesson
It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.
Homework and practice at home
20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.
More practice
More Year 6 maths lessons
- Place value: the value of each digit
- Negative numbers
- Comparing, ordering and writing numbers
- Negative numbers and temperature
- Long multiplication
- Short division
- Long division
- Order of operations
- Factors and multiples
- Prime numbers
- Estimating and checking answers
- Solving word problems
- Adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators
- Multiplying fractions
- Percentages of amounts
- Calculating with decimals
- Rounding decimals
- Adding and subtracting decimals
- Fractions, decimals and percentages
- Comparing and simplifying fractions
- Converting units of measure
- Missing angles
- Properties of 2-D shapes
- 3-D shapes and nets
- Coordinates
- Line graphs
- Pie charts
- The mean (average)
- Ratio and proportion
- Formulae and equations
- Sequences
Curriculum
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “calculate, estimate and compare volume of cubes and cuboids using standard units, including cubic centimetres (cm³) and cubic metres (m³), and extending to other units [for example, mm³ and km³]”
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “recognise when it is possible to use formulae for area and volume of shapes”
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.