Grade 7 · Measurement
Surface Area of Prisms
Surface area is the total area you'd need to wrap the outside of a 3D shape. Students draw nets — unfolded versions of prisms — to see each face clearly, calculate its area, and sum them up. The practical contexts (wrapping a gift, painting a room) make the distinction between faces, edges, and vertices concrete.
LESSON VIDEO
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Lesson video
A short walkthrough to play in class or assign for flipped/at-home viewing.
WHAT STUDENTS WILL LEARN
✓Calculate the surface area of rectangular and triangular prisms by finding the area of each face
✓Apply surface area to real-world contexts: wrapping, painting, packaging
✓Distinguish surface area (2D sum of faces) from volume (3D capacity)
✓Draw and label nets of prisms