I found nets to be THE key to understanding the connection between Surface Area and Area. Going in reverse, you can also encourage students to get a 3D shape, and trace its edges on a piece of paper to make its net. (starting out with prisms and cylinders, and maybe even demonstrating how you can roll a cylinder while drawing a line to get its side length) If they can make and reverse-engineer 3D shapes, they know it "inside and out".
I love the activity where the 2D area of the net makes the surface area of the 3D object. In NSW, we use the language '2D shape' and '3D object' to help students differentiate between 2D and 3D.
I found nets to be THE key to understanding the connection between Surface Area and Area.
Going in reverse, you can also encourage students to get a 3D shape, and trace its edges on a piece of paper to make its net. (starting out with prisms and cylinders, and maybe even demonstrating how you can roll a cylinder while drawing a line to get its side length)
If they can make and reverse-engineer 3D shapes, they know it "inside and out".
I love the activity where the 2D area of the net makes the surface area of the 3D object. In NSW, we use the language '2D shape' and '3D object' to help students differentiate between 2D and 3D.