Name: _________________________________

Date:

COVERING AND SURROUNDING STUDY GUIDE

GRADE 6
Investigation 2: Measuring Triangles

A polygon is ___________________________________________________.

Two lines that form a right angle are __________________________ lines.

A vertex of a polygon is where two sides of the polygon meet.

Triangles often seem to rest on one side. This side is usually called the base. Any of the triangles three
sides can serve as the _________. The ___________ of a triangle is the perpendicular distance from the
vertex opposite the base to the base.
TRY THIS: Label the triangles base and height

height

base
1
b x h. Here, b is the base and h is the height.
2
The area of a triangle and the area of a rectangle are related. To solve for both areas you multiply by base
1
and height, except for a triangle is of a rectangle.
2

The formula for finding the area of a triangle is A =

1
bxh
2
1
A = (6 x 3)
2
1
A = (18)
2

height
3cm

A=

height
3cm
base
6cm

Base = 6cm

A = 9 cm2

TRY THIS: Find the area of the triangle.

4 in.

6 in.

1
in.
2

6 in.

Investigation 3: Measuring Parallelograms

When working with rectangles, you use the measurements length and width. For triangles, you use the
side lengths, the base, and the height. Like triangles, parallelograms are often described by side length,
base, and height.
The formula for the area of a parallelogram is A = b x h, where A is the area, b is the base, and h is the
height.
Using two previous formulas you have learned, the area of a triangle and a rectangle, you can discover
how the formula was derived.

Here a student knows about the area of a

triangle to find the area of any parallelogram.
He draws a diagonal and a height on the
parallelogram and uses the formula for finding
the area of a triangle.

Here a student knows the area of a rectangle

to find the area of a parallelogram. She makes
a drawing to show how she cut a triangle off
one side of the parallelogram and added it to
the other side.

TRY THIS: Find the area of the parallelogram.

6 in.

8 in.

12 in.

Investigation 4: Measuring Surface Area and Volume

A net is a _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.

The surface area of a box is the total area of all its faces.

A _________ is a three-dimensional shape with two parallel and congruent faces called
________. The other faces are called lateral (side) faces.

A ________________________ has bases that are rectangles. The length and width of a
rectangular prism are the length and width of its rectangular base. The height is the distance
from the bottom of the prism to its top. The length, width, and height of a rectangular prism
are its dimensions.
To find the surface area of a figure, find
the area of all the faces of the prism.
Then add up the totals.
For the rectangular prism to the left the
surface area would be 88cm2.
8cm2 + 24cm2 + 12cm2 + 24cm2 + 12cm2 +
8cm2 = 88 cm2

The volume of a box is the number of unit cubes that it would take to fill the box. We can find
the volume of a rectangular prism by multiplying the length by the width by the height.

TRY THESE:
Find the surface area of the figure below.

Find the volume of the figure below.