With the introduction of volume, fifth-grade students learn to measure three-dimensional space. Recognizing volume and understanding it as a measurement of a space involving cubic units is an important skill. Wixie includes a Swimming Pool Volume template to provide opportunities for a guess-and-check calculation of volume in a real world context.
After identifying the formula for volume, students are required to calculate the area of a given rectangular prism pool. In fact, all pool designs in this template are for pools in the shape of rectangular prisms. After calculating volume for a given pool, students create additional pool designs -- identifying the length, width, and height.
It may be helpful to complete the first two pages as a class so you can confirm that students understand the task of designing pools that require the exact amount of water (480 cubic feet) to fill them. Modify the template with additional pool designs if you want students to practice additional volume calculations.