The objective of this applet is for students to help students understand volume of a cube. Students will have to determine a rule for finding the volume of the box. Students are given a box, a cube, a row of cubes, and a layer of cubes. They use all of those things to fill the box and determine the volume. The students are able to fold the sides of the box up or down so they are able to visualize the box when it is filled. The dimensions of the box can easily be changed. The students can determine the width, depth, and height that they desire for their box. Students can easily add and take away cubes from the box. After the student fills the box with the appropriate number of cubes, then their is an exploration tab they can clock on. The exploration portion explains more about what volume is, and a very brief and vague explanation of volume. Students then use that explanation and the box they have filled with cubes to determine the volume and how it was discovered.
I did not find this applet to be very effective. I thought that it did not explain why they (the student) will be filling the box with cubes. I thought that the activity did not accomplish what it said it would they way I thought it should. The applet did not give the student any indication of a correct answer. I thought this could cause a lot of confusion among students. The applet also did not include a way for the student to check if the volume they found was correct. I think that a teacher could use this applet as an additional tool to represent how volume is found and what it is. A student who did not know anything about volume may struggle with this activity.
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