Mississippi Math ATM.MD.8

MathGrades 9–12Statistics and Probability

The Standard

Recognize volume as an attribute of solid figures and understand concepts of volume measurement wherein a cube with a side length of 1 unit, called a “unit cube,” is said to have “one cubic unit” of volume and can be used to measure volume.

2025 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Mathematics · Measurement and Data

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students identify volume as the space a solid takes up. They use cubes with edges one unit long to measure that space.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student counts all the unit cubes in a solid, including cubes hidden behind others. They report the volume in cubic units, not square units.
Common Misconceptions: Students may count only the cubes they can see or count one layer and stop. They may report square units because they are thinking about a face of the solid.
How to Assess It: Draw a box filled with two layers of four unit cubes. Ask, 'What is its volume? Explain how you counted and name the unit.'

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs 12 wooden unit cubes; have them build a solid and explain why its volume is 12 cubic units.
Draw two stacked layers of four cubes; ask, 'Why is the volume 8 cubic units rather than 4 square units?'
Flash a sketch of a 2-by-2-by-3 cube stack for five seconds; students draw its layers and write its volume.
Show a small storage box and a 1-inch cube; ask students to estimate how many cubes would fill the box.

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