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Year 6 Maths — Volume with unit cubes

Find the volume of a box by counting the unit cubes that fill it.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.Put these boxes in order, starting with the one that holds the fewest unit cubes.

    • 3 by 4 by 3
    • 2 by 3 by 3
    • 3 by 3 by 3
    • 2 by 2 by 3

  2. 2.Which of these boxes holds the most unit cubes?

    • a) 2 by 2 by 6
    • b) 3 by 3 by 3
    • c) 1 by 5 by 5
    • d) 2 by 3 by 4

  3. 3.A box holds 20 unit cubes in a single layer. Filled 4 layers deep, how many unit cubes does it hold?

  4. 4.A cuboid is built from 2 layers. Each layer is 6 cubes long and 2 cubes wide. How many cubes are there altogether?

  5. 5.Match each box to the number of unit cubes that fill it.

    • 2 by 2 by 2
    • 2 by 3 by 2
    • 3 by 3 by 2
    • 4 by 3 by 2
    • 5 by 4 by 2
    • 40
    • 8
    • 12
    • 24
    • 18

  6. 6.A cuboid is 6 cm long, 3 cm wide and 2 cm tall. What is its volume, in cubic centimetres? Give just the number.

  7. 7.Work out each box, then sort it by how many unit cubes it holds.

    Groups: Fewer than 24 cubes · 24 cubes or more

    • 3 by 4 by 2
    • 1 by 3 by 6
    • 2 by 2 by 5
    • 5 by 5 by 1
    • 4 by 4 by 2
    • 2 by 2 by 4

  8. 8.A cuboid is built from 36 unit cubes in 3 equal layers. How many cubes are in each layer?

Answer key — Year 6 Maths — Volume with unit cubes

  1. 1. 1. 2 by 2 by 3 2. 2 by 3 by 3 3. 3 by 3 by 3 4. 3 by 4 by 3
  2. 2. b) 3 by 3 by 3
  3. 3. 80
  4. 4. 24
  5. 5. 2 by 2 by 2 → 8; 2 by 3 by 2 → 12; 3 by 3 by 2 → 18; 4 by 3 by 2 → 24; 5 by 4 by 2 → 40
  6. 6. 36
  7. 7. 2 by 2 by 5 → Fewer than 24 cubes; 3 by 4 by 2 → 24 cubes or more; 1 by 3 by 6 → Fewer than 24 cubes; 4 by 4 by 2 → 24 cubes or more; 2 by 2 by 4 → Fewer than 24 cubes; 5 by 5 by 1 → 24 cubes or more
  8. 8. 12