Activity Overview
Here's a silly song that I use with my classes to help them remember how to find the surface area of cylinders. My students actually suggested that I submit this!
During the Activity
We do all the usual activities teachers already know to help students understand the process of finding surface area of a cylinder.
Then I teach them this song to the tune of Camptown Races (like Foghorn Leghorn sings):
2 times pi times r times h; that's the middle.
2 times pi times r times r; top and bottom, too.
Surface area!
Of a cylinder! It's
2 times pi times r times h plus two times pi times r times r.
After the Activity
I offer bonus points to any student willing to sing the song in front of the entire class. If a student sings alone, they get 6 points. If two students sing together, they each get 3 points.