This June, we launched an exciting new storyline in Grade 5, Module 5, Topic A — where students step into a virtual world where anything they dream of can come to life. Their first mission is to build a house, room by room, using their growing knowledge of volume!

In this updated topic, students are welcomed into an imaginative virtual environment, guided by friendly robot characters, where math becomes the key to creating their own dream world.

Their journey begins with building the foundation of a house, and as they move through the topic, they unlock more rooms and decorations. But to keep building, they must first understand the math behind volume.

Here’s what students explore along the way:

Students learn to define volume using unit cubes, exploring how 3D space is measured and visualized.

By working with different figures made of unit cubes, they practice comparing how much space each figure takes up.

Students interact with familiar objects to reason about measurements in inches, centimeters, and eventually, cubic units.

Students reflect on how the same number of cubes can take up more or less space depending on the size of each cube’s edge — whether it’s 1 inch, 1 centimeter, or 1 generic unit. This helps them develop a flexible understanding of volume in different contexts.

To finish their house, students “fill” prism shapes with unit cubes, visually reinforcing how volume formulas work in context.

As they progress, students unlock and decorate different rooms of their digital house — from the living room to a cozy cat-filled attic — creating a strong sense of purpose and motivation.

For Students: This update turns volume into an interactive and purposeful learning experience. As students work with unit cubes, compare volumes, and explore real measurement units, they build a solid conceptual foundation. The creative house-building storyline adds meaningful motivation, encouraging students to stay engaged and apply their understanding along the way.

For Teachers: The updated topic offers a clear instructional path from foundational ideas (like unit cubes) to more advanced concepts (like prism volume and volume unit comparisons). The engaging context supports student motivation, while the structured progression supports conceptual understanding and instructional differentiation.

See It in Action

Check out the updated Grade 5 Module 5 Topic A in your teacher dashboard and let your students build, compare, and measure their way through math — while creating a world of their own!

For any questions, reach out to us at support@happynumbers.com. We’re always happy to help!