Name:______________________________

Discovering the Surface area of a Sphere

You have been given the task of finding the surface area of a sphere using only an orange. Using
this orange however, this should provide a memorable experience in which you should never
forget this formula again!! To start this activity, there is one piece of information that you must
have. Even though the oranges you receive are precut, they are cut in such a way that each circle
represents a great circle, or as better defined, the circle with the greatest radius. Follow the
directions and make conjectures along the way to discover the surface area of a sphere.

1. Split up into groups of two.

2. Have one of your group members place the 8 x11 blank sheet of paper in front of him/her
3. That same group member should place one of the halves, wet side down, on the paper and
trace as many circles as the paper will allow.
4. Educated Guess!!! If you peel the orange, how many great circles do you think that you will
fill?________________
5. Have the other member of your group peel the ENTIRE orange including the other halves
peel. Break it up into a lot of smaller pieces and flatten them out.
6. Jointly, see how many great circles you can fill. Remember, the circles need to stay inside the
circles (No overlapping!!) How many did you find?________________
7. So the surface area of a sphere is equal to the area of ___________ great circles. With the
radius =r and the area of one circle being _______________, the surface area of a sphere is equal
to _____________________