In this video from KCPT, watch an animated demonstration of finding the surface area of rectangular and trapezoidal prisms. In the accompanying classroom activity, students do two hands-on activities: they calculate the surface area of an object in the shape of a rectangular or trapezoidal prism and design and construct a rectangular or trapezoidal prism with a surface area of 24 square inches. To get the most from this lesson, students should be comfortable calculating the area of parallelograms. Prior exposure to rectangular and trapezoidal prisms and to surface area is helpful.