You made two silos with the same sheet of paper -- tall and thin vs short and fat -- and filled them with sand

• observe: describe the discrepancy

• measure: how much more ?

• collect data: is a short / fat always > tall / skinny ?

• infer: how volume relates area of paper

• hypothesize: how does "fat" overcompensates for "short"

• experiment: make different silos

• elephant ears: filled with blood vessels - air conditioning
• trees are round: maximum volume for least possible change for damage
• red blood cell shape: bi-concave for maximum gas exchange
• JC Penney's floor plan: large area for eye / physical contact
• boiling: cut up potatoes: more hot water touches the food

• baking: cake tin size: oven times depend on the size / shape of tin
• dimetrodon's 'sail/fin': exotic air conditioner
• gigantothermy: rabbits vs. elephants & dinosaurs, too
• nomograph - skin area: how much sun block / oil do you need
• soap film geometry: collapses to the least amount of surface area

• cold / hot bed sheets & skin: want to cool off or stay warm?
• alka- vs bromo-seltzer: one dissoves faster than the other
• terry cloth towels: all those little pieces absorb water
• pot holes are round-ish: the least surface area
• hot water radiator 'fins' - spreading the heat around

• silos: cylinders > prisms: so silos are cylinders
• water towers: spheres > cylinders: so towers are spheres
• fast heartbeats - humming birds & babies: the price of warm bloodedness
• bacteria - line vs clump growth: conserve or radiate the heat
• squeeze the cup = spill the coffee: many gallons overflow every day

• pizza prices (area only): do two 6" pizzas = one 12" pizza?
• Franklin School modules: many outside walls
• heating / cooling ($$$): walls & roof -- how heat efficient is your home ?
  
• home heating: hot water radiator -- A/C -- refrigerator fins
  
• electricity: computer plugs - pins vs. prongs

• frostbite: fingers, toes, ears and nose! Lots of skin for little mass