A unit cube is a cube where each side measures exactly 1 unit in length. It has 8 vertices, 12 edges, and 6 faces, and its volume is 1 cubic unit. Unit cubes are essential for teaching place value because they provide a tangible way to represent numbers physically. In the context of base ten blocks, unit cubes represent the ones place. By grouping unit cubes into larger blocks (rods for tens, flats for hundreds, and larger cubes for thousands), students can visually and physically understand how numbers are structured and how place value works