Mathematics Assessment Project
Designing 3d Products: Candy Cartons
Wouldn't it be great to work in a candy factory? Learners get their chance as they first design a carton for a candy that meets certain requirements. They then examine and analyze nets and explanations in sample student responses.
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Normal Distributions (part 2)
From z-scores to probability. Learners put together the concepts from the previous lessons to determine the probability of a given range of outcomes. They make predictions and interpret them in the context of the problem.
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Normal Distributions (part 1)
Don't allow your pupils to become outliers! As learners examine normal distributions by calculating z-scores, they compare outcomes by analyzing the z-scores for each.
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Using a Curve to Model a Data Distribution
Show scholars the importance of recognizing a normal curve within a set of data. Learners analyze normal curves and calculate mean and standard deviation.
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Ferris Wheels—Using Trigonometric Functions to Model Cyclical Behavior
Have class members going in circles as they model the path of a Ferris Wheel using trigonometric functions. Building on the previous lesson in this series on transformations, learners use trigonometric functions to model wheels of...
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From Circle-ometry to Trigonometry
Can you use triangles to create a circle? Learners develop the unit circle using right triangle trigonometry. They then use the unit circle to evaluate common sine and cosine values.
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Interest and the Number e
Mary, Mary, quite continuously, how does your money grow? Uses examples to examine the difference between simple interest and compound interest, and to take a look at different rates of compounding. Learners explore what would happen as...
Teach Engineering
Preconditioning Balloons: Viscoelastic Biomedical Experiments
What does stretching a balloon have to do with equilibrium? Groups explore preconditioning by stretching a balloon to a point of equilibrium. They then measure the amount of force required to stretch the balloon to the same point several...
Teach Engineering
Creepy Silly Putty
It might be silly to determine the creep rate of putty but groups will enjoy making different formulations of silly putty and playing with them to understand how the different mixtures behave. The second part of the activity has groups...
Teach Engineering
Viscous Fluids
Elasticity and viscosity. Help your class understand the similarities and differences with an introduction to viscous fluids. After describing four types of fluid behaviors: shear thinning, shear thickening, Bringham plastic, and...
Teach Engineering
Using Hooke's Law to Understand Materials
Provide a Hooke for a lesson on elasticity with an activity that has groups investigate a set of springs. They use a set procedure to collect data to calculate the spring constant for each spring using Hooke's Law. The groups predict the...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Acceleration with an Android
Small groups use rubber bands to accelerate an Android device along a track of books. They collect the acceleration data and analyze it in order to determine the device's velocity.
Teach Engineering
Edible Rovers (High School)
Design and build a rover ... then eat it? This activity has groups of two design and build Mars rovers. The teams determine what instruments they want to include with their rover and plan a budget. They calculate the cost of the body of...
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Ruling Out Chance (part 3)
Pupils analyze group data to identify significant differences. They use simulation to create their own random assignment data for comparison.
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Ruling Out Chance (part 1)
What are the chances? Teach your classes to answer this question using mathematics. The first part of a three-day lesson on determining significance differences in experimental data prompts learners to analyze the data by determining the...
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Sampling Variability in the Sample Mean (part 1)
How accurate is data collected from a sample? Learners answer this question using a simulation to model data collected from a sample population. They analyze the data to understand the variability in the results.
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The Motion of the Moon, Sun, and Stars—Motivating Mathematics
What does math have to do with the behavior of the earth and sun? Learn how the movement of celestial bodies has influenced the development of trigonometry. Scholars connects the details in mathematics to their real-world meaning.
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The Height and Co-Height Functions of a Ferris Wheel
Show learners the power of mathematics as they model real-life designs. Pupils graph a periodic function by comparing the degree of rotation to the height of a ferris wheel.
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The Definition of a Parabola
Put together the pieces and model a parabola. Learners work through several examples to develop an understanding of a parabola graphically and algebraically.
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Word Problems Leading to Rational Equations
Show learners how to apply rational equations to the real world. Learners solve problems such as those involving averages and dilution. They write equations to model the situation and then solve them to answer the question — great...
Teach Engineering
Slinkies as Solenoids
What does an MRI machine have to do with a slinky? This activity challenges learners to run a current through a slinky and use a magnetic field sensor to measure the magnetic field. Groups then change the length of the slinky to see the...
Teach Engineering
Come On Over Rover
Introduce your class to the steps that occur in the manufacturing of parts, the assembly, and the testing of a Mars rover. Pupils learn about fabrication techniques and tolerances in the manufacturing process.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Solving Linear Equations in Two Variables
Solving problems about pen and paper with systems of equations ... or is it the other way around? In the lesson, learners first interpret expressions and use equations in two variables to solve problems about notebooks and pens. They...
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Ferris Wheels—Tracking the Height of a Passenger Car
Watch your pupils go round and round as they explore periodic behavior. Learners graph the height of a Ferris wheel over time. They repeat the process with Ferris wheels of different diameters.