Radford University
Tiling a Kitchen Floor
Cover the floor with math. Pupils work to determine the proper shape to cover a kitchen floor. They first determine the number of tiles to purchase and configure their placement to reduce the amount of waste. Teams finish by creating a...
Radford University
Getting Around Millbrook
When is the distance formula not accurate? Referencing a map of the school, pairs determine the walking distance between two locations. Creating coordinates for each location, pupils determine the distance between the two points and...
Radford University
How do I Create a Scaled Model of a Full-Sized Basketball Court?
Take mathematics to the hoop! Pairs first measure the linear distances on a basketball court. Using those measurements, they determine the scale lengths to create a scaled model. To finish the activity, learners create models of the...
Radford University
Triangular Irrigation
Try to keep the pipe short. Learners investigate where to place a water pump to use the least amount of pipe. Scholars use their knowledge of reflections and congruent triangles to find the best location for the water pump. Finally, they...
Radford University
Distance and Midpoint Formulas in a Mall
Go for a walk in the mall. Pupils find distances between stores on a diagram of a mall on Quadrant I. The scholars also determine the midpoint between a store and an entrance to the mall to then create their own paths and determine their...
Radford University
Are You Faster than Bacteria?
Just how fast does bacteria grow? Over the course of three lessons, pupils investigate exponential growth with the use of bacteria growth. During the lesson, bacteria from a cell phone is grown to make a connection to real life. Using...
Radford University
Buying A Car
What is my monthly payment? Scholars research to find the perfect car for them to buy. Using the cost of the car, they determine a down payment and the amount of monthly payments using a zero interest loan. Finally, they investigate what...
Radford University
Land Development
Groups work with polynomials to devise functions that will model a selling price for property. The teams determine variables to create expressions to represent the cost required to develop land into a housing addition. Classmates then...
Radford University
Earthquake Problem
Shake up things in the classroom. The unit uses earthquakes to bring a real-life connection to finding arc lengths, logarithms, and equations of circles. Small groups determine whether particular towns would have felt an earthquake after...
Radford University
Ramp It Up
Pupils gather measurements of real-world objects that have slopes. They then plot the measurements and find an equation of a line that fits the measurements. Finally, groups investigate the ADA and determine whether different ramps meet...
Radford University
Right Triangle Applications: Lesson 3
Find the connection between trigonometry and tornadoes. Pairs investigate a tornado in Joplin, Mo., and use trigonometry to find its size. The pupils determine the path of the tornado and find the distance needed to travel to help...
Radford University
Right Triangle Applications: Lessons 1 and 2
Use right triangles for more than just mathematical problems. The first two lessons of a unit ask pupils determine distances between cities by using the Pythagorean Theorem and a map. To cement understanding, learners use trigonometric...
Radford University
Down on Sue's Farm
When would a farmer use math? Class members work through five tasks on a farm that require knowledge of surface area, volume, and determining regression equations. The challenges range from figuring out the amount of paint to buy,...
Radford University
Environmental Issues
Pupils investigate the air pollution situation in China by fitting a curve to historical data. They dig deeper into environmental issues that are of interest and provide a mathematical analysis of the issue. Class members develop a route...
Radford University
Money and Finance
Make the connection between money and exponential equations. Pupils continue financial lessons as they learn about compound interest in savings accounts. They extend the investigation of savings by looking at annuities, and then...
Radford University
Feeding the World
Using technology, pupils find an exponential function to model the population growth of the US. With more information, learners derive the population growth formula for the world. Ultimately, they determine the amount of protein needed...
Radford University
How to Build a Happy Home
Build a complete house in just a few days. Learners create floor, roof, deck, and landscape plans for a two-story house. Scholars then use their knowledge of area formulas, trigonometric ratios, and the Pythagorean Theorem to determine...
Radford University
The Wheels on the Bus
Find a cheaper way to keep buses going round and round. Small groups use their knowledge of ratios and proportions to find ways to save money on school transportation. The teams determine the number of miles buses currently travel by...
Radford University
Natural Disaster Recovery and Quadrilaterals: Trapezoids and Land Assessments
After a tornado, an insurance company is in need of finding the area of a plot of land. Pupils use their knowledge of trapezoids and area formulas to calculate the area of the plot of land. The scholars work in groups to justify the...
Radford University
Ping Pong Packing
Bounce off some ideas to reduce the amount of wasted space. Teams work together to determine the best size and shape of container to package a large order of ping pong balls. Groups are to design the container to reduce the amount of...
Radford University
2 and 3 Dimensional Shapes
Take a similar approach to three dimensions. Pupils develop the relationship between areas of similar objects and see how they relate to the ratio of the sides. Building upon area formulas, small groups put together volume formulas for...
Radford University
Natural Disaster Recovery and Quadrilaterals: Fencing and Roofing Materials
Storm into a better understanding of geometry. Using a tornado as a backdrop, scholars practice their skills finding perimeters and areas of rectangles. Learners apply their knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem to find missing sides of...
Radford University
Next Top Model
Create a world of similar models. The geometry and measurement unit uses real-world scenarios to create models of familiar buildings and rooms. Scholars work with blueprints and scale models to compare areas and volumes between the...
Purdue University
The Represented World: Recreational STEM
How are forces and motion important to a swing set? Scholars explore the concepts of force and motion using swing sets. In preparation for their own STEM design project, individuals take surveys and data from peers, complete labs on...