PBS
Map a Model Solar System
Creating a solar system map is a snap thanks to a hands-on activity! Science scholars explore the solar system by building it wherever they choose during an interactive from PBS's Space series. Users pick both the location and scale for...
NASA
The Science of the Sun
There's more to that glowing ball of light in sky than most children realize. From the overall structure of the solar system, to the changing of the seasons, these hands-on lessons open the eyes of young scientists to the important role...
California Academy of Science
How Big is Big?
In a math or life science class, "mini-me" models are created with cardstock to reflect a 1:10 scale of students' bodies. Learners measure each others' heights with meter sticks, and then reduce the size by 10. After this exercise, they...
Curated OER
Lesson: Before You Go...Travel Recommendations from the Experts!
Here is a lesson that sounds like a lot of fun. Kids discuss the artistic elements and motives for the painting, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. To get the scope and scale of this oversized masterpiece, they use butcher paper and the...
Curated OER
Walking the Plank
This is a cool math activity. Kids collect and interpret data based on a physical act. A board is balanced between a scale and a step, learners record a peer's weight as it decreases while s/he walks further away from the scale. They...
Curated OER
Orienteering
Everything you wanted to know about orienteering, and more! Take your class on an adventure with this creative activity. You will need to gather some supplies and materials and maps for your specific location, but the unit sounds like it...
Beyond Benign
Scale the Wall
How can you fit an entire school on one sheet of paper? You use scale! Scholars measure rooms in the school and, using the correct scale, design a floor plan that includes area calculations with their data.
California Department of Education
Waves and Music
Strike the right chord with a musical activity! Instructors provide a lecture on the mechanics of a pan flute. Pupils build their own pan flutes by using straws and calculating the lengths to create a scale. After cutting the straws to...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Extending the Number System
Don't feel negative about negative numbers. Individuals extend their knowledge of positive numbers and fractions to rational numbers. They see how to represent negative rational numbers on a number line, learn about opposites and...
Under the Dome
Sphero Draw and Drive
Determine how far the ball rolled. The class watches a video of a person controlling a sphere rolling on the floor. Pupils develop some questions about the video and make estimates to the solutions of the questions. The teacher provides...
Flipped Math
Unit 1 Review: Analyze Graphs and Expressions
Get in one last practice. Pupils work through 12 problems and a performance task to review the topics in Unit 1. The problems cover analyzing and modeling with graphs, algebraic properties of equality, and adding, subtracting, and...
Flipped Math
Create and Analyze Graphs
Model the world with graphs. Pupils watch and participate in creating graphs to model real-world situations. The presenters stress the importance of a consistent scale and proper labels for the graphs along with identification of the...
Museum of Science
Make a Map
It's important to know the final destination. Scholars first measure distances in a region of interest using a standard measuring device or by counting steps. They then use an appropriate scale and graph paper to create a map of the...
Las Cumbres Observatory
Measure the Diameter of the Sun
Measuring the diameter of the sun may get a little heated, but using an indirect approach can help individuals keep their cool. Learners use the reflection of the sun to measure how long it takes for it to move one diameter. Using the...
California Academy of Science
Modeling Eclipses with Size and Distance Scales
Size within the solar system is a difficult thing for pupils to imagine. Using everyday objects, they build models to show the scale between the sun, moon, and Earth. They situate their props in proportional distances between the objects...
US Department of Commerce
Looking at Numbers of Births Using a Line Graph
Was there a baby boom? Using census data, class members take a look at the number of 8-11 year olds and determine their birth years. Scholars create a double line graph to compare the number of births for two states for several years....
Radford University
Build-a-Toy
Don't toy with using a fun lesson. Scholars design new toys and then create scale drawings. They determine the volume and surface area of the toys, and then research prices of raw materials to estimate the manufacturing costs.
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
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...
CK-12 Foundation
Area and Volume of Similar Solids: Similar Solids
Five questions make up an interactive designed to boosts knowledge of area and volume of solid figures. Question types include multiple-choice, true or false, and fill-in-the-blank. A scale model changes measurement to provide a visual...
Discovery Education
Solar System Scale
Extremely large or extremely small numbers are difficult to comprehend. To help understand the massive scale of the solar system, learners complete two activities. First, they create a model to compares the size of the bodies in the...
Pace University
Grades 7-8 Solving Equations
Create a similar blueprint. The differentiated lesson has pupils work in teams to create a brochure, scale model, or blueprint of a selected house with some minor changes. Once finished, team members present their final projects to the...
CK-12 Foundation
Proportions and Scale: Problem Solving Plan, Proportions
Slide into a lesson on proportions. A slider interactive lets users adjust three of the four values in a proportion and automatically updates the fourth value. Scholars use the interactive to help answer a set of challenge questions on...
California Academy of Science
Moons in Comparison
Just how big is Earth's moon? With a hands-on simulation, scholars use Play-Doh to model the sizes of the planets Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and their moons. They make predictions as a class, work together to make their models, and discuss...