Shodor Education Foundation
Spy Game
Turn pupils into detectives as they decipher encrypted messages. Introduce your class to modular arithmetic and have a little fun encrypting and decoding secret messages. The activity does not hit many content standards, but would...
Cornell University
Non-Newtonian Fluids—How Slow Can You Go?
Children enjoy playing with silly putty, but it provides more than just fun. Young scientists make their own silly putty using different recipes. After a bit of fun, they test and graph the viscosity of each.
Curated OER
Downhill Discoveries
Students are involved in hands-on activities to determine how course conditions affect bobsled, luge, and downhill ski races.
Curated OER
Parabola
Students complete a worksheet and explore the parabola conic section during a web based activitiy. They answer questions based on their work as they make changes in the features of the parabola.
Curated OER
Tantalizing Tessellations - Lesson I
Middle schoolers complete a chart (KWL) as a pre-assessment, study the history of tessellations (tilings), investigate the properties of tessellations, and make and evaluate photographs of "found tessellations" for a...
Curated OER
Parabola (Lab Version)
Pupils develop definition for parabola, explain relationship between properties of the graph of a parabola and its equation, explain how the equation of a parabola can be written in different forms, and solve problems that relate the...
Curated OER
Rotations
Young scholars discuss the concepts of reflection, rotation, and translation. In this rotation activity, students investigate rotations through examples on an overhead projector. No additional worksheet or student assignment is included.
Curated OER
THE MEAN INDEX CARD
Students cut an index card to create three similar right triangles and explore the congruencies and proportions that exist. They investigate the properties of lines and concepts of congruency, similarity, tangency and symmetry of...
Curated OER
Pythagorean Theorem Investigation
Eighth graders investigate the Pythagorean Theorem and practice applying the theorem to various triangles. Finally, in the next lesson in the sequence, 8th graders create a song or a story to help them remember the Pythagorean Theorem.
Curated OER
Measuring with Mathematics
Eighth graders discover how the change in the dimensions of a shape cause a change in the overall area of the shape, but the perimeter stay the same. They, in groups, go out to the playground and construct large areas using stakes and rope.
Curated OER
Oxygen: What a Gas!
Eighth graders explain how oxygen reacts to other elements. They also explain why oxygen is a reactive substance, how it has weight, and how it reacts with other substances. They construct an experiment to relate their findings.
Curated OER
Decreasing Differences
Students identify and interpret the pattern within a set of numbers using words. Then they write rules in words using complete sentences. Students also highlight two similar sequences with the same difference in order to get the first...
Curated OER
Additive Inverses
Students investigate properties of additive inverses. In this properties of additive inverses instructional activity, students discuss the what it means for two numbers to be opposites. Students discuss representing opposite...
Curated OER
Slope Calculation
Students practice calculating the slope of a line. They explain how the formula is derived and identify properties that are associated with positive, negative and undefined slopes. They complete an online activity as well.
Curated OER
Number Subsets: Winning the Number Game
Eighth graders review their examineing about numbers and number systems through playing the Number Game. They create a list of numbers and based upon the characteristics and properties of the numbers they earn points.
Curated OER
Angle Measurement and the AD-1 Aircraft
Learners represent and solve problems using geometric models and apply geometric properties and relationships. They also practice constructing and measuring angles. By constructing, drawing, visualizing, and comparing geometric figures...
Curated OER
Exploring Centers of Triangles
Students explore properties of triangles using angle bisectors, incenters, circles, midpoints, and altitudes. They use Geometer's Sketchpad in order to create triangles and their properties.
Curated OER
Geometry: Lesson 2
Eighth graders engage in a lesson that is concerned with examining two dimensional figures with different properties that include circles, triangles, queadrilaterals, etc... They identify the types of figures that is identified as polygons.
Curated OER
Cannot Buy Me Love
Students investigate the concepts that are related to finance and how it is used in the world. They take part in activities that are focused around the use of a spreadsheet while using a T-chart to simulate a ledger of credits and debits.
Curated OER
The Mandelbrot Set
Students explore the Mandelbrot Set. They are introduced to the concept of a complex number and function in order to motivate the discussion of Julia and Mandelbrot sets. Students investigate fractals and how they are built.
Curated OER
A RealSim Surface Look at Descriptive Statistics
Students explore the concepts of mean and variance. They observe properties of materials to their basic atomic or molecular structure. Students use spreadsheet software to record, tabulate and analyze collected information.
Curated OER
Chaos and Fractal Applications
Eighth graders identify the different applications of fractals. In this math lesson plan, 8th graders use graphing calculator to solve algorithms. They explain how changing parameters and initial conditions affect the solutions.
Curated OER
Buying My First Car
Students pretend they are about to buy their first new car. They must do all the calculations necessary to estimate the cost of purchasing the car. They see that the math they learn in school really does have real-life applications.
Curated OER
What Are The Risks From Radon?
Students examine the health risks of radon in the home. They calculate the odds for each risk and use different forms of measurement. They work together to complete the activity and worksheet.