National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: Movie Money
Do movie theaters make lots of money? You can find out when you try this math challenge that explores profit and loss in the theater industry. Discover why understanding problem solving, percent, and basic calculations are essential in...
University of Georgia
University of Georgia: Navigation Problems
These two navigation problems employ the use of the law of sines or cosines and basic trigonometry. Each problems includes links to a sketch of the problem for visual help, and to a solution.
University of California
University of California: Geometry in Action
This page collects various areas in which ideas from discrete and computational geometry (meaning mainly low-dimensional Euclidean geometry) meet some real-world applications.
Hunkins Experiments
Hunkin's Experiments:how to Measure the Height of a Tree
Hunkin's Experiments is a group of simple cartoon illustrations of scientific principles. Some would work well in the classroom, but others have little value beyond entertaining students. All of the projects are easy to do. This part...
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Radioactive Decay Model
Substitute coins for radiation. A coin experiment using radioactive decay.
Other
Mega Math: One to One Correspondence
This site contains a simple example of one-to-one correspondence used in the real world.
PBS
Pbs Online News Hour: Mac Neil Lehrer Productions: Sampling Bias, Ca Recall
In this lesson plan, students are exposed to the different types of political samples, given lists of election data and asked to differentiate between the samples, and informed as to the sources of bias in samples. In addition to...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: Beanie Babies, Profit or Loss
Is you Beanie Baby business booming or busted! Figure out if you made a profit or lost money in this mathematic computation activity. A one page activity from the NCTM Math Challenges for Families collection that focuses on adding and...
US Census Bureau
Uscb: Us Government: Us Census Bureau
Site provides census data for housing, population data, people, and much more.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Math in Daily Life: Population Growth
At this website there is basic information about world population growth over the last 300+ years. The link at the end of the article is to another article that compares the population growth of two states.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control: Survey and Data Collection
Site contains statistical data for the National Center for Health Statistics.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: Tv Ratings (Pdf)
Here's a challenge for the avid TV watcher. Use your data interpretation skills to explore America's TV watching habits in this NCTM Math Challenges for Families activity. See if you can figure out which night of the week has the...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
The Math Forum: The Art of Oriental Carpets
This site from the Math Forum of Drexel University gives an idea of how symmetry and pattern is used in oriental carpets. Links are provided throughout for additional information on related subjects.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: How Many Colors of States Are on a Us Map
Try this data collection and analysis math challenge on map coloring. An interesting approach to analyzing complex data. This one page activity is part of the NCTM Math Challenges for Families collection.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: Majority Vote
Cast your vote for this math challenge that explores calculating percentages as it relates to voting. Discover how mastering this skill will be beneficial in real life situations. A one page activity from the NCTM Math Challenges for...
Other
Univ. Of Arkansas: Symmetry and the Shape of Space
This University of Arkansas site applies symmetry to the world of history and artifacts. Includes images.
Rice University
What Percentage of Your Class Is Right or Left Handed?
What percentage of the class is right or left-handed? Students will investigate this question using statistical processes of collecting the data, organizing it, graphing, and finally analyzing it. Follow-up questions are provided for the...
Rice University
A Mathematics Fantasy the Million $ Mission
An example of exponential growth dealing with the national debt.
Rice University
Rice University: The Hand Squeeze
Students will enjoy this data collection and class analysis experiment involving the time it takes for a hand squeeze to travel around a circle of people. From organizing the activity to collecting the data to making a table and graphing...
Free Math Help
Free Math Help: Batting Average
Here is an explanation about how to calculate a player's batting average.
Michigan State University
Michigan State University: Biometrics: Hand Geometry
Students use hand geometry to prove their own identification.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Using Symmetry to Create a Community Quilt
This site provides a hands-on lesson plan to make a quilt using symmetry.