Illustrative Mathematics
Trigonometric Ratios and the Pythagorean Theorem
Take an alternative route with trigonometry and let learners connect a tweaked version of the pythagorean theorem to the original in terms of triangle sides. The assignment leads participants towards deriving the Pythagorean identity...
Illustrative Mathematics
Springboard Dive
Quadratics and height application problems go hand in hand like teenagers and sleeping in. High schoolers must look at the equation of a diver's height and calculate such features as the height of dive board, time entering the water, and...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Particle Motion
Derivatives are useful for many things — they can even keep track of particle motion. An informative lesson plan provides an introduction to the idea of the second derivative in particle motion. Class members determine the...
Noyce Foundation
Cut It Out
Explore the mathematics of the paper snowflake! During the five lessons progressing in complexity from K through 12, pupils use spatial geometry to make predictions. Scholars consider a folded piece of paper with shapes cut out....
Concord Consortium
Functions by the Slice
Piece by piece ... dismantling a function can highlight interesting patterns. The task asks learners to slice functions in sections with the same vertical change. They then recreate the graph with these slices positioned horizontally....
Illustrative Mathematics
Battery Charging
Your class will be very interested in the results of this activity. How long does it take a MP3 and video game player to charge? Sam only has an hour and the MP3 player only has 40% of its battery life left. Plus, his video player...
Illustrative Mathematics
Stained Glass
A complex question looking for the total cost of a stained glass window by calculating area and circumference of a circle. With detailed components, this activity will challenge your designers to figure out if they have enough money to...
Alberta Learning
Area and Perimeter of Irregular Shapes
Evaluate young mathematicians' understanding of area and perimeter with this series of three assessment tasks. Challenging students to not only calculate the area and perimeter of irregular shapes, but to explain in writing their...
University of Nottingham
Drawing to Scale: A Garden
See how design and geometry go hand in hand. The activity asks learners to use geometry to design a backyard garden given dimensions of each feature. Scholars work with ratios and scale to develop an accurate scale drawing that includes...
Mathed Up!
Place Value
Prompt class members to find the value of various digits, and to write numbers in standard form and written form. Pupils also round multi-digit numbers to the nearest hundred and thousand.
Mathed Up!
Coordinates
Young graphers decide where to plot a point given a specific ordered pair. The problems vary in difficulty, beginning with simpler coordinates, and ending with plotting and connecting coordinates. Each graph is labeled with the...
Willow Tree
Fractions
There’s a fine line between a numerator and a denominator. Learners review operations with fractions and ensure they have the skills needed to progress in the course. Taking the time now to review these concepts allows individuals to...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Multiplying Cells
Powers of two: it's a matter of doubling. A short summative assessment task asks pupils to determine a process to calculate the number of cells at given time intervals. They use powers of two in order to calculate the number of...
Balanced Assessment
Stick Patterns
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but these sticks will make me smarter. Pupils examine arrays of sticks to determine the next array in a pattern. They use the number of sticks added to each previous array to determine a recursive...
Statistics Education Web
Did I Trap the Median?
One of the key questions in statistics is whether the results are good enough. Use an activity to help pupils understand the importance of sample size and the effect it has on variability. Groups collect their own sample data and compare...
Balanced Assessment
Transformation I
Rewriting expressions in different forms is an essential algebra skill. Support the development of this skill by using a task that asks scholars to begin with a linear, quadratic, and rational expression and then manipulate...
Balanced Assessment
Fermi Estimates II
How many hot dogs does Fenway Park go through in a year? Learners estimate answers to this question and more as they work through the task. Problems require participants to make assumptions and use those assumptions to make estimations.
Mathed Up!
Scatter Graphs
Make an estimate by getting in line. The class works with scatter plots and lines of best fit to make an estimate for given values. Pupils determine whether there is a positive or negative correlation and draw a best-fit line. Using the...
Mathed Up!
Area and Circumference of Circles
Don't go around and around, help your class determine amounts around and in a circle with a video that connects circumference to the perimeter or the distance around an object. The resource includes 14 questions dealing with circles and...
Mathed Up!
Rotation
Two videos show first how to perform a rotation, given the center, the angle, and the direction of rotations. Individuals then see how to find what the rotation is from one figure to another. Pupils practice doing both in seven problems...
Mathed Up!
Reflections
Tracing paper is not just for art anymore — pupils can use it to find reflected images, too! Two videos show how to reflect images using tracing paper and find the reflection between the pre-image and image. Learners perform reflections...
Mathed Up!
Translations
Introduce translations as transformations that move figures in horizontal and vertical distances with a video that shows how to translate the figures. A second video covers how to determine the translation that has occurred. Pupils...
Concord Consortium
Triangles: Angle Space
Three angles in a triangle, three-dimensional space, it all seems connected somehow. Given several different triangles, pupils use the three angles of the triangle as coordinates to plot points in three-dimensional space. They explore...
Concord Consortium
Last Digit Arithmetic
Mathematics involves a study of patterns. The exploratory lesson has learners consider the addition pattern in different sets of numbers. Each set has a different pattern that pupils describe mathematically. The patterns involve...