Illustrative Mathematics
Running on the Football Field
Make your class into Pythagorean theorem fanatics in no time. What a great resource to get your sports enthusiasts into the math game! Read the commentary so you can you can strategize how to apply the three math practices.
Cord Online
Pyramids and Cones
Young mathematicians find the surface area and volume of a square pyramid and a cone. In what looks like a typical activity out of a textbook, you'll find an activity where learners find an unknown measurement of a pyramid or cone,...
Mascil Project
Amberhavn: New Bus Network
Public transportation is an important aspect of any growing city. Collaborative groups work to redesign a system for a city in need of restructuring. Young scholars design a route, create a timetable, and incorporate a quality control...
Baylor College
Do Plants Need Light?
Turn your classroom into a greenhouse with a lesson plan on plant growth. First, investigate the different parts of seeds, identifying the seed coat, cotyledon, and embryo. Then plant the seeds and watch them grow! Measure the new plants...
Curated OER
Comparing Light Bulbs
An average home produces twice as many emissions as an average car. Teach your class how to reduce energy consumption by replacing standard incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Perform an experiment to compare...
Virginia Department of Education
Curve of Best Fit
Which function models the data best? Pupils work through several activities to model data with a variety of functions. Individuals begin by reviewing the shapes of the functions and finding functions that will fit plotted data points. By...
Illustrative Mathematics
Sore Throats, Variation 2
What does math have to do with a sore throat? When you mix water and salt you have a great review of how to represent proportional relationships by an equation or graph. Here the proportions of the mixtures may be different, but the...
Baylor College
What's Is Soil Made Of?
It's time to roll up those sleeves and get a little dirty in the second instructional activity of this series on the science of food. Investigate where plants and animals get the minerals they need to live in this two-part exploration of...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Deducting Relationships: Floodlight Shadows
Try to figure out what happens with shadows as a person moves between two light sources. A formative assessment lesson has individuals work on an assessment task based on similar triangles, then groups them based on their assessment...
Polar Trec
Ozone Data Comparison over the South Pole
Did you know the hole in the ozone is seasonal and filled by January every year? The lesson uses scientific measurements of the ozone over the South Pole to understand patterns. Scholars learn that the hole grew bigger annually before...
American Statistical Association
How Random Is the iPod’s Shuffle?
Shuffle the resource into your instructional activity repertoire. Scholars use randomly-generated iPod Shuffle playlists to develop ideas about randomness. They use a new set of playlists to confirm their ideas, and then decide whether...
Curated OER
The Game is Afoot - A Study of Sherlock Holmes
Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre. Based on what they...
Curated OER
Living in the Desert
Conduct an investigation on the plants used by the Hohokam tribe. To survive in the harsh desert environment the Hohokam used many natural resources. Learners read, research, map, and graph multiple aspects of Hohokam plant use as a...
Curated OER
This House is Made of Mud: Exploring the Shapes in Our Lives
Students study about our dependence on the earth's resources for materials. They practice their knowledge of geometric shapes by recognizing them in the context of the story.
Willow Tree
Scientific Notation
Numbers that are very large or very small are difficult to express in standard notation. Pupils learn how to convert between standard and scientific notation. They also multiply and divide the numbers in scientific notation.
Willow Tree
Area of Common Geometric Figures
Scholars can use area formulas, but can they apply what they know about area? The activity challenges learners to think logically while practicing finding area of shapes such as rectangles, circles, parallelograms, triangles, and other...
Curated OER
Linear, Square, and Cubic Units
Linear, square, and cubic units are all investigated as different types of packages are measured. The teacher will need supplies such as a box of aluminum foil, a package of ribbon, and a bag of mulch. The class determines the...
Curated OER
Volume Review
Learners investigate the concepts of volume for rectangular prisms and spheres. They measure the volume of one balloon and then consider how many breaths it would take to fill the room with balloons. The rectangular prism being measured...
Curated OER
Area Applet
Elementary math classes calculate the area of a shape and explain the correlation between the size of the perimeter and the areas that can be contained within that perimeter. They also explain the effect the shape of the perimeter has on...
Curated OER
You Can't Go Wrong with a Right Triangle 2
Upper graders use the properties of right angle trignonmetry to measure objects such as the school flagpole. They solve real world problems using these properties.
Curated OER
Shaking Up Ice Cream
Upper graders use a variety of tools to measure liquid and solid ingredients in an ice cream making recipe. Following written and oral directions and accurately timing themselves forms the basis of this lesson.
Curated OER
Finding Perimeter and Area
Geometers find the perimeter and area of rectangles. They discuss the definitions and characteristics of rectangles and squares. In groups, they use yarn to discover the perimeter of squares and rectangles. They count cubes to explore...
Curated OER
Get Me to the Premiere on Time
Students discover how to calculate speed, distance, and rate. In this problem solving lesson, students view an episode of "Cyberchase" and use the distance formula to determine the fastest route that the main character in the episode...
Curated OER
Cylinders and Scale
Students review what a cylinder is and how a cylinder is measured. They build a variety of cylinders with different heights and radii. They compare the surface area and volume of each cylinder and discuss anything that surprises them...