Illustrative Mathematics
Finding an Unknown Angle
Teach your class how to apply their knowledge of geometry as they explore the unknown. In order to find an unknown angle, learners must understand that rectangles have four interior right angles, that right angles have 90 degrees, and...
Civil War Trust
Map the Civil War
Mapmaking was a very important element in successfully planning attacks on enemies during the Civil War. Guide pupils through the process of pacing to find the average length of their steps, measure the distance between one object to the...
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final instructional activity of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating...
Curated OER
Evergreen Tree
Learners use a ruler to make measurements, and to create triangles and a rectangle. They take the shapes they've made and assemble them into an evergreen tree image. This simple, yet effective, lesson would be ideal for young learners...
EngageNY
Modeling with Polynomials—An Introduction (part 2)
Linear, quadratic, and now cubic functions can model real-life patterns. High schoolers create cubic regression equations to model different scenarios. They then use the regression equations to make predictions.
EngageNY
Comparison Shopping—Unit Price and Related Measurement Conversions II
Which rate is greater and by how much? Pupils continue to compare rates to solve problems in the 20th portion of a 29-part series. Rates are presented in a variety of representations either using the same representation or different...
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...
Kentucky Educational Television
The Road to Proportional Reasoning
Just how big would it really be? Young mathematicians determine if different toys are proportional and if their scale is accurate. They solve problems relating scale along with volume and surface area using manipulatives. The last day of...
EngageNY
Comparison Shopping—Unit Price and Related Measurement Conversions
Speed up your scholars' understanding of ratios. Class members compare ratios related with speeds presented in different representations. They then use the unit rates to make the comparisons.
Curated OER
Portrait Proportions and Flesh Tones
Using the provided blank face template, learners of any age draw to learn how to create proper facial proportions. This instructional activity focuses on two dimensional facial proportions, how to estimate those proportions, and drawing...
Curated OER
Arc GIS Project: Visualizing the Holocaust
A cross-curricular lesson for middle schoolers that covers language arts, social studies, geography, and math, this is a great extension activity if your class is reading The Diary of Anne Frank or learning about the Holocaust. Using...
Baylor College
We Need Water
There's nothing quite like a glass of ice-cold, freshly squeezed lemonade. Lesson seven of this series explains how the water humans need to survive can come in many forms. Teach your class about how much water humans require every day...
American Statistical Association
A Sweet Task
Candy is always an effective motivator! A fun math activity uses M&M's and Skittles to explore two-way frequency tables and conditional probability. The candy can serve a dual purpose as manipulatives and experimental data.
Project Maths
Introduction to Angles
Approach the instructional activity from the right angle. A discussion-based instructional activity leads helps learners understand angles in terms of rotation. Individuals use manipulatives to explore the properties of angles and learn...
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.
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...
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...
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...
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...
Mascil Project
Circular Pave-Stones Backyard
Pack the lesson into your plans. Young mathematicians learn about packing and optimization with the context of circular paving stones. They use coins to model the paving stones, and then apply knowledge of circles and polygons to...
Statistics Education Web
You Will Soon Analyze Categorical Data (Classifying Fortune Cookie Fortunes)
Would you rely on a fortune cookie for advice? The lesson first requires future statisticians to categorize 100 fortune cookie fortunes into four types: prophecy, advice, wisdom, and misc. The lesson goes on to have learners use...
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...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Triangle Congruence with Rigid Motion
Combine transformations and triangle congruence in a single lesson. Scholars learn to view congruent triangles as a rigid transformation. Using triangle congruence criteria, learners identify congruent triangles and the rigid...
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...