Curated OER
Yearbook Project for ESL Students
Students in an ESL classroom are introduced to the American tradition of creating a yearbook. Using previous yearbooks, they note the various components and practice using new vocabulary. They brainstorm a list of items they would like...
PBS
Robo Arm
Future engineers create robotic arms like those on rovers built by NASA in the second lesson of the series. They test their devices by attempting to pick up and move cups to a specified location.
Balanced Assessment
Bathtub Graph
Represent the relationship between independent and dependent variables through a modeling situation. The activity expects learners to graph the volume of water in a bathtub during a given scenario. The graph should result in two areas of...
Balanced Assessment
Square and Circle
To determine the dimensional change to quadruple the area, class members determine how to increase the dimensions of a square and a circle to increase the perimeter by a given factor. they then calculate the necessary factor to...
Balanced Assessment
A Sharper Image
Not all continuous functions are differentiable. Pupils find three types of functions that are defined everywhere but not differentiable for all values of x. Along with providing examples of each type of function, learners...
Balanced Assessment
A Loud Noise
In a scale measuring noise, an increase in 10 dB is a 10 time increase in power. Mathematicians examine the data graph of a real world exponential growth, with no logarithmic scale, and then create two equations relating the...
Balanced Assessment
Getting Closer
Flip the script! Reverse the situation and ask the class to find the function given asymptotes. The task requires class members to use their knowledge of functions and asymptotes to create functions that have a given asymptote or...
Balanced Assessment
Genetic Codes
Determine the number of possible genetic codes. Class members are challenged to determine the number of possibilities of a genetic code that is 20 bases long. They continue to explore the average lengths of broken RNA molecules.
Balanced Assessment
Books from Andonov
To examine mathematical functions in a modeling situation pupils combine quadratic and step functions to represent a presented scenario. They both graph and write a function to represent data shown in a table.
Balanced Assessment
Ostrich and Seahorse
Examine the relationship between ratios and scale. Young math scholars compare ratios of two models. They use the ratios to make a comparison between the two models. Each image uses a different scale, which requires learners to think...
Balanced Assessment
Bouncing Off the Walls
Apply geometry concepts to improve your pool game! Here scholars create the perfect bank shot using angles of incidence and refraction. They create three different options for the same shot.
Balanced Assessment
Gligs and Crocs
Explore relationships between perimeter and area. Learners compare the measurement units of gligs and crocs. They use a given perimeter and area as well as specific measurement relationships to determine the scale of gligs to crocs.
Balanced Assessment
Melons and Melon Juice
Model the difference between the graphs of discrete and continuous functions. Scholars examine two scenarios and construct graphs to model the situation. They then compare their graphs that illustrate the subtle difference between these...
Balanced Assessment
Chance of Survival
Class members determine the chance of surviving two years by explaining the concept of probability expressed in a medical terms. Would-be doctors continue to explain a conditional probability statement as it relates to the...
Balanced Assessment
Mirror, Mirror II
Apply the concept of similar triangles to design a space in a room. Scholars use similar triangles to determine how a spotlight reflects from a mirror. After drawing the path of the spotlight, individuals find the smallest possible width...
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.
Balanced Assessment
Blirts and Gorks
Start a trend by using blirts and gorks as your standard unit of measures. The activity asks learners to take a known measures of blirts and gorks and develop a conversion ratio. Individuals use both perimeter and area measures of...
Elizabeth Murray Project
The Education of Women in Colonial America
What educational opportunities were available to women during the colonial era in American history? How did the opportunities available to women differ from those for men? To answer this question, class members examine a series of...
Concord Consortium
Walled-Up Parabolas
Jump at the chance to use parabolas. Young mathematicians apply trigonometry to explore the trajectory of a ball in different situations. Some walls cause the ball to bounce, so participants must consider all possibilities.
Concord Consortium
Writing and Sketching I
Writing and sketching functions—what more could you want to do? Learners write and sketch functions that meet certain conditions as they complete a short task. They find a parabola that encompasses three quadrants of the coordinate plane...
Concord Consortium
Writing and Sketching II
Find the function that fits. Scholars first identify the graph of a function that looks the same after a horizontal translation. They must then find the equation of a function whose graph lies only in two adjacent quadrants.
Concord Consortium
Build a Box
Strive for gold with an informative resource. A short task challenges learners to investigate the thickness of a box made from a given volume of gold. The box must have specific dimensions, so setting up and solving a literal equation is...
Concord Consortium
Sharp-Ness of Bends
Define the sharpest in the group. Given a section of a trail map, pupils determine a method to measure the sharpness of each turn in the path. Individuals then determine what modifications to their formulas to make to find the sharpness...
Federal Reserve Bank
What Do People Say?
After reading a series of fictitious letters that represent actual events during the time period, young historians craft a small town newsletter to explain the causes of the Great Depression.