Balanced Assessment
At the Supermarket
Grocery managers and chefs sure use lots of math. Scholars first use ratios and unit rates to determine a price for a can of corn. Once individuals have the pricing, they determine the amount of ingredients necessary to make brownies...
Balanced Assessment
Who's Left?
If you're not right-handed, are you wrong-handed? Young statisticians calculate the percentage of left-handed people using a given data set in the assessment task. They plot data on a scatter plot and consider how the line of best fit...
Curated OER
Buying Coffee
Starbucks or house blend? Pupils analyze the unit rate as the cost per pound of coffee. They use a graph to visualize the unit rate given the cost for a quantity other than one pound.
Mathed Up!
Best Buys
Which scenario is the better deal? Class members examine nine scenarios to determine which choice offers a better deal. Pupils decide whether they need to find unit costs or total prices to compare the two options.
Shodor Education Foundation
Incline
Study velocity while examining graphical representations. As scholars work with the animation, they discover the effect the height of an incline has on the velocity of the biker. They make conclusions about the slope of the line in terms...
101 Questions
World Record Balloon Dog
What is the world record for a dog popping 100 balloons? Viewers observe as a dog pops 25 balloons and must figure out how long it should take for the canine to pop the other 75. They discover the previous record and predict if this dog...
101 Questions
Graduation
Graduation ceremonies are huge milestones, but sometimes waiting for a name to be called gets a bit boring. Scholars find the pace the announcer calls names to determine how long until a specific name is called. Calculations work in...
101 Questions
Mowing the Lawn
It'll take as long as it'll take. After watching a short video clip of someone moving a lawn as well as a running stopwatch, pupils estimate how long it would take to mow the entire lawn. Provided diagrams show the dimensions of the lawn...
PBS
The Lowdown — Exploring Changing Obesity Rates through Ratios and Graphs
Math and medicine go hand-in-hand. After viewing several infographics on historical adult obesity rates, pupils consider how they have changed over time. They then use percentages to create a new graph and write a list of questions the...
PBS
Scale City — Scaling up Recipes and Circles in the Real World
What a great big skillet you have. The resource introduces the class to the world's largest stainless steel skillet. The class creates a model of the skillet and a typical 12-inch skillet and compares the relative sizes of their areas....
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 4: Similarity and Right Triangle Trigonometry
Right you are to use a great resource. Starting with a lesson on dilations, scholars learn about similarity transformations and similar triangles. They use the knowledge to develop an understanding of right triangle trigonometry in later...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Claim 2
Math can be a problem in eighth grade. Sample items show how problem solving exists within the eighth grade standards. Part of the Gr. 8 Claim 2 - 4 Item Slide Shows series, the presentation contains eight items to illustrate the...
PHET
Equality Explorer: Basics
Not all interactives are made equal. Scholars use an interactive balance to explore the concept of equality. They place different objects on balances to determine the number of each object needed to balance the scale.
Radford University
Filling Up a Swimming Pool Task
Swimming pools are no fun without water. For a pool in the shape of a trapezoidal prism, scholars first calculate the amount of water needed to fill the pool. They use experimental data on water flow to determine whether to haul water...
Radford University
Take a Trip
Leave all your travels needs to the math department. Pupils apply knowledge of triangles to identify a triangular path for a traveler to take. They use a given distance for the second leg of the trip and a constraint on the length of the...
Radford University
Choosing the Best Cylinders
Don't be fooled: the taller glass doesn't always hold the most. Given the dimensions of different cylindrical containers for beverages and popcorn, pupils calculate the volumes. They see how changing the dimensions affects the volume and...
Radford University
Exploring Coal Pillar Mining
Coal mines can be a gold mine of math applications. After reading some basic information on coal mining, learners draw blueprints of a coal pillar in the shape of a composite figure. They find the volume of material from the coal pillar...
Radford University
Coal Silo Design Task
The coal is mined. Now what? Scholars design a coal silo that stores mined earth using at least two different three-dimensional shapes. They calculate the volume, determine the amount of mined earth produced in a day, and find the amount...
Radford University
How Do I Design a Raised Bed Garden to Accommodate My Plants?
Give plants the best place to grow. Given constraints on plant spacing, pupils design a raised bed garden using graph paper, then calculate the perimeter, surface area, and volume. They use the provided costs of lumber and soil to...
Bowland
Ice Cream
Make sure there is enough ice cream on hand. Learners try to find out how much ice cream to buy for a sports event. Scholars use a pie chart showing the percent of a sample of people who like different flavors of ice cream. Using the...
Bowland
Taxi Cabs
Determine the cheapest way to the airport. Pupils read a scenario about trying to get 75 people to the airport using two different sizes of taxis. Learners calculate the number of smaller taxis needed given a number of large taxis and...
Flipped Math
Calculus AB/BC - Exponential Models with Differential Equations
Exponential models come with a shortcut. Pupils watch an example of how to determine if a differential equation is an exponential model. Learners realize the solution is in the same formula, allowing for a quick way to determine the...
Curated OER
Math Challenge
Students challenge their math knowledge through a series of lessons designed to engage critical thinking and reasoning skills. In these problem solving lessons, students work with the Pythagorean Theorem, time zones in different regions...
Curated OER
Similar Figures
In this similar figures worksheet, students solve and complete 4 different problems. First, they write a proportion and substitute. Then, students find the cross products and simplify. Finally, they divide each side to find the value in...