Illustrative Mathematics
Ants Versus Humans
You would think that humans make up more mass than ants do on this planet, but think again, and this time by performing calculations. Middle schoolers use scientific notation to compute and compare the estimated total mass of all humans...
Curated OER
Fish Tale
Here is a cute problem that requires visualizing two-dimensional shapes within a three-dimensional object, and using properties of triangles and the Pythagorean theorem to solve a real-world problem. There is a small mistake in this...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Simplifying Radicals – Day 1
It doesn't get simpler than this. Scholars first learn to simplify radicals by determining the prime factors of the radicand. The instructional activity progresses to simplifying radicals involving algebraic expressions in the radicand.
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Exploring Quadratics and Graphs
Young mathematicians first graph a series of quadratic equations, and then investigate how various parts of the equation change the graph of the function in a predictable way.
Noyce Foundation
Parallelogram
Parallelograms are pairs of triangles all the way around. Pupils measure to determine the area and perimeter of a parallelogram. They then find the area of the tirangles formed by drawing a diagonal of the parallelogram and compare their...
Inside Mathematics
Magic Squares
Prompt scholars to complete a magic square using only variables. Then they can attempt to solve a numerical magic square using algebra.
California Education Partners
Window Washers
Aim high with a task on window washers. An assessment task challenges learners to determine the number of windows two people wash. They do this using a given number of window rows on each side of a building. In addition, they find the...
Curated OER
Does Order Really Matter?
Investigate the order of operations! Learners participate in interactive multi-media activities to examine and solve multi-step equations, inequalities. They evaluate formulas and simplify monomials and polynomials.
Curated OER
Lines of Symmetry
Do your learners know that letters of the alphabet have lines of symmetry? Well, some of them do. Scholars examine nine symmetrical letters and draw in the line of symmetry for each (one of them has two!). They also complete six letters...
Curated OER
Multiplying Fractions Times Whole Numbers
Multiplying fractions by whole numbers is the focus of the math lesson presented here. There are three activities outlined in the lesson along with a nifty game learners play on the computer that reinforces their learning. These lessons...
EngageNY
Multiplying and Factoring Polynomial Expressions (part 1)
Polynomial multiplication and factoring go hand in hand. Why not teach them together. This resource begins with an area model for distributing a monomial and then connects the process to factoring the GCF. Learners then advance to...
Inside Mathematics
Coffee
There are many ways to correlate coffee to life, but in this case a worksheet looks at the price of two different sizes of coffee. It requires interpreting a graph with two unknown variables, in this case the price, and solving for those...
Inside Mathematics
Conference Tables
Pupils analyze a pattern of conference tables to determine the number of tables needed and the number of people that can be seated for a given size. Individuals develop general formulas for the two growing number patterns and use them to...
Curated OER
Global Warming
A series of independent learning activities teaches learners about global warming as it relates to economics and industrialization. The culminating project requires them to create a multimedia presentation identifying the problems,...
Texas Instruments
Drawing a Line Tangent to a Circle
Explore lines tangent to a circle. In this math lesson, students manipulate circles and lines on a TI calculator. They draw a circle and analyze perpendicular lines intersecting the circle in only one place. This activity works best if...
Curated OER
Does Your Field Measure Up
Students measure angles using a plane table kit. In this geometry lesson, students use trigonometric identities to find the values of the length of a football field.
Curated OER
Congruency
Which triangles are congruent? There are two sets of triangles here for scholars to examine in order to determine which of them are congruent. They use an example and explanatory introduction to guide them through this process. The first...
Curated OER
Mixed Tables
Bring out the pegboards for this one! As you introduce multiplication, explain it as sets of objects using these visual practice problems. Learners look at eight pegboards with varying rows filled. For each, they fill in two sentences...
World Wildlife Fund
Shapes
Investigate the properties of three-dimensional figures with this Arctic-themed math lesson. Beginning with a class discussion about different types of solid figures present in the classroom, young mathematicians are then given a...
Illustrative Mathematics
Building toward fluency
Here is a great learning task that focuses on the development of areas in computational fluency including strategies in mental math. Young learners are guided through a list of addition expressions that help them visually understand the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Placing a Square Root on the Number Line
There are many ways to approach finding the rational approximation of an unknown square root. Here is a problem that will help math learners make a connection between square roots and their order on a number line. As usual, determine two...
EngageNY
Why Call It Tangent?
Discover the relationship between tangent lines and the tangent function. Class members develop the idea of the tangent function using the unit circle. They create tables of values and explore the domain, range, and end behavior of the...
EngageNY
Transforming the Graph of the Sine Function
Build a solid understanding of trigonometric transformations through exploration. Learners work in teams to analyze the effects of different algebraic components on the graph of a sine function.
EngageNY
Euler’s Number, e
Scholars model the height of water in a container with an exponential function and apply average rates of change to this function. The main attraction of the instructional activity is the discovery of Euler's number.