Mathematics Assessment Project
Smoothie Box
Pupils demonstrate their understanding of nets by designing a net of a box that contains 12 bottles. Given the full size top and side views of the bottle, they determine the dimensions needed for the finished box. The directions do...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Ice Cream
I scream, you scream, we all determine the amount of ice cream! Pupils calculate the amount of ice cream flavors needed based on survey results in a short summative assessment. They determine the number of tubs and cost of ice...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Indefinite Integrals
The inverse of matter is anti-matter, so the inverse of a derivative is an antiderivative. The lesson introduces antiderivatives and indefinite integrals to the class along with the notation for integrals. Groups work together to find...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Sneaking Up on Slope
Pupils determine the pattern in collinear points in order to determine the next point in a sequence. Using the definition of slope, they practice using the slope formula, and finish the activity with three different ways to...
Teach Engineering
Preconditioning Balloons: Viscoelastic Biomedical Experiments
What does stretching a balloon have to do with equilibrium? Groups explore preconditioning by stretching a balloon to a point of equilibrium. They then measure the amount of force required to stretch the balloon to the same point several...
Teach Engineering
Measuring Viscosity
Groups use a marble to determine the viscosity of household fluids. The procedure calls for pupils to measure the amount of time it takes a marble to fall a specified distance in the fluids. Using unit conversions and algebra, the teams...
Teach Engineering
Using Hooke's Law to Understand Materials
Provide a Hooke for a lesson on elasticity with an activity that has groups investigate a set of springs. They use a set procedure to collect data to calculate the spring constant for each spring using Hooke's Law. The groups...
Teach Engineering
Machines and Tools (Part 2)
Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.
Teach Engineering
Just Plane Simple
It is plane to see that simple machines help reduce the force needed to perform a task. This resource introduces three of the simple machines--the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw, and the formulas in order to be able...
Teach Engineering
Edible Rovers (High School)
Design and build a rover ... then eat it? This activity has groups of two design and build Mars rovers. The teams determine what instruments they want to include with their rover and plan a budget. They calculate the cost of the body of...
EngageNY
The Power of Algebra—Finding Pythagorean Triples
The Pythagorean Theorem makes an appearance yet again in this instructional activity on polynomial identities. Learners prove a method for finding Pythagorean triples by applying the difference of squares identity.
Teach Engineering
Biot-Savart Law
Electrical current going round and round,produces a magnetic field. After a demonstration of the magnetic field surrounding an electrical wire, class members use the provided formula associated with Biot-Savart's Law to calculate the...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Solving Linear Equations in Two Variables
Solving problems about pen and paper with systems of equations ... or is it the other way around? In the lesson, learners first interpret expressions and use equations in two variables to solve problems about notebooks and pens. They...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Suzi's Company
Don't use an average resource ... use this one. As a middle school assessment task, learners first determine mean, median, and mode of salaries given in a frequency table. They then investigate how a change in one value changes the...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Photographs
Picture your pupils using this assessment task. Class members must first determine the measurements of smaller copies of photographs placed next to the original. They then determine the dimensions of the entire sheet of photographs.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Memory Game
Middle schoolers must determine probabilities for a memory game in which winning requires matching two of the same cards. They then must determine what happens when more cards are added to the pile.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Meal Out
Middle schoolers identify an equation in one variable that models a restaurant order. They then solve the equation to determine the number of people who had each type of meal.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Card Game
Middle schoolers use 10 cards to determine whether the probability that the next card chosen is higher or lower than the previous.
EngageNY
Ferris Wheels—Tracking the Height of a Passenger Car
Watch your pupils go round and round as they explore periodic behavior. Learners graph the height of a Ferris wheel over time. They repeat the process with Ferris wheels of different diameters.
Teach Engineering
Six Minutes of Terror
Help your class understand the design challenges when trying to land a remote spacecraft on a planet. Class members examine the provided information to understand how each component of a spacecraft is designed in order to safely land a...
Teach Engineering
Edible Rovers
The good thing about building this rover is you get to eat it afterwards. Pairs determine rover parts they want to include in their design based upon their cost and usefulness. The teams design their rovers, build them from edible...
Mathematics Assessment Project
100 People
It's a small world after all. In the middle school assessment task, learners use data that imagines there are only 100 people in the world to answer questions about population demographics. Young mathematicians use ratio and proportional...
Mathematics Assessment Project
A Million Dollars
Could you carry a million dollars in $1 bills? As a middle school assessment task, learners investigate different questions regarding a million dollars. They then determine how long it would take to make a million dollars, how...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Sports Bag
Why not give surface area of cylinders a sporting chance in your classroom? A strategic problem-solving task requires pupils to consider the net of a cylinder. Individuals must determine the sizes of the pieces needed to make a...