National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
What’s the Smallest Thing You Know?
Elementary learners listen to a story, then sort objects from largest to smallest at six different stations around the classroom. Adaptable for a large range of age and ability groups.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Scale Models
With instructions to adapt the activities for any grade K-12, any teacher can incorporate the concept of scale into the classroom with a simple, yet effective lesson.
Berkshire Museum
Camouflage!: Collecting Data and Concealing Color
Help young scholars see the important role camouflage plays in the survival of animals with a fun science lesson. Starting with an outdoor activity, children take on the role of hungry birds as they search for worms represented by...
Berkshire Museum
Adopt a Schoolyard Tree
Help young scientists connect with nature and learn about trees with a fun life science lesson plan. Heading out into the school yard, children choose a tree to adopt, taking measurements, writing descriptions, and drawing sketches of it...
Denton Independent School District
Pieces to the Puzzle Fraction Project
Four polygons each have a fraction with unlike denominators printed on them. Creative math minds select several shapes to create a design with and then write and solve a math problem involving the addition of all of the fractions...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Line Plots
Data analysts are guided through the arrangement of whole-number data onto a line plot by listening and viewing a high-quality, animated, and narrated set of slides.
Scholastic
Study Jams! Tell Temperature
Weather watchers are introduced to temperature scales using step-by-step animated slides. The Home set explains the Fahrenheit scale on a thermometer, while the Watch Out! set introduces Celsius. A Try It! tab contains two guided...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Rounding Decimals
Jeans length is a hot topic for preteens, and in this lesson, Mia helps us figure out how to round the length of various pairs so that Zoe can get some as close to 32.45 inches as possible. She uses a number line or ruler to prove the...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Number Lines
Step by step, two examples of creating number lines are explained through a series of animations. One is meant to watch at home, the second can be viewed in class, and there is a third tab with two sample problems to try. This skill,...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Division of Decimals
A four-step series of narrated animations teaches elementary mathematicians how to divide a decimal by a whole number. While this skill is not specifically addressed by Common Core standards, it definitely will prepare them to tackle...
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...
World Wildlife Fund
Bar Charts & Pie Charts
Learn about life in the Arctic while practicing how to graph and interpret data with this interdisciplinary lesson. Starting with a whole group data-gathering exercise, students are then given a worksheet on which they analyze and create...
Noyce Foundation
Apple Farm Field Trip
Monitor the growth of young mathematicians with a comprehensive addition and subtraction assessment. Using the context of a class field trip to an apple orchard, this series of four story problems allows children to demonstrate their...
US Department of Agriculture
George Washington Carver Coloring and Activity Book
Learn about the interesting life of George Washington Carver and his many accomplishments with this series of worksheets for primary grade learners. From coloring pages and word searches, to non-fiction reading passages and math skills...
Illustrative Mathematics
Representing Half of a Circle
Geometric shapes make great visual models for introducing young mathematicians to the concept of fractions. Looking at a series of four circles, students are asked to determine whether or not one half of each circle is shaded. To support...
Illustrative Mathematics
Overlapping Rectangle
Challenge young mathematicians' ability to compose and decompose shapes with this fun geometry puzzle. The goal is simple, locate all of the rectangles shown in a picture of three overlapping rectangles. Perform this activity as a whole...
Exploratorium
Exploring Pattern Blocks
Here's a great lesson that uses one of the best manipulatives there is: pattern blocks. Elementary schoolers must fill in a variety of shapes using specific amounts of pattern blocks. This forces them to do some spatial mathematical...
Exploratorium
Cut-Fold-Staple
Here is an interesting activity that combines paper folding art and geometry. In it, learners have a stack of index cards that are bound together. They draw a shape on it, and cut out the shape. When they unfold their shape, they have...
Exploratorium
Rotating String Shapes
Here is a very interesting way of studying triangles and polygons. Pupils work together and use pieces of string to create a variety of shapes. Depending on how many kids are manipulating the string at any one time, the number of...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Engineer a Dam
To begin the learning about dams, learners read (or are read to, depending on the age group) a passage about how dams work. Next, they work in groups to use the materials provided to build a small scale working dam. After the experience,...
Curated OER
Sun and Shadows
Why do shadows look different in the summer than in the winter? What causes day and night? How can a sundial be used to tell time? Answer these questions and more through two engaging lessons about light and shadows. Fourth and fifth...
University of Wisconsin
Sizing a Rain Garden
Most appropriate if you are applying the entire unit to build a rain garden at your school, this installment involves calculating the area that will drain into it. Your garden planners will need data from previous lessons, so this one...
Curated OER
A Math Board Game
Math is fun with a board game printable set. After printing the pieces and board for the game, have your kids play in groups to practice concepts such as operations and arithmetic formulas.
Birdville Independent School District
Friendly Numbers
There are a number of different strategies young mathematicians can use when adding two-digit numbers. This lesson focuses on making addition easier by rounding the addends to friendly numbers, with the resulting sum being adjusted...