Curated OER
Navajo Weaving: A Lesson in Math and Tradition
Combine geometry and tradition with a lesson that spotlights Navajo weaving. The book, The Goat in the Rug by Charles L. Blood and Martin Link hooks scholars before watching a video of Navajo people tending their sheep and beginning to...
NASA
Lava Layering: Making and Mapping a Volcano
Looking for an out-of-this-world volcanic activity? Geologists study Earth's volcanic history and the neighboring planet Mars by modeling volcanic eruptions, lava flows, and building a shield volcano. Participants use graph paper and...
NASA
When Do Lunar Eclipses Happen?
Who needs the daylight to simulate a lunar eclipse? Astronomers model the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon to explain the necessary conditions for a lunar eclipse. Investigators cut and label a paper plate to represent the Earth and...
PBS
Take It in Stride
One step at a time, pupils practice their measurement techniques as they analyze their stride length. They design their own procedures for measuring and relate their stride measurements to the distance traveled by making calculations.
Under the Dome
Card House
Mathematics is stronger than a card house. Pupils watch a video of the beginning of the building of a triangular card house. Scholars come up with questions they wonder about from the video and ask for more information to arrive at an...
Bowland
Security Camera
Take an overall view of percentages. Pupils determine whether a shop owner's claim is correct about what percent of his shop is viewable from the installed security camera. Learners try to find whether there is a better location for the...
Bowland
Smoothie Box
Make it a tight fit. Given drawings of a smoothie bottle, pupils need to determine the size of a box to hold 12 bottles. Scholars draw a net to show the dimensions needed to create a closed box that would not allow the bottles to move...
Bowland
Candle Box
Shine some light on nets. Using a creative assessment task, pupils create a net that would fold up into a hexagonal box and include the tabs needed for gluing the box together. Scholars then draw candles on each of the sides and the top...
Exploratorium
Traveling Networks
Show your class the path to understanding graph theory. Scholars learn about basic graph theory using an activity based on the Bridges of Konigberg problem. They draw networks on the playground and decide whether it is possible to travel...
Exploratorium
Measuring and Mapping the Playground
The school playground is a great place to learn about math. Pupils measure the dimensions of a playground using baby steps and individual strides. They use their measurements to create a scale drawing of the playground by applying an...
Exploratorium
Angle Hunting
Do angles change with distance? Using a previously made tool, individuals find and measure angles on a playground. They observe that angles are the same measure regardless of the distance at which they're measured.
Exploratorium
Handy Measuring Ratio
Your hand can be a handy tool for measurement. Young mathematicians learn how to estimate the height of objects by applying similarity. They find the horizontal distance from the object where spreading their outstretched fingers results...
Exploratorium
Stride Ruler
Take it all in stride! Scholars learn to estimate distances using their strides as measurement. They take 10 steps next to a set of meter sticks and use the final distance to estimate the length of each step. Once they've found the...
Exploratorium
Making a Translation Tesselation
Make masterful art using math. An interesting activity has learners create artwork involving tesselations. First they cut out a base shape from index cards, then they apply translations to complete their masterpieces.
PHET
Area Model Decimals
Area works with decimals too. Pupils use the interactive to model multiplication of two decimals using an area model. They see how the decomposed components of the factors obtain partial products and then the complete product. Using area...
PHET
Area Model Algebra
Expand the pupils knowledge of using area models to algebra. The interactive allows learners to use the same procedure of getting partial products when multiplying multi-digit numbers to multiplying polynomials. Scholars see how the...
PHET
Area Model Multiplication
Develop a solid understanding of multiplication. The interactive provides opportunities for learners to continue building a deep understanding of multiplication. Pupils use the application to find the product of two numbers and find...
PHET
Area Builder
All that matters is the tiles. Pupils use the interactive to investigate the relationship between area and perimeter using tiles. The interactive has an explore and a game mode to accommodate different steps in learning. The game mode...
Discovery Education
Weathering Cubes
Weathering is not necessarily a result of the weather. Scholars conduct an experiment to explore the effect of surface area and volume on the weathering process. They create their own sugar cube rocks using the same number of cubes—but...
Rice University
Prealgebra
Pre-algebra—all wrapped up in one place. The eBook contains everything needed to teach a typical Pre-Algebra course. Concepts in the course build upon previously learned concepts, allowing mathematicians to see the connections between...
Curriculum Corner
Winter Coordinate Grids
Young geometers identify the location of each icon by naming the ordered pair through a set of 10 winter-themed worksheets.
Concord Consortium
Bricks for Books
Maximize a profit with an understanding of geometric dimension. A real-world task challenges learners to design a pattern using three different brick shapes. The bricks are dedicated with a different donation for each shape, so part of...
CCSS Math Activities
Building Blocks
Math is a lot like building blocks—it requires a solid foundation. A short performance task has pupils consider the volume of a cubic block. It then asks mathematicians to find the surface area and volume of a prism made from stacking...
Yummy Math
More Chocolate Candy?
Everyone knows that candy is the best part of any holiday—but which holiday's candy gives you the most bang for your buck? Analyze a chocolate heart, a chocolate bat, and a normal piece of chocolate to decide which piece of candy has the...