TryEngineering
What is a Nanometer?
Exactly how small is a nanometer? Scholars investigate the scale of a nanometer by measuring classroom objects and converting these measurements to nanometers.
Curated OER
Build Your Dream Science Lab
Would your ideal science lab be filled with bubbling beakers and zapping Tesla coils? Or would it contain state-of-the-art computer technology and data analysis? Dream big with an innovative lesson that connects math and language arts...
Bowland
Speedy Santa
Santa sure is fast. In the assessment task, learners calculate the number of minutes Santa can spend at each house. This calculation requires the use of given population demographics data.
Math Wire
How Many Winter Paths Do You See?
Is the path through December, January, and February the only path through winter? Not in a holiday math activity based on Pascal's Triangle! Middle schoolers study a triangle made of the letters from the word winter and decide how many...
Inside Mathematics
Patterns in Prague
Designers in Prague are not diagonally challenged. The mini-assessment provides a complex pattern made from blocks. Individuals use the pattern to find the area and perimeter of the design. To find the perimeter, they use the Pythagorean...
Noyce Foundation
Photographs
Scaling needs to be picture perfect. Pupils use proportional reasoning to find the missing dimension of a photo. Class members determine the sizes of paper needed for two configurations of pictures in the short assessment task.
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...
Noyce Foundation
Mixing Paints
Let's paint the town equal parts yellow and violet, or simply brown. Pupils calculate the amount of blue and red paint needed to make six quarts of brown paint. Individuals then explain how they determined the percentage of the brown...
Noyce Foundation
Counters
For some, probability is a losing proposition. The assessment item requires an understanding of fraction operations, probability, and fair games. Pupils determine the fractional portions of an event. They continue to determine whether...
Noyce Foundation
Cereal
Find the best protein-packed cereal. The short assessment task covers equivalent and comparing ratios within a context. Pupils determine the cereal with the highest ratio of protein. A rubric helps teachers with point allotments for...
Bowland
You Reckon?
Sometimes simple is just better. A set of activities teaches young mathematicians about using plausible estimation to solve problems. They break problems down to simpler problems, use rounding and estimation strategies, and consider...
Bowland
Torbury Festival
Have you been to Torbury Fair? In the set of four lessons, learners solve a myriad of problems related to a music festival, including situations involving floods, market stalls, cows, and emergency plans.
Bowland
Water Availability
Just how scarce is water in different parts of the world? Through these water lessons, young data analysts use provided data to investigate the scarcity of water in countries of the Middle East and Africa. They use ratios and rates to...
Bowland
Sundials!
Time to learn about sundials. Scholars see how to build sundials after learning about Earth's rotation and its relation to time. The unit describes several different types of possible sundials, so choose the one that fits your needs — or...
Bowland
Speed Cameras
Do speed cameras help reduce accidents? Scholars investigate this question using a series of spreadsheet activities. Along the way, they learn about randomness, probability, and statistical analysis.
Bowland
Three of a Kind
One is chance, two is a coincidence, three's a pattern. Scholars must determine similarities and differences of a regular hexagon undergoing dilation. They look at lengths, angles, areas, and symmetry.
Bowland
The Z Factor
Young mathematicians determine the number of hours it would take judges of the "Z Factor" television talent show to watch every act. Participants make estimates and assumptions to solve the problem.
Bowland
Soft Drinks
"Statistics are no substitute for judgment" - Henry Clay. Young mathematicians use provided statistics from a soda taste test to explain why conclusions are faulty. They devise a new test that would be more appropriate than the one given.
Bowland
Problem Page
Future mathematicians use a given graph to answer a question about age differences in relationships. Along the way, they must find the equation and inequality of given graphs.
Bowland
Royal Liver Clock
Using clocks as dining tables? Scholars estimate the number of people that can sit around the face of the clock on the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool. They use estimation to justify their responses.
Bowland
Public Transport
"Statistics is the grammar of science" -Karl Pearson. In the assessment task, learners read a claim made by a newspaper and analyze its conclusions. They need to think about the sample and the wording of the given statistics.
Bowland
Rods and Triangles
Scholars explore triangles with rods of different lengths. Using rods of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 cm class members build as many different types of triangles as they can. They also describe properties of these triangles and determine...
Bowland
Olympic Cycling
Teach teenagers to think critically about data. Young data analysts must create two questions that can be answered using a provided data set on Olympic cycling times. Of course, they then have to answer their questions using mathematics.
Bowland
Mobile Phones
Cheaper cell phone bills? Learners compare two different cell phone plans for a specified number of minutes of phone usage each day. They also determine the conditions for which one plan is cheaper than the other.