Curated OER
Chain Connection and Un-Connection Activity
Learners practice remaining on topic during a conversation using printouts of chains as visual models for their work. Chains are placed in sequence while students stay on a shared topic of conversation, and a broken chain is used as a...
NOAA
What Little Herc Saw
See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...
PwC Financial Literacy
Buying a Home: Terms of a Mortgage
Buying a home, dealing with a lender, securing a mortgage; these are daunting tasks for many adults. Why not teach middle schoolers about this area of adulthood so they are better-prepared to make the leap into home ownership when they...
California Academy of Science
How Big is Big?
In a math or life science class, "mini-me" models are created with cardstock to reflect a 1:10 scale of students' bodies. Learners measure each others' heights with meter sticks, and then reduce the size by 10. After this exercise, they...
Visa
Dream Big: Money and Goals
Whether their objective is independent living, going to college, or buying a car, pupils will participate in discussions and complete worksheets to gain an understanding of how short- and long-term goals play a large role in helping...
EngageNY
Describing the Center of a Distribution Using the Median
Find the point that splits the data. The lesson presents to scholars the definition of the median through a teacher-led discussion. The pupils use data lists and dot plots to determine the median in sets with even and odd number of data...
EduGAINs
Making Savvy Consumer Choices
It's never too early to learn about grocery budgeting. Middle schoolers delve into the world of consumer math with a activity that focuses on both healthy choices and real-world math applications. Groups work together to form a grocery...
PBS
Adding Integers
Your sixth and seventh graders deepen their understanding of a number line and adding integers in this concrete, hands-on activity. Learners play "Warehouse Puzzle" and then discuss their game strategies and the characteristics...
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 3: Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences
Natural human interest in patterns and algebraic study of function notation are linked in this introductory unit on the properties of sequences. Once presented with a pattern or situation, the class works through how to justify...
Curated OER
Button Bonanza
Collections of data represented in stem and leaf plots are organized by young statisticians as they embark some math engaging activities.
Education World
Predicting Pumpkins
If you want more pumpkin seeds, you should get a bigger pumpkin—right? Young harvesters use estimation skills to make a hypothesis about how many seeds they will find in a pumpkin before examining the real number inside.
Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Leaves on a Tree? (Version 2)
A second attack at figuring out the number of leaves on a tree, this activity makes both an excellent follow-up to version 1 and a stand-alone activity. Learners practice setting parameters and deciding acceptable estimate precision, and...
Radford University
The Roanoke Adventure!
Travel about town. Pupils work in pairs to find the distances between landmarks with a map. The teams determine how far to travel on the streets and the length between the landmarks with the distance formula and compare the two. Learners...
Michigan State University
In Search of Life
Explore the habitats around you with an activity that takes kids out of the classroom to learn about the local variety of habitats and the living things that call them home. In small groups, scholars investigate their surroundings,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Comparing Two Different Pizzas
What better way to learn about fractions than with a couple pizzas? Help Jessica figure out how much of the pizza she has eaten, while teaching your class that fractions refer to a specific whole amount. This problem will be challenging...
Federal Reserve Bank
Lesson 4: Back to School
Based on your current level of human capital, how long would it take you to earn $1,000,000? What about your potential human capital? Learners explore the importance of education and experience when entering the workforce, and compare...
Wordpress
Introduction to Exponential Functions
This lesson begins with a review of linear functions and segues nicely over its fifteen examples and problems into a deep study of exponential functions. Linear and exponential growth are compared in an investment task. Data tables are...
PBS
Blow the Roof Off!
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics from making...
EngageNY
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 9
Here's a workshop for teachers that rocks the academic world! Using earthquakes as a medium for instruction, educators learn about crosscutting engineering with science. Fun, hands-on, collaborative exercises encourage participants to...
Newspaper Association of America
Power Pack: Lessons in Civics, Math, and Fine Arts
Newspaper in Education (NIE) Week honors the contributions of the newspaper and is celebrated in the resource within a civics, mathematics, and fine arts setting. The resource represents every grade from 3rd to 12th with questions and...
National Math + Science Initative
Introduction to Decimals
Three activities make up an introductory lesson designed to create a strong foundation in comparing fractions to decimals and exploring and building decimal models. Pupils brainstorm and complete a Venn diagram to show how decimals and...
EngageNY
Federal Income Tax
Introduce your class to the federal tax system through an algebraic lens. This resource asks pupils to examine the variable structure of the tax system based on income. Young accountants use equations, expressions, and inequalities to...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Be a Problem Solving Star
Reach for the STARs! Using the resource, scholars review the STAR (Stop, Think, Act, Review) method and discuss how to use it to solve a math equation. Next, small groups collaborate to solve a common problem in the classroom using the...
Virginia Department of Education
Practical Problems Involving Decimals
After discussing decimals and "going shopping" in the classroom, young mathematicians are given four practical word problems that require them to estimate their answers, given specific information. The highlight of the lesson plan is...