Algebra learners can always relate to ice cream. In this case, a carton of ice cream has been at room temperature for t minutes. Given an expression for the temperature of the ice cream, it is up to your number crunchers to...

An interesting way to look at the kitchen floor is to count the number of tiles in the border. Fred starts with four white floor tiles and writes an expression for the number of tiles needed for the colored border. Algebra learners are...

Learners demonstrate their knowledge pictorially, concretely, and abstractly in this unit meant to last three hours over three days. Using hands-on activities, manipulatives,  real-world applications, and problem...

Can your mathematicians come up with an easy way to convert miles to kilometers? Start by asking learners to write an algebraic expression for each of the descriptions given. Once they determine that they are both the same, ask...

While this activity is centered around expressions that represent the perimeter of a rectangle, it also hits at the fundamental concept of equivalent expressions, simplifing expressions, and like-terms. Classmates express their...

Your young landscapers do concentration calculations in this problem dealing with mixing fertilizer. Learners use and analyze rational expressions within this context.

This comprehensive unit investigates transformations of quadratics, having learners follow "Optima" through the development and growth of her quilting business. Deftly weaving the story into the mathematical mechanics, the unit gives...

Help mathematicians see that a formula found in a physics book has an algebraic structure. Though the formula given in the resource looks complicated, learners are to break down the expressions and interpret each part separately....

Your young physicists analyze the forms of four equivalent exponential expressions representing an amount of a radioactive material in a substance. They show how each expression is equivalent to the others and what aspects of the decay...

These four lesson plans build algebra skills for working with numbers in exponential form and for examining triangles. Be aware that in the text, scientific notation is referred to as index notation and the laws of exponents as the laws...

Scientist work with negative integer exponents all the time. Here, participants will learn how to relate negative exponents to time and to generate equivalent numerical expressions. Learners will apply the properties of integer exponents...

It is up to the learner to find the amount of juice originally in a bottle, knowing what fraction of the juice is left, and the amount that has been consumed. The accompanying commentary provides a useful and detailed description of...

The properties of exponents are all linked together and it is your mathematicians' job to discover and apply those rules. The comprehensive lesson begins with a pre-assessment task to check for prior knowledge and then goes into a...

Written to assess high schoolers' knowledge of interpreting expressions that represent a quantity in terms of its context, this machine-scored task also allows for a good discussion about units guiding the problem solving and solution.

Here is a great learning task that focuses on the development of areas in computational fluency including strategies in mental math. Young learners are guided through a list of addition expressions that help them visually understand the...

Your algebra learners interpret algebraic expressions, in order to compare their structures, using a geometric context. They also discern how the two expressions are equivalent and represent a pattern geometrically and algebraically.

Everyone loves math when it includes food! This lesson tries to take the notion of combining like terms in algebra and comparing it to sorting apples and oranges. It takes a step-by-step approach to helping students understand this...

Collaborative discussions around this retail store problem will be taxing. Calculating discount and tax and the order of the operations are used to motivate an opportunity for learners to make a convincing argument using algebraic...

Challenge algebra learners to use the difference of cubes to solve this problem. Once your charges have taken out the factor (a - b), combined the like terms and set them equal to zero, the problem becomes a factorable quadratic...

This is an opportunity for young mathematicians to apply reasoning to solve real-world problems with ratios. Even though there are three candidates for class president, students will only consider two at a time, making the first problem...

In this quadratics activity, students identify and solve 24 different problems and graphs that include using the Zero Product Property to complete. First, they define the Zero Product Property and its relation to quadratic equations....

Here is a straight-forward problem of multiplying two binomials with a twist. It is up to algebra learners to decide how to turn this product of sums into a sum of products. However, it is not the quadratic that is the answer; it is the...

Designed as a follow-up to the lesson plan titled Watch Out for Parenthesis 1, this activity asks young learners to write an equation for the calculation described with words rather than numbers and symbols. The treasure that 5th...

When do teams want a strike? When they are playing this fun math game modeled after bowling. First, class teams roll four dice to generate the numbers they will use in that round, called a frame, of the game. Next, pins numbered 1...