Are these two light sources the same? Groups use a white card and a little cooking oil to create a photometer that allows for the comparison of two lights. The Inverse Square Law provides a way to calculate the actual difference in...

Did you know that a soccer ball is very similar to a truncated icosahedron? Both have 32 faces, but while a truncated icosahedron is made up solely of flat hexagons, a traditional soccer ball has 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons, each curved...

So many times the characteristics of triangles are presented as a vocabulary-type of lesson, but in this activity they are key to unraveling a proof. A unique attack on proving that an inscribed angle that subtends a diameter must be a...

Present the class with a question on whether the water level of a pond will rise they take a large rock out of a boat and drop it into the pond. Groups come down on all sides of the question and try to justify their answers. The activity...

Learners see application of construction techniques in a short but sophisticated problem. Combining the properties of inscribed triangles with tangent lines and radii makes a nice bridge between units, a way of using...

Your learners will dance in their seats as this talented drummer connects math to music in a short video clip. Clayton Cameron shows how math puts the "cool" in various genres of music, including jazz, hip-hop, pop,...

Everyone does their fair share. The sixth segment in a 22-part unit presents the mean as a fair share. Groups build a conceptual understanding of the mean of a data set, rather than simply learn an algorithm. Learners use the...

Young mathematicians examine area of different figures with the same cross-sectional lengths and work up to volumes of 3D figures with the same cross-sectional areas. The instruction and the exercises stress that the two...

How do you balance a set of data? Using a ruler and some coins, learners determine whether the balance point is always in the middle. Through class and small group discussions, they find that the mean is the the best estimate of the...

Use simulations to determine the probabilities of events to make decisions. Class members are presented with several scenarios, some with known probabilities and others without. Groups run simulations to gather data that they then...

Don't table the discussion on equivalent ratios — do it now! Scholars create tables of equivalent ratios to represent contextual problems. Pupils go on to use the tables to answer questions within the context. The lesson plan is ninth in...

Seeking to derive the formula for the volume of a square pyramid, geometry learners construct six square based pyramids that, when pieced together properly, form a cube. Two short videos demonstrate the relationship...

What is the net effect when two waves interfere with each other? The lesson plan answers this question by helping the class visualize waves through graphing. Pupils graph individual waves and determine the effect of the interference...

What percentage of your class understands percents? Pupils learn the meaning of percents based upon rates per 100 in the 24th lesson in a series of 29. They represent percents as fractions, decimals, ratios, and models. The scholars...

Teach the masses about the metric system with this hands-on measurement lesson. Given a fruit or vegetable, learners estimate, measure, and convert its mass using the metric units gram and kilogram.

Take young mathematicians on an exploration of the world of 3-D geometry with this seven-lesson unit. After first defining the terms perimeter, area, and volume and how they apply to the real world, students continue on...

Your learners explore growing patterns by describing, extending, creating, and evaluating practical pattern problems in this three-day collaborative unit. Beginning with concrete patterns and function tables to extend and...

The inverse square law is revealed when your class participates in this activity. They move a graph paper or perfboard square back and forth in a square of light to see how the intensity changes. You will definitely want to add this...

Your learners will appreciate the complete picture of linear inequalities presented in this lesson plan. Starting simply with definitions and moving all the way to solving linear inequality word problems this activity is simple to...

Not only is pattern recognition an essential skill for young children to develop, it's also a lot of fun to teach! Over the course of this lesson plan, class members participate in shared readings, perform small group...

Welcome to the backward world of negative numbers. This introductory lesson teaches young mathematicians that negative numbers are simply the opposite of positive numbers as they use number lines to plot and compare...

Mathematicians practice communicating why the sum of two multiples of a number results in another multiple of that number. Encourage learners to construct a viable argument by applying the distributive property or by drawing a diagram....

Mathematicians need to know that not all numbers are rational. We approximate irrational number with rational numbers. That is why a calculator may be misleading. This task give learners an opportunity to see how rounding a number and...

Entertaining as well as educational, this math activity about decomposing numbers is bound to capture the engagement of young learners. Given a cup and five two-color counters, young mathematicians simply shake and spill the cup,...