National Math + Science Initative
Using Linear Equations to Define Geometric Solids
Making the transition from two-dimensional shapes to three-dimensional solids can be difficult for many geometry learners. This comprehensive Common Core lesson plan starts with writing and graphing linear equations to define a bounded...
Illustrative Mathematics
3-D Shape Sort
From the apple on your desk and the coffee cup in your hand, to the cabinets along the classroom wall, basic three-dimensional shapes are found everywhere in the world around us. Introduce young mathematicians to the these common figures...
American Museum of Natural History
Thinking in the Three Dimensions
Discover different dimensions with paper folding. Pupils first read about zero, one, two, and three dimensions, and then learn about the fourth dimension, time. They then use origami to create models of shapes in three dimensions and use...
Space Awareness
What is a Constellation
Why do some stars in a constellation appear brighter than others? Using a get-up-and-move astronomy activity, scholars explore perspective and the appearance of constellations in the sky while developing an understanding of the...
Curated OER
"Found Objects Sculptures"
Drawing and sculpting have two things in common, observation and skill. Build skills in creating artistic representations of found objects. Children can bring in any found item as their inspiration. They will pencil sketch the object,...
Virginia Department of Education
Surface Area and Volume
Partners use materials to wrap three-dimensional objects to determine the formula for surface area. The groups use an orange to calculate the amount of peel it takes to completely cover the fruit. Using manipulatives, individuals then...
College Board
AP® Computer Science: A Picture Lab Student Guide
How do you modify digital pictures? In this lab learners write methods that modify digital pictures. They how to traverse a two-dimensional array of integers or objects, and are introduced to nested loops, binary numbers, interfaces, and...
Teach Engineering
Seeing All Sides: Orthographic Drawing
How can your draw three-dimensional figures on paper? The lesson shows pupils how to draw orthographic projections of three-dimensional figures composed of cubes. After viewing a PowerPoint presentation, they practice this skill with...
Star Date
Shadow Play
Three activities make up a solar system lesson that features the sun, its light, and the shadows it produces. Scholars step outside to discover the changes shadows make at different times of day, take part in a demonstration of how Earth...
Radford University
2 and 3 Dimensional Shapes
Take a similar approach to three dimensions. Pupils develop the relationship between areas of similar objects and see how they relate to the ratio of the sides. Building upon area formulas, small groups put together volume formulas for...
PBS
Surface Area and Volume
You and your class will like this lesson on using visual models to relate the volume and surface area of solid shapes. Learners construct three-dimensional forms using nets. They calculate the surface area and volume for each and then...
Teach Engineering
Optimizing Pencils in a Tray
What do you call a story about a broken pencil? Pointless. Scholars may not be telling stories when using the resource, but they are solving optimization problems involving the maximum number of pencils that can fit on a tray. They...
National Security Agency
Awesome Area - Geometry and Measurement
Break out those math manipulatives, it's time to teach about area! Capturing the engagement of young mathematicians, this three-lesson series supports children with learning how to measure the area of squares, rectangles, and other...
EngageNY
Construct and Apply a Sequence of Rigid Motions
Breaking the rules is one thing, proving it is another! Learners expand on their previous understanding of congruence and apply a mathematical definition to transformations. They perform and identify a sequence of transformations and use...
Teach Engineering
Connect the Dots: Isometric Drawing and Coded Plans
Individuals discover how to draw cubes on triangle-dot paper. They use cubes to build structures and draw corresponding isometric drawings on dot paper in the second lesson of the series of five. The activity also introduces the concept...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Art Journal
Here's a prescription for creativity—keep a daily art journal. Words, images, shapes, objects, all can be used as prompts that exercise the creative imagination. Set aside a couple of moments each day for this engaging activity.
Adrian College
The Universe
Young scientists create a simulation of Hubble's law. Introducing the Big Bang Theory using balloons and a simple lab worksheet, scholars complete a data table and perform analysis.
J. Paul Getty Trust
Still-Life Painting: Arranging Nature—Lesson 1
Art learners examine still-life arrangement images and respond to a series of prompts. In a whole-class discussion, pupils list elements and qualities that still-life paintings can have. After instructors create an arrangement and model...
Texteam Geometry Institute
Geometry for the High School Classroom
What does it mean for apples to have chirality? This and other explorations in geometry, such as tiling the plane, boxing a tetrahedron, and investigating Euclid's Characteristic, are included in this resource on Euclidean geometry....
Chandler Unified School District
Art Masterpiece—Leonardo da Vinci Inventions
After getting to know the inventor, Leonardo da Vinci and his many inventions, scholars think up their own invention. Following a written description and a hand-drawn picture, learners use a method of mirror writing and antiquing to give...
Cornell University
Constructing and Visualizing Topographic Profiles
Militaries throughout history have used topography information to plan strategies, yet many pupils today don't understand it. Scholars use Legos and a contour gauge to understand how to construct and visualize topographic profiles. This...
Cornell University
Bridge Building
Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.
Fayetteville Public Schools
I've Seen That Shape Before
The objectives in the resource allow students to explore the characteristics of simple solid shapes. Youngsters learn to recognize the face shapes, corners, and edges that make up 3-D figures by filling in a chart. Lastly, learners look...
The New York Times
Perspective and Leonardo’s “Perspectograph”
Filippo Brunelleschi's invention of linear perspective during the Renaissance was further developed by his apprentice, a young artist named Leonardo da Vinci. Now modern artists can give da Vinci's famous perspectograph a try with a...