Yummy Math
Steep Hikes
Grab your hiking gear and get ready for a math adventure! Learners explore the meaning of percent grade change, as compared to the slope in an excellent worksheet activity about hiking trails in the mountains of New Hampshire. They use...
Curated OER
T Points from Directions
Here is a lesson that starts with having geometers translate points using compass directions into an accurate picture of the problem. Then they must use their knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem or similar triangles to solve. This makes...
Illustrative Mathematics
Voting for Three, Variation 3
Get your learners to think outside the box. Young scholars require a good understanding of ratios and their relationship to fractions to complete the problem. The only quantities given in the problem are the ratio of the number of votes...
Curated OER
Tetrahedral Dice
Put those thinking hats on and look at all the possible outcomes from rolling two different four-sided dice. The challenge in this problem is finding all the combinations when adding and subtracting the numbers from each die and creating...
Charleston School District
Pre-Test Unit 4: Linear Funcitons
Let your classes show you what they know! Use this pre-test to assess the current knowledge of your learners. The assessment includes all pre-algebra concepts related to functions: writing and graphing linear relationships, comparing...
Charleston School District
Comparing and Ordering Irrational Numbers on a Number Line
Estimating the value of numbers is much harder than it sounds! Scholars compare and order the value of numbers presented in different forms including fractions, decimals, roots, integers, and pi. This builds on the previous lessons in...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Fruit Boxes
Perfect for visual and hands-on learners, an engaging lesson prompts pupils to consider the different-sized boxes they can create from a piece of cardboard. They develop a model to determine the size of the box with the greatest volume.
Inside Mathematics
How Old Are They?
Here is a (great) lesson on using parentheses! The task requires the expression of ages using algebraic expressions, including the distributive property. Pupils use their expressions to determine the individual ages.
Inside Mathematics
Marble Game
Pupils determine the theoretical probability of winning a game of marbles. Individuals compare the theoretical probability to experimental probability for the same game. They continue on to compare two different probability games.
Virginia Department of Education
Permutations and Combinations
Counting is not all it adds up to be — sometimes it involves multiplying. The lesson introduces permutations and combinations as ways of counting, depending upon whether order is important. Pupils learn about factorials and the formulas...
Teach Engineering
About Accuracy and Approximation
How accurate are robots? Groups draw lines by moving robots backwards and forwards by one rotation of the wheels. Using the appropriate formula, they determine the percent error in the length of the lines in relation to the calculated...
PBL Pathways
What Should Have Happened on Gilligan's Island?
"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale ..." Gilligan's Island is a classic that spans generations and offers a problem-solving opportunity for scholars. Take a project-based learning approach to examine the population of the island....
Virginia Department of Education
Going the Distance
Estimate the value of one of the most famous irrational numbers. The hands-on lesson instructs classmates to measure the circumference and diameters of circles using yarn. The ratio of these quantities defines pi.
NASA
Understanding the Effects of Differences in Speed—Problem Set D
Fall back and slow down. The fourth lesson in a six-part series on air traffic control leads the class to find the difference in distance traveled based upon the difference in speed. Pupils work through a problem related to walking...
CK-12 Foundation
Linear Programming: Bakers' Dilemma
Place the pies in a line. Pupils create a graph of a system of linear inequalities to represent the number of pies a bakery can make. Learners analyze the vertices on the graph to determine the number of pies they can bake without...
CK-12 Foundation
Inverse Functions
Provide a graphical view of inverses. Pupils manipulate points on a line and see the relationship of the graph with the graph of its inverse. Using the relationship between the graphs, scholars respond to questions concerning inverses...
Kenan Fellows
Half-Life
Scholars shake their way to understanding half-life with the help of candy. They observe and record which side candy lands on to graph the exponential decay in the fifth lesson of seven integrating chemistry and algebra. Combining...
101 Questions
Print Job
A watched printer never finishes—or does it? Engage your classes in a ratio and proportion task that asks them to predict how long it takes to print the numbers one through 88 on 88 sheets of paper. They use video to determine the rate...
Concord Consortium
Betweenness I
Just between us, this is a pretty cool lesson! Given two functions with the same slope, learners write three new functions whose outputs are all between the given functions. The question is open-ended, allowing pupils to explore the...
101 Questions
Shower v. Bath
Which requires more water--a bath or a shower? Given some specific criteria, learners attempt to answer the question. A video shows how long it takes to fill a gallon container using a faucet and a shower head. Using that information and...
Mascil Project
Arranging Tables for a Birthday
Planning a party of 45 guests may be more complicated than it would seem. Learners must design the space in accordance with these constraints about the space available in the room. They need to calculate area, circumference, and linear...
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 5: Circles A Geometric Perspective
Circles, circles, everywhere! Pupils learn all about circles, central angles, inscribed angles, circle theorems, arc length, area of sectors, and radian measure using a set of 12 lessons. They then discover volume formulas through...
Concord Consortium
Sum and Product
From linear to quadratic with a simple operation. An exploratory lesson challenges learners to find two linear functions that, when multiplied, produce a given parabola. The task includes the graph of the sum of the functions as well as...
Kenan Fellows
Balancing Equations Using Matrices
Matrices help solve systems of equations in chemistry, computer graphics, circuitry, probability, and more. The second lesson in a seven-part series focuses on using matrices to balance chemical equations. Pupils rely on the Law of...