Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Circumference of a Circle and the Area of the Region it Encloses

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Bring your math class around with this task. Learners simply identify parts of a given circle, compute its radius, and estimate the circumference and area. It is a strong scaffolding exercise in preparation for applying the formulas for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring the Area of a Circle

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
When mathematical errors happen, part of the learning is to figure out how it affects the rest of your calculations. The activity has your mathematicians solving for the area of a circular pipe and taking into consideration any errors...
Activity
101 Questions

Penny Circle

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Watch as your classes buy into a rich lesson full of information. A video opener challenges individuals to determine the number of pennies that fit in a circle with a 22-inch diameter. Using lesson materials, scholars collect data and...
Activity
Noyce Foundation

Circular Reasoning

For Students K - 12th Standards
Examine the origin and application of pi in five different levels. The five lessons in the resource begin with an analysis of the relationship between the radius and circumference of a circle. The following lessons lead learners through...
Activity
101 Questions

Best Circle

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Drawing the perfect circle is harder than one would think! What makes a circle a circle and how can you define that with a formula? Young mathematicians devise their own methods of analyzing the imperfections of circle drawings. Using...
Activity
101 Questions

Suitcase Circle

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Analyze patterns in a circular arrangement. After using a geometric construction to complete a circle, learners use proportional reasoning to make predictions. By determining the length of an arc built from suitcases, they estimate the...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Seven Circles III

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
A basic set-up leads to a surprisingly complex analysis in this variation on the question of surrounding a central circle with a ring of touching circles. Useful for putting trigonometric functions in a physical context, as well as...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Stained Glass

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
A complex question looking for the total cost of a stained glass window by calculating area and circumference of a circle. With detailed components, this activity will challenge your designers to figure out if they have enough money to...
Activity
101 Questions

Apple Mothership

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Explore Apple's spaceship office building. Built in the shape of a circle, the office building offers a unique floor plan challenge. Young scholars use the dimensions of the building to estimate the square footage for each employee. 
Activity
Mrs. Burke's Math Page

The Amazing Pi Race

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Add a sense of excitement to your math class with this race across the country. Using their knowledge of all things circular, young mathematicians work in pairs answering a series of pi-related word problems as they hop from one city to...
Activity
Pie Council

National π Day

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Learners can enjoy pi with pie! A collection of short activities celebrates pi day with a word search, a maze, and real-world problemsn. Using pi in formulas for area, circumference, and volume as well as exploring simple fractions is...
Lesson Plan
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Illustrative Mathematics

Eratosthenes and the Circumference of the Earth

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The class gets to practice being a mathematician in ancient Greece, performing geometric application problems in the way of Eratosthenes. After following the steps of the great mathematicians, they then compare the (surprisingly...
Activity
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Teach Engineering

The Great Gravity Escape

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Groups simulate an orbit using a piece of string and a water balloon. Individuals spin in a circular path and calculate the balloon's velocity when the clothes pin can no longer hold onto the balloon.
Activity
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Pi Day Fun!

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
In this multi-faceted introduction to pi, participants perform a bevy of pi-related activities. Ranging from measuring household items to singing pi songs and reading pi stories, this fun and non-intimidating resource serves to bring up...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Designs

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A resource that makes for excellent group work as students explore the area and perimeter of different complex designs made up of squares and circles. The commentary gives a clear definition of perimeter, but suggests that group members...
Activity
101 Questions

Wedding Cake Ribbon

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Customers often want ribbon around fancy cakes, but how does a baker know how much ribbon to buy? Scholars view a cake with multiple layers in different geometric shapes. They must figure the perimeter and circumference and add them...
Activity
101 Questions

Rotonda West, FL

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The shortest distance from point A to point B is a straight line—or is it? Young scholars determine the shortest route either along a circular path or through the center of the circle. Learners gain a unique perspective on arc length and...
Activity
American Heart Association

Pi Day

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Did you know a mathematician's favorite dessert is a fruit "pi"? By participating in a fruit cutting activity, young mathematicians realize one constant—the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is always pi. It is a perfect...
Activity
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Curated OER

Task: Grain Storage

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
Farming is full of mathematics, and it provides numerous real-world examples for young mathematicians to study. Here, we look at a cylinder-shaped storage silo that has one flat side. Given certain dimensions, students need to determine...
Activity
Mrs. Burke's Math Page

Let Them Eat Pi

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Looking for a fun and creative way to celebrate Pi Day? Then this is the resource for you. From a scavenger hunt and trivia contest to PowerPoint presentations and skills practice worksheets, this collection of materials is a...
Activity
Didax

Pi Day #1a – Discovering Pi

For Students 6th - 10th Standards
Unravel the mystery behind the infamous number pi. Scholars complete a series of activities that explores where pi comes from, its digits and estimation strategies. Pupils should be ready to measure, calculate, and look for patterns to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Model Air Plane Acrobatics

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Your young airplane enthusiasts will enjoy this collaborative task of graphing an airplane's distance from the ground as it flies in a perfect circle. They will discover that they have graphed a sinusoidal function that comes from the...
Activity
Illustrative Mathematics

Paper Clip

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
With minimal setup and maximum freedom, young geometers are encouraged to think outside the box on a seemingly simple application problem. Though the task seems simple, measuring a given paper clip and finding how many 10 meters can...
Activity
101 Questions

Car Caravan

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Keep playing with those old toy cars! Pupils estimate the number of toy cars in an art installation. The only information they receive is a picture showing the toy cars arranged in concentric rings and the diameter of the overall...

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