When complicated algebraic expressions are involved, it is sometimes easier to use a table or graph to model a context. The exercises in this lesson are designed for business applications and require complex algebraic...

Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...

Forgive me, I regress. Building upon previous modeling activities, the class examines models using the regression function on a graphing calculator. They use the modeling process to interpret the context and to make predictions...

It's a snow day, and two brothers attending schools with different schedules each got a late start to the day. But who had the shorter school day? That's what your class will find out as they apply their knowledge of fractions to this...

I got a different answer, are they both correct? While working through modeling problems interpreting graphs, the question of precision is brought into the discussion. Problems are presented in which a precise answer is needed and...

While creating models from data, pupils make decisions about precision. Exercises are provided that require linear, quadratic, or exponential models based upon the desired precision. 

Don't lose your marbles! This simple story problem helps make teaching division with fractions much easier. Work on this problem along with the lesson titled, How Many Servings of Oatmeal? to highlight the difference between...

Help Christina figure out how many chocolate and lemon candies she has with a lesson on decomposing numbers. When presenting this context to the class, the teacher chooses the total number of candies and the number that are chocolate,...

Step 1: Use the resource. Step 2: Watch your class become experts in solving two-step problems. Scholars learn to solve two-step word problems in context. They use tape diagrams and algebraic techniques to break the problem into two,...

Participants who use this resource will apply the Pythagorean Theorem to show whether or not the shaded triangle inscribed in a rectangle is a right triangle. Once all of the sides on the shaded triangle are found, it is important that...

Written to assess students' 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.

The 13th instructional activity in a unit of 22 introduces the concept of the interquartile range (IQR). Class members learn to determine the interquartile range, interpret within the context of the data, and finish by finding the...

What determines whether a function has an inverse? Learners investigate that criteria when they examine values in a partially completed input-output table for two different functions. The task is to complete the table so that one of the...

Ideal for use as an introduction to the idea of inverse functions, this activity investigates rainfall as a function of time. Learners use the data displayed in a table of values to analyze the function and its inverse, including why the...

Your river sportsmen will explore an example of paddling upstream as they build functions modeling speed and time in terms of the speed of the current. They then use their algebraic models to interpret features of the function related to...

Determine the right mix of cans of cat food. The resource consists of an assessment task to determine the cost to feed two cats for a specific number of days and requires scholars to interpret remainders within a context....

Pupils continue the study of ratios by creating ratios from a context. The contexts present more than two quantities, and scholars create contexts that match given ratios. 

An outbreak of the swine flu on a school campus has caused an increase in the number of boxes of tissues sold by the school store. In a real-world-modeling activity, pupils use composition of functions to determine how the number of...

There are three money word problems in this activity, each one is set in the same context. The first asks what was the total amount grandma spent, the second how many grandchildren grandma has, and the third asks how much grandma spent...

Growing money exponentially is the context of this scenario that asks learners to compare investments in two certificate of deposit accounts. Your young investment analysts will learn about the exponential characteristics of money...

What can we find out about the data from the way it is shaped? Looking at displays that are familiar from previous grades, the class forms meaningful conjectures based upon the context of the data. The introductory lesson to...

Where should I stand to get the best view? Pupils use inverse trigonometric functions to determine the horizontal distance from an object to get the best view. They round out the instructional activity by interpreting their answers...

Positive and negative numbers are all around us. Groups read short story contexts and identify a rational number that represents the values in the context. They order the rational numbers and interpret statements of inequality.

Here is an activity that presents a real-world problem about the relationship between crude oil production and the gas mileage of modern automobiles. After learners write functions to describe the relationships, they are asked to...