If a random sample determines that 45% of students favor block scheduling, is it possible that the actual percentage might be 50% or 60%? In this task, learners use data from a computer-generated simulation to determine the plausibility...

Elementary or middle schoolers use ratios to discover some nearly constant relationships between measurements of parts of the human body. They find and record pairs of measurements and determine the relationship between the pairs. Pupils...

Make the cookies healthy. The assessment task asks pupils to determine the number of cookies they could make based on a given amount of ingredients. Given two sugar substitutes, learners determine which substitute would be better and...

Students prepare a nonaqueous surface coating by first making a polymeric resin and then adding an organic solvent. There product is a basic varnish that hardens by loss of organic solvent to the air. Students make a simple paint by...

Ecology aces examine sea surface temperature maps and relate temperatures to concentration in fish and zooplankton populations. Take your class to a computer lab and provide experience with actual remote sensing data. Some of the links...

Off they go — launching rockets is fun. The lesson plan contains templates to build paper rockets that can be launched from a PVC pipe launcher. Individuals or groups build the rockets and determine the shapes for their fins. Included...

Time to crunch the numbers! Young scholars use an interactive number cruncher to practice operations with whole numbers. They input a number and watch as the number cruncher produces the output and then use the data pairs to determine a...

Review with your young learners what opposites are and use a fun tag board game called Auntie Alice to practice. After the class plays the game, pairs work on computers practicing with interactive matching/flashcards/concentration games...

Here is an inventive plan that should get your young scientists excited! In it, groups of pupils test out the work done by six different simple machines. The machines are: the wedge, the lever, the inclined plane, the pulley, the screw,...

Students design an experiment to evaluate the effects of various treatments on the nitrogen cycle in a freshwater aquarium. They are required to maintain a laboratory notebook of all work, measure the key analytes of the biosystem at...

Third graders investigate two mathematic scenarios and determine which is correct. They compare adding columns and places (such as the tens place, hundreds place, and so on) and familiarize themselves with how to add larger numbers.

Fifth graders look at actual sunrise and sunset times for their hometown to determine a pattern in the amount of daylight. They collect their data in Excel and create a chart to help them identify the pattern, then write an explanation...

Class members use mathematics in order to better understand magnetic forces and their interaction on charged particles. After a demonstration of the interaction between a magnet and an electron beam using a CRT computer monitor,...

Here is an extensive set of teacher's notes to help you teach all about integers. Begin by introducing a number line and how it can be used to visualize positive and negative numbers. Talk about absolute value and the additive inverse...

There are three parts to this lesson on integers. In the first, learners explore positive and negative numbers on an actual painter's tape number line and by playing a "Hot Seat" game. In part two, they view a BrainPop video and work...

Win the war of the worlds! Scholars solve a variety of problems related to an alien invasion. They determine where spaceships have landed on a coordinate map, devise a plan to avoid the aliens, observe the aliens, and break a code to...

Nobody is as smart as all of us together. In a collaborative learning activity, scholars learn it takes a team to be successful in laparoscopic surgeries. Groups complete the laparoscopic task as a team and discuss their results to...

I like algebra, but graphing is where I draw the line! Worksheet includes three multiple-part questions on interpreting and drawing line graphs. It focuses on the abstract where neither axis has numbers written in, though both are...

Model function operations using a function machine. An interactive lesson has learners determine the patterns of a double function machine. They use the patterns to write functions and make connections between the inputs and outputs.

Let imaginations run wild as participants design animal pens. A performance task challenges young mathematicians to determine the perimeter or a missing side length of different animal pens. They then design pens that meet given...

Here’s a reading comprehension assessment that will capture the interest of your learners. Stink bugs and the danger they pose to farmers is the subject of the passage, while the eight questions ask readers to infer, predict, summarize...

Whether used as a reading comprehension assessment, as the basis of a mini-lesson on reading strategies, or as extra practice, this exercise will prove to be valuable because of the answers and explanation key that accompanies the...

Most adults remember learning about the Pythagorean theorem, but they don't all remember how to use it. The emphasis here is on developing an intuitive understanding of how and when to use the theorem. Young mathematicians explore...

No need to be involved in a home economics or cooking courses to take advantage of this resource. Not only is there an explanation for how microwaves work but there are also tips for how to use the microwave, and cautions...