Here is a great learning task that focuses on the development of areas in computational fluency including strategies in mental math. Young learners are guided through a list of addition expressions that help them visually understand the...

Develop young mathematicians' ability to compare fractions with investigation into the number 1/2. After brainstorming a list of fractions equivalent to 1/2, children identify a pattern in the numerators and...

Just how big would it really be? Young mathematicians determine if different toys are proportional and if their scale is accurate. They solve problems relating scale along with volume and surface area using manipulatives. The...

Four is the perfect number—if you're talking about parallelograms. Scholars determine a possible fourth vertex of a parallelogram in the coordinate plane given the coordinates of three vertices. They read a conversation...

Help your learners gain meaningful understanding of dividing fractions using fraction models. The activity includes nine problems which are sequenced to show how the fraction division algorithm evolves. Have students use graph paper or...

Students study what occurs in the division process, rather than just following prescribed steps. They expand number sense to include integers and perform operations with whole numbers, simple fractions, and decimals. They write a word...

Which plate has six cookies? Focus on the number six with novice counters as they solidify single-digit number concepts. Keep in mind pre-readers may have trouble with this, as there are written instructions they will need to...

Assume all you know is that the variable Q represents a value that is bigger than the value represented by the variable P. Which is larger P + Q or 2P? The problems in this activity get more complex than...

Candy is always an effective motivator! A fun math activity uses M&M's and Skittles to explore two-way frequency tables and conditional probability. The candy can serve a dual purpose as manipulatives and experimental data.

A career in aeronautics might be calling your class members. Building from the previous two lessons in the series, learners continue analyzing the mathematics of aeronautics. Groups create a paper airplane using paperclips for balance....

There are quite a few ways to make the number 20 through addition. Learners fill in missing addends to reach the sum of 20 then answer additional related questions. This is a good resource because it has the class both add to 20 and...

Using geoboards, computer programs, and hands-on manipulative materials, elementary schoolers engage in a study of two and three-dimensional geometric shapes. This lesson is chock full of good teaching ideas on the subject, and the...

Groups collect data describing the number of times a bag of microwave popcorn pops at given intervals. Participants discover that the data fits a normal curve and answer questions based on the distribution of this data.

When three classrooms are to split up prize money, your mathematicians must find the percentage that each class deserves and calculate the total amount. There is an option to use a calculator and practice rounding. 

Work with fractional cookies. The three-part assessment task checks the pupils' ability to find the product of fractions and whole numbers, mixed numbers, or fractions. Learners determine the amount of ingredients needed and how many of...

Here's a resource teachers won't want to wash their hands of. Given a task where a full bar of soap is on one side of a balance and 3/4 of a bar of soup and a 3/4-ounce weight is on the other side, young mathematicians must determine the...

How do doctors predict a child's future height? Scholars use one case study to determine the height of a child two years into the future. They graph the given data, determine the line of best fit, and use that to estimate the height in...

Help the local elementary school fix their playground by calculating the amount of sand needed near the swing set. The problem practices setting up proportions and ratios with three different options for solving. You can chose the option...

Try to figure out what happens with shadows as a person moves between two light sources. A formative assessment lesson has individuals work on an assessment task based on similar triangles, then groups them based on their...

An in-depth activity that involves a real-world problem about credit card debt. Learners are given a scenario in which Isabella plans to stop using her credit card and pay off the balance by paying a fixed amount each month. The first...

Investigate the growth rates of alien animals. Pupils study fictional animals from another planet to determine how much they grow per year. The investigators plot the growth of their animals over a period of time and then compare...

Witness the power of exponential growth with an activity that investigates two different savings plans. Class members create tables of values to see how and when a savings plan increasing exponentially exceeds one increasing linearly.

A new, improved version of the game Battleship? Learners graph linear inequalities on the coordinate plane, then participate in a game where they have to guess coordinate points based on the solution to a system of linear...

True or false — Double Stuf Oreos always contain twice as much cream as regular Oreos. Scholars first measure the masses of the filling in regular Oreos and Double Stuf Oreos to generate a class set of data. They use hypothesis testing...