Curated OER
Egyptian Fractions
You don't have to be an ancient Egyptian to decipher fractions in this activity that focuses on adding fractions with unlike denominators and developing fraction number sense. Egyptians represented fractions differently than we do. They...
Illustrative Mathematics
Salad Dressing
Aunt Barb's salad dressing is a mixture of oil, vinegar, salt, herbs, and a pinch of math. Fifth graders add the fractional measurements of ingredients to find a total amount. The fractions have unlike denominators. After finding the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Painting a Wall
Red and yellow do not make orange in this activity, but they do create a real-life, multiplication of fractions word problem. As either a lead-in or an assessment, math masters display their understanding of 1/2 x 5/6 when a wall needs...
Illustrative Mathematics
Morning Walk
Sometimes young algebra learners don't understand why they need to create an equation when they can just figure out the answer with it. This activity tries to encourage creating simple equations by balancing the use of more complicated...
Illustrative Mathematics
Running a Mile
The single question in this activity has multiple ways to be solved. Two boys ran a mile. Their times were similar, except one time was a fraction of the other. Who ran faster? In demonstrating the answer to this problem, upper graders...
Shodor Education Foundation
Triangle Area
While the lesson plan focuses on right triangles, this activity offers a great way to practice the area of all triangles through an interactive webpage. The activity begins with the class taking a square paper and cutting in in half; can...
Illustrative Mathematics
Archimedes and the King's Crown
Learners will shout "Eureka!" in this quick but deep activity replicating the famous bathtub experiment of Archimedes. Given the scenario of a king with a suspected fake crown, young investigators develop formulas using density to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Harvesting the Fields
This problem involving rates may look simple at first, but it is actually quite challenging. Two different sized fields are harvested by a team of workers and learners must use different rates to calculate the number of workers on the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Calculator Trouble
When is not solving the expression the correct answer? When you are checking the understanding of a math concept that is not number dependent. The real question being asked here is to look at the initial number, fraction, mixed number,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Converting Fractions of a Unit into a Smaller Unit
There is more than one way to answer a question; especially when you have fractions in measurement. Here are three questions with real-world situations in which 5th graders are asked to provide answers in three ways: a larger unit of...
Illustrative Mathematics
Lake Algae
Introduce learners to exponential growth with this real-world problem about algae that is rapidly spreading across a lake in a city park. The task presents the rate of growth and an end value and asks learners to determine what happened...
Alcohol Education Trust
Talk About Alcohol: What is BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration)?
Educate your class about blood alcohol levels by combining health with math practice. Class members read a little bit about blood alcohol concentration and then solve some problems related to determining alcohol levels and alcohol...
Education Development Center
Anita's Way to Add Fractions with Unlike Denominators
Could you develop your own way to add fractions with unlike denominators? An in-depth task has scholars examine a fictional conversation between several people in which they discuss a method of adding fractions with unlike denominators....
NASA
Packing for a L-o-o-o-ng Trip to Mars
Pack just enough to fit. Crews determine what personal items to take with them on a trip to Mars. Each team must decide what to take with them on a two-and-a-half year trip to Mars and whether their items will fit within the allotted...
Illustrative Mathematics
Molly's Run
A simple lesson with a lot of support behind it. Your learners will find out how long it takes Molly to run a mile by choosing their solution method. The activity can be used as a lesson or as an independent assignment. Preface with...
Curated OER
Carbon 14 Dating in Practice II
Your archaeologists combine proportional reasoning with exponential functions in a real-life task centered on Carbon 14 dating.
Illustrative Mathematics
Molly's Run, Assessment Variation
Part of as assessment series, the activity follows the instructional activity Molly's Run to practice ratios and dividing with fractions. Different solution options are given for your learners' preference. The commentary explains how the...
PBL Pathways
Potassium-Argon Dating
Find the age of a fictional sample of rocks using a genuine approach. A well-designed lesson asks young mathematicians to use exponential modeling to analyze half-life. As a project-based learning activity, scholars communicate their...
Curated OER
Find 1
Extend your class's ability to represent unit fractions on a number line with this challenging worksheet. Given two number lines, one labeled with zero and 1/4, the other with zero and 5/3, students must accurately locate the number one...
Education Development Center
Rational Exponents
It's rational to root for your class to learn about exponents. Scholars study rational exponents by reading a fictional dialogue between classmates. They analyze the conversation to understand the connection between rational exponents...
Curated OER
Two Triangles' Area
Need an activity for teaching the Pythagorean Theorem? Geometry juniors apply the Pythagorean theorem to two triangles to determine a final calculation.
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Problematic Situation
To conclude their study of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, class members assume the voice of Amir and write a letter to Hassan, Amir's childhood companion.
Curated OER
Drinking Juice
Pictures, number lines, decimal equivalents, or Cuisenaire rods can be used to show insight into the meaning of multiplying fractions.Here, Alisa drinks 3/4 of 1/2 liter of juice. To find the total volume of the juice that Alisa drank,...
Curated OER
Finding the Area of Polygons
Third graders are exposed to finding the area of polygons by decomposing figures and recomposing them into rectangles. This strategy allows children to expand on their prior knowledge of constructing shapes by rearranging parts into...