Exploratorium
Building Three-Dimensional Structures
Are you looking for a good 3-D geometry lesson that includes hands-on activities for your middle schoolers? Look no further than this one! Pupils use centimeter grid paper embedded in the plan, along with detailed construction...
Exploratorium
Exploring Pattern Blocks
Pattern blocks are one of the best math manipulatives ever invented. They are used quite extensively in the math activity presented here. Youngsters use the pattern block to fill in shapes that are present on the worksheet embedded in...
Buffalo State
Adding and Subtracting Integers Unit
Just because one integer is larger than another doesn't mean it will make sense right away. Go beyond note taking and show learners, through the use of algebra tiles and a Four-Pan Algebra Balance, how the numbers relate to one another...
National Security Agency
Classifying Triangles
Building on young mathematicians' prior knowledge of three-sided shapes, this activity series explores the defining characteristics of different types of triangles. Starting with a shared reading of the children's book The Greedy...
Differentiation Central
Perimeter and Area
Leave no student behind with this differentiated geometry unit on perimeter and area. Over the course of five lessons, young mathematicians explore these foundational concepts through a series of self-selected hands-on activities and...
Shodor Education Foundation
InteGreat
Hands-on investigation of Riemann sums becomes possible without intensive arithmetic gymnastics with this interactive lesson plan. Learners manipulate online graphing tools to develop and test theories about right, left, and midpoint...
Curated OER
Miras, Mirrors, and Kaleidoscopes!
Students use hands-on activities to explore transformations. They view a video segment that demonstrate how M. C. Escher employed geometry and transformations to create so many of his famous drawings.
NTTI
Line 'Em Up!
Coordinate planes and Cartesian graphing systems are the focus of this math lesson. Learners use video, internet activities, and engage in hands-on activities in order to explore coordinate planes. The materials needed for this lesson...
EngageNY
Solve for Unknown Angles—Angles and Lines at a Point
How do you solve for an unknown angle? In this sixth installment of a 36-part series, young mathematicians use concepts learned in middle school geometry to set up and solve linear equations to find angle measures.
EngageNY
Thales’ Theorem
Isn't paper pushing supposed to be boring? Learners attempt a paper-pushing puzzle to develop ideas about angles inscribed on a diameter of a circle. Learners then formalize Thales' theorem and use geometric properties to develop a proof...
Brooklyn Museum
"Workt by Hand": Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts
Just like a painting or the symbols on a flag, quilts can express ideas that reflect a cultural context, space, and time. The class discusses the history of quilt making throughout US history and what different types of quilts mean. They...
Noyce Foundation
Once Upon a Time
Examine the relationship between time and geometry. A series of five lessons provides a grade-appropriate problem from elementary through high school. Each problem asks learners to compare the movement of the hands on a clock to an angle...
Virginia Department of Education
Surface Area and Volume
Partners use materials to wrap three-dimensional objects to determine the formula for surface area. The groups use an orange to calculate the amount of peel it takes to completely cover the fruit. Using manipulatives, individuals then...
Exploratorium
Exploring Pattern Blocks
Here's a great lesson that uses one of the best manipulatives there is: pattern blocks. Elementary schoolers must fill in a variety of shapes using specific amounts of pattern blocks. This forces them to do some spatial mathematical...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Shape-Shifter
Geometry is everywhere, and I mean everywhere! Those skillful mathematicians discuss shapes and then come up with a well-researched list of shapes seen in everyday applications. They put their knowledge of shapes to work as each small...
Virginia Department of Education
Molecular Model Building
During this hands-on activity, young chemists build molecular models based on the Lewis dot structure before studying valence shell electron pair repulsion theory.
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 6: Congruence, Construction, and Proof
Trace the links between a variety of math concepts in this far-reaching unit. Ideas that seem very different on the outset (like the distance formula and rigid transformations) come together in very natural and logical ways. This unit...
Curated OER
Mining Shapes
In this 2-D shapes lesson, kindergarteners review plane shapes attributes. They engage in a shape hunt in the classroom and create art using plane shapes. A good, hands-on lesson!
Curated OER
Guess My Shape
Learners play a game with shapes. They work in groups to identify the names and characteristics of various shapes. They give each other clues to see if others can identify the shape being described. This is a great hands on activity.
Curated OER
Living in a Geometrical World
Students participate in a series of hand-on, online, and multimedia activities to examine 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes. They describe common geometric solids. They construct rectangular prisms using straws and ribbon.
American Statistical Association
Exploring Geometric Probabilities with Buffon’s Coin Problem
Scholars create and perform experiments attempting to answer Buffon's Coin problem. They discover the relationships between geometry and probability, empirical and theoretical probabilities, and area of a circle and square.
Illustrative Mathematics
3-D Shape Sort
From the apple on your desk and the coffee cup in your hand, to the cabinets along the classroom wall, basic three-dimensional shapes are found everywhere in the world around us. Introduce young mathematicians to the these common figures...
Curated OER
Teaching About Plate Tectonics and Faulting Using Foam Models
Young scientists learn about plate tectonics and the three different types of faults (normal, reverse, and strike-slip) using foam models. The activity also covers common types of locations where these faults are found.
Curated OER
Origami Ducks: Geometry, Listening, and Following Directions
Make origami ducks with your class to reinforce geometry concepts and vocabulary; develop fine motor and visual translation skills; and enrich study of Japanese culture, the pond habitat, or migration. Create a whole group "worksheet"...