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News Literacy Project
Should You Share It?
Sharing isn't always caring. Scholars learn how to reduce the spread of misinformation on the Internet. They take an online quiz of example posts targeted to a specific audience. Using critical thinking skills, they see if they can tell...
Balanced Assessment
Plenty of Pentagons
Why are only four colors needed to color webs from regular pentagons, not five? An assessment task requires young mathematicians to first construct regular pentagons using a compass and straightedge, then has them consider a shape...
Balanced Assessment
A Fishy Story
There's nothing fishy about this resource. In the task, learners use given information about fish prices to create a scatter plot and line of best-fit. Later, they use the information to answer questions about the profit from fish sales.
Balanced Assessment
Pick a Pattern or Two
Math is all about finding patterns. In this ask, scholars first investigate a sequence formed by squaring the sum of the digits in the previous term. They go on to investigate a second sequence and write an algebraic expression for this...
Balanced Assessment
Produce Stand
Interpret a graph of the number of oranges at a produce stand to determine a likely event at different times. They also analyze the graph to determine which time period oranges were selling most quickly.
Balanced Assessment
Greater, Lesser, In-Between
Goldilocks and the Three Numbers? The pre-activity task involves finding digits to complete decimals or fractions that satisfy given constraints, such as finding a fractions that is in between two others. The main task involves a similar...
Balanced Assessment
Walkway
Evaluate different aspects of geometry with one task. An assessment activity prompts learners to determine the area of a pathway in the shape of a parallelogram. The Pythagorean Theorem and area formulas for various polygons provide the...
Balanced Assessment
Refiguring Pythagoras
Why was Pythagoras so obsessed with squares? The assessment task posits the question of whether the geometric interpretation of the Pythagorean Theorem holds for figures other than squares. Scholars first consider the case of semicircles...
Balanced Assessment
County Concerns
Apply area concepts to help farmers and settle county disputes. Scholars use a given diagram and information about an insecticide spraying campaign to determine the monetary benefit to farmers. They then decide which of two counties has...
Balanced Assessment
Paving the Patio
Next time you need to repave your patio, have your scholars do all the math. They first calculate and answer questions using the area of patio blocks. Next, they determine the cheapest block to use to pave the patio.
Balanced Assessment
How Big is Big?
Now you can create your own monster movie. Learners estimate the size of a scale model monster given comparison statements and analyze these estimates to determine if the scale model accurately portrays a lizard.
Balanced Assessment
At the Supermarket
Grocery managers and chefs sure use lots of math. Scholars first use ratios and unit rates to determine a price for a can of corn. Once individuals have the pricing, they determine the amount of ingredients necessary to make brownies...
Balanced Assessment
Above Average
Raise the bar and strive to be above average. The assessment task requires budding mathematicians to think critically and evaluate given statements. What does it truly mean to be above average?
Balanced Assessment
Stick Patterns
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but these sticks will make me smarter. Pupils examine arrays of sticks to determine the next array in a pattern. They use the number of sticks added to each previous array to determine a recursive...
Balanced Assessment
Dot Patterns
Use geometric patterns to teach your class how to write functions. The assessment task has scholars consider a pattern of dots to draw the next picture of the pattern. Pupils then analyze the pattern, which helps them develop a function...
Balanced Assessment
Solar Elements
Let your brilliance shine like the sun. Future mathematicians and scientists consider given data on the abundance of different elements in the sun. The assessment task requires consideration of how these different abundances relate to...
Balanced Assessment
Shirts and Flags
Learn the importance of geometry to tailors. Given a shirt sewing pattern, scholars determine the actual size of the shirt. After which they answer questions that require problem solving and extending their understanding of scale.
Concord Consortium
Bricks for Books
Maximize a profit with an understanding of geometric dimension. A real-world task challenges learners to design a pattern using three different brick shapes. The bricks are dedicated with a different donation for each shape, so part of...
Concord Consortium
The Bus Route
Patterns are extremely helpful when solving a puzzle. Young scholars attempt to find times a bus will pass each stop. They identify a pattern in the known stop times to identify the solutions.
Concord Consortium
Summertopia
What if the unit of money changes tomorrow? Would you be prepared? Learners calculate currency conversions using fictional units of money. The fictional unit's base is 60 rather than 100, which can connect to time or even degrees.
Concord Consortium
Stocking the Shelves
How many ways can you stock a shelf? It's probably more than you think! Young scholars use data in a frequency table to determine how many ways to stock a shelf given a specific constraint for types of groups. They then repeat the task...
Concord Consortium
Crazy Clocks
While a stopped clock is right twice a day, a fast or slow clock confuses people for weeks. Scholars observe a clock running slow and must correct it before observing a clock running fast and working it backward. Finally, a multi-step...
Illustrative Mathematics
Ants Versus Humans
You would think that humans make up more mass than ants do on this planet, but think again, and this time by performing calculations. Middle schoolers use scientific notation to compute and compare the estimated total mass of all humans...
Balanced Assessment
Fractured Multiplication
When would you do multiplication on the floor? When you have no tables. Scholars determine a possible set of digits that would complete a 2-digit by 1-digit multiplication problem. They then determine all possible sets of digits and...