Curated OER
Maps and Modes, Finding a Mean Home on the Range
Fifth graders investigate data from maps to solve problems. In this data lesson, 5th graders study maps and collect data from each map. Students present their data in a variety of ways and calculate the mode, mean, median, and range.
Illustrative Mathematics
$20 Dot Map
Challenge the addition skills of young learners with this open-ended math problem. The task is simple, get from start to finish by connecting a series of three numbers. The trick is that the sum of the numbers must be less than...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Scientific Inquiry Using WildCam Gorongosa
How do scientists determine what questions to ask to meet their research goals? Help your class develop an inquiry mindset with a lesson based on studies in the Gorongosa National Park. Partners create their own research questions by...
Curated OER
Local History: Mapping My Spot
Students explore maps to discover historical information about their local area. In this mapping and history lesson plan, students use panoramic maps of their own town/city to interpret historical information. Students also...
Teach Engineering
Projections and Coordinates: Turning a 3D Earth into Flatlands
Introduce your class to map projections and coordinates, the basics for the work done in a GIS, with an activity that uses Google Earth to challenge learners to think about the earth's shape.
Curated OER
Great Lakes Homepage for Kids
Here are some outstanding lessons on the geology and history of the Great Lakes. These lessons are divided into Grade 4 -6, and Grade 7 - 8 activities. The activities all use the background information, maps, graphs, data, and Great...
Curated OER
Comparing Value for Money: Baseball Jerseys
Learners step up to the plate as they first complete an assessment task using linear equations to determine the best company from which to buy baseball jerseys. They then evaluate provided sample responses identifying strengths and...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Maximizing Area: Gold Rush
Presenting ... the gold standard for a lesson. Learners first investigate a task maximizing the area of a plot for gold prospecting. They then examine a set of sample student responses to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Solving Problems with Circles and Triangles
After completing a task involving examining the ratio of areas of triangles and circles in a given figure, scholars examine sample responses to identify other strategies they could use to solve the problem.
Curated OER
Map Your House
Students are introduced to the concepts of maps as scale models of the whole. After a brief lecture on creating and using an accurate scale when drawing and reading a map. They create a scale drawing of the floorplan of their homes.
Curriculum Corner
Fiction Graphic Organizers
Analyze a fictional text with a four-page packet that explores a story's main character and moral, challenges scholars to ask and answer questions about the text, and to create a story map.
Curated OER
You Are Here
Students map local places and learn to use scale and distance. In this mapping instructional activity, students map their school and a favorite place. Students recreate their maps showing distance and scale sizes. Students...
MARS - Mathematics Assessment Resource Service
Applying Properties of Exponents
The properties of exponents are all linked together and it is your mathematicians' job to discover and apply those rules. The comprehensive instructional activity begins with a pre-assessment task to check for prior knowledge and then...
Curated OER
Around the Town
Students explore reading maps. For this map reading lesson, students compare distances fom place to place. Students work in groups and predict the distance then find the actual distance using string or rulers.
Teach Engineering
Let's Get it There Fast
Are planes the best shipping method? Using maps, pupils determine the fastest mode of transportation between two cities. Given a list of items to ship, groups decide the best shipping method to finish the 18th segment of a 22-part unit.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Modeling Motion: Rolling Cups
Connect the size of a rolling cup to the size of circle it makes. Pupils view videos of cups of different sizes rolling in a circle. Using the videos and additional data, they attempt to determine a relationship between cup...
Curated OER
Massive Migrations
Here is an exciting exploration of a fascinating topic for your emerging ecologists: bird migration! They begin by visiting the US Fish & Wildlife Service website to discover which Arctic birds come to their areas. They are assigned...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Sharing Costs Equitably: Traveling to School
Drive or take the school bus? Class members determine the amount each student would have to pay in a carpool situation. They then evaluate the cost in a set of provided examples. I think I'd rather take the school...
EngageNY
Construct and Apply a Sequence of Rigid Motions
Breaking the rules is one thing, proving it is another! Learners expand on their previous understanding of congruence and apply a mathematical definition to transformations. They perform and identify a sequence of transformations and use...
NASA
Hurricanes and Hot Towers with TRMM
Take cover because a wild presentation on hurricanes is about to make landfall in your classroom! An outstanding PowerPoint presentation is the centerpiece of this lesson. Not only does it provide information and photographs, but several...
Curated OER
Isolines on a Weather Map
Ninth graders explore weather by analyzing maps. In this temperature lesson, 9th graders view black and white weather maps of locations in which the weather changes often. Students identify the isolines used on the maps and utilize the...
Curated OER
Forestry and Changing Feelings
Students investigate how the forest affects their daily lives by creating a concept map. In this ecological instructional activity, students create a concept map linking the forest to the many things they use each day....
Curated OER
Time Zones
Students solve time zone problems and chart travel around the world. In this time zone lesson plan, students learn about the history of time zones and view a time zone map. Students use the time zone map to solve time zone...
Curated OER
Is the Hudson River Too Salty to Drink?
Students explore reasons for varied salinity in bodies of water. In this geographical inquiry lesson plan, students use a variety of visual and written information including maps, data tables, and graphs, to form a hypothesis as to why...