Curated OER
Earthquakes: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
First graders explore how earthquakes release energy in a set of hands-on activities. During the pre-lab, they discover how energy from an earthquake releases waves through the earth using a water-filled cup and...
Bowland
You Reckon?
Sometimes simple is just better. A set of activities teaches young mathematicians about using plausible estimation to solve problems. They break problems down to simpler problems, use rounding and estimation strategies, and consider...
Curated OER
Gotcha Covered, Pardner!
Young geometers use the interactive website Cyberchase to practice calculating both area and perimeter. Real world problems encourage learners to discover that we use math each and every day.
DK Publishing
Real-Life Word Problems, Part 6
Bring math alive with these five word problems. Using multiplication and division in a space for writing equations, fourth graders solve the word problems and practice writing out the answers in a separate area. Helpful as either a...
Captain Planet Foundation
Shape Shifters in the Math Garden
Combines mathematical measurement with gardening skills. Third graders hunt for worms in the garden and try to find the longest one. They also measure and weigh vegetables that they harvest from the garden, measure rainfall amounts,...
Curated OER
Activity Plan 5-6: Architects at Work
Young scholars build on what they know to make new discoveries. For this early childhood lesson plan, students engage in a block-building activity to develop language, math, and fine-motor skills.
New Mexico State University
Curse Reverse
Build towers with algebraic expressions. Pupils use algebraic expressions to build towers that allow their players to navigate a series of rooms. Learners evaluate expressions using different values for the variables to create a pathway...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying...
Noyce Foundation
Through the Grapevine
Teach statistics by analyzing raisins. A thorough activity provides lesson resources for five levels to include all grades. Younger pupils work on counting and estimation, mid-level learners build on their understanding of the measures...
Beyond Benign
Decision Graphic Introduction
E is for economics, environment, and social equity. The fifth installment of a 15-part series has scholars first considering ecological impacts, such as determining how much water it takes to produce a can of soda. They then use decision...
Beyond Benign
All A Loan
When designing a house, it's important to know about percents. Through a series of three lessons, scholars first review percentages through an activity involving M&Ms and then apply that knowledge to calculate compound interest and...
CK-12 Foundation
Two-Sided Stem-and-Lead Plots: Gamers
Which gender spends more time playing video games? Your classes use provided data to answer this question. They first build a two-sided stem-and-leaf plot and then use the display to look for patterns. Guiding questions help them...
Noyce Foundation
Miles of Tiles
Create number sentences and equations to solve geometric problems. Each activity in the series of five asks young mathematicians to consider different-sized tiles to build structures according to specific criteria. The first activities,...
Beyond Benign
Hit the Deck: Area and Perimeter Review
Designing a deck sure demands a lot of math. Future engineers and architects learn about the areas and perimeters of squares, rectangles, triangles, and composite figures. They apply their new knowledge to design a deck with a specified...
Google
Probability Project: Design Your Own Game
Designing a game is the focus of this probability lesson. Groups develop and build a unique game, including directions for how to play, a calculation of the expected value of winning, and a personal reflection. The plan provides a...
Noyce Foundation
Digging Dinosaurs
Build a function to solve problems rooted in archeology. A comprehensive set of five lessons presents problems requiring individuals to use functions. The initial lesson asks learners to find the possible number of dinosaurs from a...
Noyce Foundation
Measuring Up
Teach the basics of measurement and conversion with a five-lesson resource that builds an understanding of proportion and measurement conversion from elementary through high school. Initially, young scholars use ratios to determine soup...
Curated OER
Math in Your Life
Examine how math fits into everyday lives by writing mathematical word problems and answering them. Middle schoolers will also practice their test taking skills utilizing different kinds of tests.
Space Awareness
Navigating with the Kamal
Historians have proven that as early as 1497 skilled navigators were using a kamal to sail across oceans. Scholars learn about navigation tools and astronomy before building their own kamals. They then learn how to use it to determine...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Geometry of Letters
Use the alphabet as a tool for teaching your class about geometric figures. Break apart capital letters into line segments and arcs. Classify angles as right, acute, or obtuse. Identify parallel and perpendicular lines. An excellent...
Curated OER
Transportation Systems: Two Liter Boat Activity
Students design and build full-size boats made out of two-liter plastic bottles, chicken wire, and plywood. Then they race the boats, with the boat's designers "manning the hull", in the school's swimming pool.
Curated OER
The Square Counting Shortcut
An excellent instructional activity that encourages students to discover how complex figures can be broken into simpler shapes when measuring area. Working with block letters, learners are given the freedom to develop their own...
Curated OER
Investigation Can You Build This?
Students work in small groups to explore spatial relationships while building with color cubes. Students must identify positions of blocks to partner, recreate a model, and color a sketch of their structure appropriately.
Virginia Department of Education
Similar Solids and Proportional Reasoning
Double the dimensions, quadruple the surface area. Pairs build similar prisms and compare the ratios of their surface areas and volumes to the ratio of the heights. Given two similar cones, partners determine the ratios of the lateral...