Illustrative Mathematics
The Lighthouse Problem
Long considered the symbol of safe harbor and steadfast waiting, the lighthouse gets a mathematical treatment. The straightforward question of distance to the horizon is carefully presented, followed by a look into the different...
Illustrative Mathematics
Extensions, Bisections and Dissections in a Rectangle
Gaining practice in translating a verbal description into a diagram and then an equation is the real point of this similar triangles exercise. Once the diagram is drawn, multiple methods are provided to reach the conclusion. An effective...
Education Development Center
Choosing Samples
What makes a good sample? Your classes collaborate to answer this question through a task involving areas of rectangles. Given a set of 100 rectangles, they sample a set of five rectangles to estimate the average area of the figures. The...
Curated OER
St. Patrick’s Day
Combine math, creative writing, and leprechauns in a fun St. Patrick's Day activity! Using a bag of gold coins and marshmallows, kids write a math story about a leprechaun that includes a multi-step equation to solve.
Noyce Foundation
Cutting a Cube
Teach the ins and outs of the cube! A series of five K–12 level activities explore the make-up of the cube. The beginning lessons focus on the vocabulary related to the cube. Later lessons explore the possible nets that describe a cube....
Illustrative Mathematics
Fruit Salad
Playing with values in this fruit salad problem allows learners to find out how many cherries were mixed in. Your middle schoolers can organize their thoughts in a chart before going into the equation. Eigth graders can skip the chart...
5280 Math
Decimal Patterns
Find patterns in the process instead of the result. Learners convert series of decimals and fractions identifying patterns along the way. The lesson includes nine problem tasks with progressively more involved patterns.
Curated OER
Visiting the Arcade
Second graders take a trip to the arcade in an activity that engages them in problem solving with money. Composed of three word problems, youngsters are instructed to determine various combinations to represent a given value by using...
Curated OER
Find 2/3
This short problem with representing fractions on a number line is more than meets the eye. Labeled only with the numbers zero and 1/4, a number line is used to locate the fraction 2/3. A solution can be found in multiple ways, but young...
Illustrative Mathematics
Two Wheels and a Belt
Geometry gets an engineering treatment in an exercise involving a belt wrapped around two wheels of different dimensions. Along with the wheels, this belt problem connects concepts of right triangles, tangent lines, arc length, and...
Curated OER
How many movies can you see in one day?
For kids who love movies, figuring out a schedule for the maximum number that can be seen in one day is not only a good demonstration of Common Core mathematical practices, but also a highly motivating activity. Robert Kaplinsky...
Illustrative Mathematics
Shortest Line Segment from a Point P to a Line L
One of the hardest skills for many young geometers to grasp is to move beyond just declaring obvious things true, and really returning to fundamental principles for proof. This brief exercise stretches those proving muscles as the class...
101 Questions
Chalk Lines
Read between the lines to find a solution. Budding mathematicians analyze a situation to solve a problem. They view a video presentation of the problem, brainstorm important information to gather, and write linear equations to find...
Noyce Foundation
What's Your Angle?
Math can be a work of art! Reach your artistic pupils as they explore angle measures. A creative set of five problems of varying levels has young learners study interior and exterior angle measures of polygons. The introductory levels...
Noyce Foundation
Double Down
Double the dog ears, double the fun. Five problems provide increasing challenges with non-linear growth. Topics include dog ears, family trees and population data, and geometric patterns.
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...
Noyce Foundation
Surrounded and Covered
What effect does changing the perimeter have on the area of a figure? The five problems in the resource explore this question at various grade levels. Elementary problems focus on the perimeter of rectangles and irregular figures with...
Noyce Foundation
Diminishing Return
Challenge individuals to compete as many tasks as possible. Lower-level tasks have pupils apply costs and rates to solve problems. Upper-level tasks add algebraic reasoning and conditional probability to the tasks.
Education Development Center
Integer Combinations—Postage Stamps Problem (HS Version)
It seems the post office has run out of stamps! Learners build all the values of postage available if the post office only sells five- and seven-cent stamps. The task provides an opportunity to create an expression in two variables and...
Denton Independent School District
Pieces to the Puzzle Fraction Project
Four polygons each have a fraction with unlike denominators printed on them. Creative math minds select several shapes to create a design with and then write and solve a math problem involving the addition of all of the fractions...
101 Questions
Lucky Cow
Cutting the cheese isn't a joke. Scholars observe a wedge of cheese and must determine how to cut it in half horizontally. They apply their knowledge of sectors to determine the most accurate way to slice the cheese.
Illustrative Mathematics
Listing Fractions in Increasing Size
Increase the depth of your class's fractional number sense with this number-ordering activity. Given four fractions, each with different numerators and denominators, young learners are asked to place them in order from smallest to...
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 lesson begins with a pre-assessment task to check for prior knowledge and then goes into a...
5280 Math
Triangle Area Patterns
Combine algebraic and geometric strategies to find solutions. The task asks learners to find the coordinates of a third vertex of a triangle to create a triangle with a specific area. The project is a set of seven problems that helps...