Illustrative Mathematics
The Florist Shop
A real-world approach to common multiples asks learners to find different groups of flowers based on their multiples. Useable as a class activity or independent exercise, they will have to organize their thoughts to explain the totals of...
Illustrative Mathematics
Setting Goals
Setting financial goals is a common occurrence in middle school that your learners can practice using this activity. They will be able to solve for how many hours Seth needs to work to save up for a skateboard, helmet, and trip. The...
PBL Pathways
Gas Prices
How can math help your vehicle run better? Complete an interesting project-based learning task with your classes to determine the cheapest approach to mixing the ideal octane level of gasoline. Scholars create and solve a system of...
Illustrative Mathematics
Harvesting the Fields
This problem involving rates may look simple at first, but it is actually quite challenging. Two different sized fields are harvested by a team of workers and learners must use different rates to calculate the number of workers on the...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Stamp Collection
By using language like "half of the stamps," children are exposed to patterns in arithmetic that requires solving a two-step word problem. This type of language opens a new door for transitioning learners toward understanding fractions...
Curated OER
Quinoa Pasta 3
A mixture of quinoa and corn is for dinner in this collaborative task that sets up nicely as a system of linear equations. Your supper guests discuss numerical precision and percentages as they formulate a plan of how to solve the problem.
Education Development Center
Similar Triangles
Model geometric concepts through a hands-on approach. Learners apply similar triangle relationships to solve for an unknown side length. Before they find the solution, they describe the transformation to help identify corresponding sides.
Agile Mind
Isabella’s Credit Card
An in-depth activity that involves a real-world problem about credit card debt. Learners are given a scenario in which Isabella plans to stop using her credit card and pay off the balance by paying a fixed amount each month. The first...
Curated OER
Egyptian Fractions
You don't have to be an ancient Egyptian to decipher fractions in this activity that focuses on adding fractions with unlike denominators and developing fraction number sense. Egyptians represented fractions differently than we do. They...
Curated OER
Comparing a Number and a Product
Mental math strategies are important for fifth graders to be able to determine the greater sum without actually solving the equations. As a summative assessment, this eight-problem activity can give insight into the understanding of the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Lake Algae
Introduce learners to exponential growth with this real-world problem about algae that is rapidly spreading across a lake in a city park. The task presents the rate of growth and an end value and asks learners to determine what happened...
Illustrative Mathematics
Pick Two
Learning to break apart numbers into smaller pairs is a critical step young mathematicians take as they develop their number sense. To practice this skill, children are provided with sets of three numbers and are asked to pick the two...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Escalator, Assessment Variation
A great way to practice with unit rates, the activity gives your mathematicians an opportunity to compare different statements and select which are true. They can practice with "choose all that apply" by setting each statement into its...
Education Development Center
Extending Patterns with Exponents
Don't think negatively about exponents. Young mathematicians dissect a fictional conversation between pupils trying to evaluate an expression with a negative exponent. This allows them to understand the meaning of negative exponents.
Illustrative Mathematics
Medieval Archer
This activity presents a problem about a computer game which uses functions to simulate the path of an arrow fired by an archer. Learners use the given function to determine where the archer must stand in order to fire an arrow that will...
Illustrative Mathematics
Fishing Adventures 2
This resource is part of a series which expects participants to be familiar with graphing inequalities on a number line. It is a word problem that asks your class to graph a discrete solution set and interpret it in the context of an...
Curated OER
Find 1
Extend your class's ability to represent unit fractions on a number line with this challenging worksheet. Given two number lines, one labeled with zero and 1/4, the other with zero and 5/3, students must accurately locate the number one...
Illustrative Mathematics
Designs
A resource that makes for excellent group work as middle schoolers explore the area and perimeter of different complex designs made up of squares and circles. The commentary gives a clear definition of perimeter, but suggests that group...
Candlewick Press
A Classroom Guide to Peter H. Reynolds's Creatrilogy
Help young readers find, identify, and use their voices with a set of empowering activities based on Peter H. Reynolds' trilogy of books. Sky Color, Ish, and The Dot focus on recognizing moods and treating each other kindly, and their...
Curated OER
Task: Miniature Golf
"Fore!" All right, no one really yells this out in miniature golf, but this well-defined activity will have your charges using lots of numbers in their unique design of a miniature golf hole. Included in the activity criteria is the...
Curated OER
Access Ramp
Just about every public building that your students are familiar with has an access ramp which complies with ADA requirements. As it turns out, designing such a ramp is an excellent activity to incorporate slope, the Pythagorean Theorem,...
Trash For Teaching
The Light-House Project
Groups work together to design a lighthouse, from designing and drawing the wiring diagram, to creating prototypes of the switch and circuit, to envisioning and building a scale model along with a blueprint. By including different...
Curated OER
Choosing a College
How can mathematics help scholars choose a college? High schoolers learn how they can use decision matrices to rank colleges based on selected criteria. They also see how to weigh criteria using multiplication of the decision matrix by a...
Curated OER
Cash Box
Solving systems of equations with a twist! If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, then this is the problem for you. In this scenario, some money is found on the ground and you need to determine if it belongs in the cash...