Baylor College
Air: The Math Link
Inflate this unit on the science of air with these math skills practice and word problems. Accompanying the children's story Mr. Slaptail's Secret, this resource covers a wide range of math topics including the four basic operations,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Two Interpretations of Division
Division can be seen in two ways; as splitting a whole into a certain number of pieces, or splitting it into pieces of a certain size. Help your class reach this understanding with these two simple word problems. Encourage the use of...
Curated OER
The Class Trip
Mrs. Moore's class is trying to earn money for a trip to the science museum, but how much more do they need? Solve this problem with your own class as they develop their ability to model real-life situations algebraically. As an added...
Curated OER
Analyzing Word Problems Involving Multiplication
Learners sometimes have difficulty making sense of a word problem. In a guided learning activity, pupils are asked to think about how to find an answer and explain their thinking, rather than finding the answer. It allows them to...
Baylor College
Living Things and Their Needs: The Math Link
Enrich your study of living things with these cross-curricular math activities. Following along with the story Tillena Lou's Day in the Sun, learners will practice addition and subtraction, learn how to measure volume and length, work on...
Illustrative Mathematics
Plastic Building Blocks
Let's build a castle! Dennis and Cody have big plans, but do they have enough blocks between the two of them to accomplish their goal? A great context that requires students to add and compare mixed numbers. Encourage the use of pictures...
Resources for Educators
Math & Science Connection
Whether you're using a collection of Dr. Seuss books to teach basic math skills like counting, adding, and subtracting, or exploring the different states of matter by melting a crayon with a hairdryer, a series of 11 fun activities...
US Department of Commerce
Learning About College Degrees and Lifetime Earnings
It's never too early to start thinking about college majors. Using census data, scholars research the lifetime earnings for two selected careers. They then write and solve word problems to compare the amounts. To add a visual component,...
Math Solutions
Dr. Seuss Comes to Middle School Math Class
If you think Dr. Seuss has no place in a math classroom, then take a look at this resource. Based on the classic children's book Green Eggs and Ham, this sequence of activities engages children learning to model real-world contexts with...
Curated OER
Gifts from Grandma, Variation 1
Composed of three word problems, this math activity exposes young mathematicians to relationships present in multiplication and division. The first problem is most useful with a tape diagram in which learners are working with equal-sized...
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.
Curated OER
Carnival Tickets
A great subtraction and division discovery opportunity for young mathematicians, this learning task involves seven word problems that require multiple steps. Learners use a math table to persevere in solving problems that are supported...
Illustrative Mathematics
Margie Buys Apples
One of the most common, everyday applications of math is dealing with money. This single problem calculating how much change Margie receives is more involved than it appears at first glance. An understanding of how fractions and decimals...
Curated OER
Jon and Charlie's Run
Let's use math to solve an argument. Jon and Charlie are debating about who can run farther, but who is right? That's what your class will figure out as they apply their understanding of fractions to this real-life situation. A simple,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Field Day Scarcity
Introduce young mathematicians to concepts of financial literacy with this open-ended word problem. With seven dollars to spend during field day and given a list of available items and their prices, children must determine how they want...
Education Development Center
Word Problem with Rational Numbers—Balancing Bars of Soap
Here's a resource teachers won't want to wash their hands of. Given a task where a full bar of soap is on one side of a balance and 3/4 of a bar of soup and a 3/4-ounce weight is on the other side, young mathematicians must determine the...
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
Dimes and Pennies
Help your fourth graders make cents out of fractions and decimals with this short word problem. After learning that dimes are one-tenth and pennies one-hundredth of a dollar, students write a fraction and decimal for a given number of...
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...
5280 Math
More or Less the Same
Tell the story of the math. Given a graph of a linear system, learners write a story that models the graph before crafting the corresponding functions. Graphs intersect at an estimated point, allowing for different variations in the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Rounding to 50 or 500
In a six-problem learning activity, children are guided to solve word problems that involve rounding to the nearest ten and nearest hundred. A commentary and answer key provide different approaches that learners may take in solving the...
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,...
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Containers in One Cup / Cups in One Container?
The object is to model fraction division by asking “How many are in one group?” It is a difficult concept to understand, but developing the model that shows one cup to a certain amount of container or one container to a certain amount of...