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...
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
Food: The Math Link
Enrich your study of food science with with these math worksheets. They offer a variety of food-related word problems that are great practice for multiplying, identifying fractions, estimating length, and performing calculations...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Marbles?
Don't lose your marbles! This simple story problem helps make teaching division with fractions much easier. Work on this problem along with the lesson titled, How Many Servings of Oatmeal? to highlight the difference between...
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,...
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
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...
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...
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
Finding a Chair
Here is an activity that incorporates subtraction in word problems. Youngsters are provided with six word problems that essentially deal with the same numbers in each problem, yet use different comparison language. These problems are...
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
K-5 Mathematics Module: Number and Number Sense
Reinforce number sense with a collection of math lessons for kindergarteners through fifth graders. Young mathematicians take part in hands-on activities, learning games, and complete skills-based worksheets to enhance proficiency...
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...
Curated OER
Flower Vases
Which vase holds more water: a cylinder, sphere, or cone? Figure out which should be used for your sister's birthday bouquet with this practical word problem.
Illustrative Mathematics
Placing a Fire Hydrant
Triangle centers and the segments that create them easily become an exercise in memorization, without the help of engaging applications like this instructional activity. Here the class investigates the measure of center that is...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Locker Game
Here is a learning activity that incorporates a classic puzzle in mathematics. Young mathematicians are guided through a series of statements that describe rounds of pupils opening and closing lockers. The first person opens all 20...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Over the Hill
Can you hear me from there? Pupils determine the place to build a cell tower on a hill. The class uses constraints and creates a scale drawing on a coordinate system to calculate the exact location of the base of the cell tower.
Noyce Foundation
Movin 'n Groovin
Examine the consequences of varying speed. An engaging set of five problem sets challenges young mathematicians by targeting a different grade level from K-12. In the initial lesson, scholars make conclusions about the time it...