Curated OER
Walking the Plank
This is a cool math activity. Kids collect and interpret data based on a physical act. A board is balanced between a scale and a step, learners record a peer's weight as it decreases while s/he walks further away from the scale. They...
Curated OER
Refining and Reasoning Behind Scale Drawings
Students discuss accuracy and the need for it in blueprints in order to create the final project. They further refine and perfect drawings as part of the school drawing project. Students create a blueprint for the new school building...
Curated OER
Map Your House
Students are introduced to the concepts of maps as scale models of the whole. After a brief lecture on creating and using an accurate scale when drawing and reading a map. They create a scale drawing of the floorplan of their homes.
Curated OER
Whale Scale
Pupils estimate relative size and scale of humans, animals, and objects. They verify their estimations through research and measurement and then draw themselves in proportion to other creatures, both larger and smaller, in a selected...
Curated OER
Fastest Way to a Full Belly
High schoolers create a scale model of a cafeteria. In this scale lesson, groups improve their actual school cafeteria layout by taking measurements of the structure and redesigning furniture and food serving lines. They create a scale...
Curated OER
Lesson 2: Ultimate Classroom - Web Model
Students create a scale drawing. In this ultimate classroom lesson, groups of students create a scale drawing of the ultimate classroom. They explore the and explain the constructed design.
Curated OER
Planning a Garden
Seventh graders research the World Wide Web to research and plan a garden for their school. They draw a scale model of the garden, determine the cost, and create a presentation to promote their garden plan.
Noyce Foundation
Boxes
Teach your class to think outside the box. Scholars use the concept of equality to solve a problem in the assessment task. They determine how to use a scale to identify the one box out of a set of nine boxes that is heavier than the others.
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...
Baylor College
Comparing Sizes of Microorganisms
Kids compare what printed text looks like with the naked eye and under magnification. They discuss the extremely small scale that must be used to measure the size. They learn about the micrometer unit, then draw scale models of a variety...
Curated OER
Galaxies to Scale
In this scales and galaxies activity, students solve 7 problems including finding the size of galaxies in comparison to other galaxies and drawing scale models of the given galaxies to show their relative sizes and shapes.
Curated OER
Build an Approximate Scale Model of an Object
Young scholars create a model of an object of their choice using sketches that they have drawn. They study what a scale model is and how to construct one. They examine the uses for scale models and why they are produced.
Curated OER
Solve for Scale Factors Using Proportions
Eighth graders solve problems using proportions with scaled drawings. They work with maps and blue-prints discussing scales and plans and examine different polygons and figure out the scale factors or proportions they have been changed by.
Science Friday
Make a Model of a Home Made From Shipping Containers
Build a scale model of a home built out of shipping containers. A hands-on activity has scholars watch a video about a home built from shipping containers and then design their own home. They build scale models of their designed homes...
Illinois State Board of Education
Solar System
Aspiring astronomers solve problems involving mixed units of the same attribute, including time, money, length, and area. They convert large numbers into scientific notation, then compute and compare ratios to explain why drawing...
Curated OER
Scale Drawing
Students use ratio and proportions to solve problems. In this geometry lesson, students apply ratio and proportions to real life scenarios.
Curated OER
Stadiums in America
Let's play ball! A great springtime activity to learn about ratios. This activity challenges learners to draw stadiums to scale on standard letter paper and also on construction paper. This three-day lesson includes a pre-assessment...
Achieve
Framing a House
If members of your class wonder where they can use the math they learn in middle school, let them discover the answer. Learners apply geometry concepts of scale and measure to calculate the costs of framing a house addition.
Achieve
Stairway
It's the stairway to learning! Scholars research all aspects of building a staircase. Using information from building codes, they write and graph a system of inequalities to analyze the constraints. The completed project is a scale model...
Curated OER
Super Size It, Please!
Pupils take photos from a given distance and determine the height of the person using a scale factor. Pupils calculate the ratio of student actual height to student photo height. They take pictures from 3 different distances to see if...
Curated OER
Measure for Measure
Young mathematicians work to recognize the relationship between their scale models of the Joides research vessel and the real vessel. They calculate the relationships between various parts of the ship using fractions, ratios, and...
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.
Illustrative Mathematics
Shape Hunt Part 1
The hunt is on! Send young mathematicians on a search for shapes in the first lesson of this two-part series. Each time a child finds a hidden shape, he draws it on his paper, and continues searching for the rest. Perform this activity...
Discovery Education
Exploring Geometry
Middle schoolers construct a three-dimensional model of a city using both similar and congruent figures and geometric transformations. City must have at least ten buildings with each building labeled and may be constructed out of paper...