Curated OER
Math On Your Lap Quilt
Get creative juices flowing when you allow groups to figure out a procedure for how to find the area of squares and rectangles. They may use the individual patchwork blocks, or they may design one using the Design Template.
Curated OER
Classroom Archaeology
Students, in groups, receive a box of artifacts. They record their findings and discuss what the items would have been used for. They come together at the end of the lesson to share their findings.
Virginia Department of Education
Heat and Thermal Energy Transfer
How does radiation affect our daily lives? Answer that question and others with a lesson that discusses radiation and its use in thermal energy transfer through electromagnetic waves. Pupils investigate vaporization and...
Virginia Department of Education
Work and Power
Assist your class with correctly calculating the values for force, work, and power as they determine the amount various activities require. They gather data and participate in a group discussion to compare results upon conclusion of the...
Virginia Department of Education
States and Forms of Energy
Energy is just energy, right? Explain various forms of energy to your young scientists by using an interactive experiment that contains common objects to demonstrate complex concepts. Pupils conduct experiments for radiant, thermal,...
Curated OER
Reflections
Fifth graders create a reflection of a poygon using a Mira. They discover that a line connecting a vertiex of a polygon and the corresponding vertex of its reflection is perpendicular to the line of reflection. Students create a glide...
Curated OER
Seesaws
Students make direct comparisons between objects using balance and spring scales. They also are encouraged to estimate which object is heavier by holding the objects before using the balance scales. Comparing the masses of objects is the...
Curated OER
Shadows
Students conduct an experiment. In this shadows lesson, students record the height of a meter stick. Students then cast shadows and record their length. Students compare the length of the shadow with the actual height of the meter stick.
Curated OER
Heavy Ice: Day Five
Students explore physics by conducting a class experiment. In this density lesson, students examine a list of items and discuss whether they will sink or float and then determine their density. Students examine the objects over five days...
Curated OER
Commutative Property
First graders investigate the Commutative Property of Addition. It is introduced using models such as students, counters, balances and dominoes. They discover the order of the numbers in an addition sentence does not change the result...
Curated OER
Tomb Explorer/Temple Explorer
Fourth graders build an explorer vehicle which they program through an obstacle course to enter the tomb or temple to discover artifacts.
Curated OER
Tiling the Plane
Fifth graders use pattern blocks and triagular grid paper to reivew shape names, be introduced to the concept of a tiling of the plane, and determine which pattern blocks tile the plane. They are asked if they comprehend what a...
Curated OER
Clockwise
Second graders investigate angles through this series of lessons. They determine how angles turn in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions. They examine the characteristics of quarter half turns and how they can begin from any...
Curated OER
School-Wide Recycling
Students investigate recycling. In this environmental activity, students design a recycling program for their school. Students collect data about how much recyclable materials they use in one week. Students also survey classmates about...
Curated OER
Maps and Modes, Finding a Mean Home on the Range
Fifth graders investigate data from maps to solve problems. In this data lesson, 5th graders study maps and collect data from each map. Students present their data in a variety of ways and calculate the mode, mean, median, and range.
Curated OER
Tick Around the Clock
Students examine and discuss the differences between clocks they are shown. Using the internet, they research how people used to tell time before clocks. They review what the long and short hand on the clock represent and practice...
Improving Measurement and Geometry in Elementary Schools
The Sum of the Interior Angles of a Polygon
Junior geometers discover that polygons can be decomposed into triangles and that the number of triangles can be determined by a rule. Note that the Geometer’s Sketchpad® software is required to carry out all components of this...
Curated OER
Is Your Money Rolling Away?
Young scholars demonstrate how to solve word problems. They will watch the video "Math Can Take You Places" and identify three problem solving strategies.
Curated OER
Minnesota-China Connections:What Time Is It?
Learners calculate the time difference between Beijing, China and their local community. They discuss how time difference affects intercultural communication.
Curated OER
Box and Whiskers
Middle schoolers discover how to relate collected data with a box and whiskers graph in a number of formats. They collect, organize, create, and interpret a box and whiskers graph. Pupils interpret the difference between sets of data,...
Curated OER
Exploring Area and Perimeter
Two students are blindfolded and each receives a cardboard square, one with pompoms glued around the edge and one with pompoms glued all over the surface. They identify what they feel. The class discusses perimeter and area of polygons....
Curated OER
Geoboard Area
Students explore the basic geometric shapes and geometric shape vocabulary through the use of geoboards and virtual geoboards. They create a variety of shapes with a partner, build ten different rectangles on their geoboards, and...
Curated OER
The Three States of Matter
Young scholars explore the three states of matter. In this physics lesson, students are shown examples of solids, liquids, and gases. Young scholars make cookies and identify the three states of matter during the baking process.
Curated OER
Rep Tiles
Third graders use pattern blocks of one shape at a time to try to create a similar shape. They compare the perimeter of the new figure with the perimeter of the original shape and look for a pattern. Students use the pattern to predict...