Asses the class to determine their knowledge of proportional relationships involving percents. Class members work through the nine-question assessment with a variety of percent problems. The multi-step problems involve simple interest,...

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...

Here's a fun game on a very serious matter. Scholars play a board game to learn about personal energy use and consumption. They see how various choices affect their energy use and costs, and then apply this knowledge to brainstorm ways...

A highly relevant and great cross-curricular project! In teams, your class will plot a course from the East Coast to Sacramento, California passing through all of the state capital cities along the way. As part of the journey, teams...

Students interpret NASS data to determine loss or gain of farm land and compare land in production and crop production over a 50 year period.

Class groups are challenged to solve the school’s parking problem. Each team must establish ground rules for their discussion, determine criteria that must be met, and brainstorm possible solutions. Next, they agree on one solution and...

A thorough and fun lesson on Korea! In groups of four (Social Chair, Historian, Translator, Travel Agent) class members research North and South Korea to determine a good location for an overseas institute for studying abroad. Once this...

Compute fuel economy and gas mileage. Why? So you can teach rates and ratios, of course! Middle schoolers calculate the rate of miles per gallon for various vehicles. They research each vehicle, its mileage per gallon, and cost per...

High schoolers conduct an experiment using the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. After pairs balance the chemical equation for making water, they mix different ratios of hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction. Classmates...

Following detailed directions, teams collect the voltage and current outputs of a photovoltaic cell by adjusting the resistance. Using the collected data, they determine the highest power output. Implications for weather and a large...

Learners consider several factors to determine if Felicia has enough gas to make it to her destination. They must explain the approximations Felicia might make while driving to determine if she needs to stop for gas. They are also asked...

Youngsters make a mental assessment of electricity-consuming appliances in their homes and then evaluate them for the amount of energy consumed. They learn how to use power meters and measure the electrical consumption of several...

Why do authors write? Practice determining the author's purpose with a categorizing activity. Learners sort twelve short passages into three categories: persuade, inform, and entertain.

I bet I can cross the room without having the lights come on. Class members set up an experiment in which they try to determine what materials will mask motion detected by a sensor. Groups predict how materials will interact with...

There are patterns in nearly everything — even earthquakes. Pairs research current earthquakes to see if there are any patterns. They determine the mean, median, and mode of the earthquake data, along with the maximum and...

Design and build a rover ... then eat it? This activity has groups of two design and build Mars rovers. The teams determine what instruments they want to include with their rover and plan a budget. They calculate the cost of the body of...

Let's see how complicated we can make this simple task. The last activity associated with a 10-part series has groups design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. Teams determine a simple task to accomplish and use the engineering design...

Pupils individually determine what they need to know about osteoporosis and how they will find that information. They share their thoughts with a partner before moving on to share with the class. The class arrives at a list of a set of...

Groups use a marble to determine the viscosity of household fluids. The procedure calls for pupils to measure the amount of time it takes a marble to fall a specified distance in the fluids. Using unit conversions and algebra, the teams...

Concentrate to determine the best reflector design. Pairs use the engineering design process to build a reflector to increase the current output of a photovotaic panel. Teams arrive at a final design and present it to the class along...

Mortgages, payments, and wages correlate with each other. The short assessment presents scatter plots for young mathematicians to interpret. Class members interpret the scatter plots of price versus payment and wage versus payment for...

We can learn from the past to protect the future. Pairs look at two historical earthquakes: San Francisco, Calif., and Kobe, Japan. Pupils compare the two earthquakes and their impacts, then determine how engineers may use the...

Pupils use graphs to analyze two pricing schemes for postcards. After determining which is the best deal, individuals determine what is wrong with the other pricing structures and explain their thinking.

Experiment with 3-D glasses to learn about stereo images and virtual reality. Scholars look at various images to determine if green/red or red/cyan glasses are preferable. They determine distances between images using the 3-D glasses and...