Illustrative Mathematics
Extensions, Bisections and Dissections in a Rectangle
Gaining practice in translating a verbal description into a diagram and then an equation is the real point of this similar triangles exercise. Once the diagram is drawn, multiple methods are provided to reach the conclusion. An effective...
The New York Times
Trouble in the Hive: Researching the Decimation of Honeybee Colonies
Teach your class about colony collapse disorder and foster discussion about causes and solutions for the honeybee problem. Class members read and discuss an article and participate in one of two detailed activities about pollination and...
Dr. Seuss Enterprises
Read Across America
Celebrate the whimsical world of Dr. Seuss on Read Across America Day with a collection of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics activities, each linked to a popular Dr. Seuss story.
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...
Schoolwires
12th Grade Expository Reading and Writing Research Project
The beauty in this resource is the lengthy list of highly charged, controversial-issue research topics. Categories include issues of race, politics, law, environment, education, athletics, gender, and technology. After selecting a topic,...
Computer Science Unplugged
Tourist Town—Dominating Sets
As an introduction to using a network to determine the fewest number of nodes that meet a given condition, small groups work together to determine the fewest number of ice cream vans, and their locations, to be able to serve the people...
Computer Science Unplugged
The Poor Cartographer—Graph Coloring
Color the town red. Demonstrate the concept of graph theory with a task that involves determining the least number of colors needed to color a map so that neighboring countries are not represented by the same color. Pupils...
Illustrative Mathematics
Voting for Three, Variation 1
This is an opportunity for young mathematicians to apply reasoning to solve real-world problems with ratios. Even though there are three candidates for class president, young scholars will only consider two at a time, making the first...
Illustrative Mathematics
Building toward fluency
Here is a great learning task that focuses on the development of areas in computational fluency including strategies in mental math. Young learners are guided through a list of addition expressions that help them visually understand the...
Teach Engineering
Incoming Asteroid! What's the Problem?
Oh, no! An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth!. Class members must rise to the challenge of designing a shelter that will protect people from the impact and permit them to live in this shelter for one year. In this first lesson...
Steven's Institute of Technology
How Does Your Garden Grow?
What to do, bunnies are getting into the garden and eating all the carrots! After reading the story Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! the class works together to design a device that will keep those bunnies out of the garden. They get together in...
Novelinks
The Winter’s Tale: Problematic Situation
Before beginning The Winter's Tale groups read and discuss a scenario that parallels the plot of Shakespeare's play. They then brainstorm possible solutions to the problem.
5280 Math
Go with the Flow
Round and round they go ... where they stop, only scholars will know. By writing systems of equations, classes determine the number of cars a roundabout can handle given specific constraints. Systems use up to six variables and become...
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.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Narrative Text Structure, Story Pieces
An activity boosts reading comprehension by challenging scholars to answer questions about a narrative tale detailing elements—plot, characters, setting, theme, problem, and solution.
Teaching Tolerance
Be the Change...
An engaging lesson empowers individuals to make a difference in the community. Pupils work together to identify problems within the community and draft possible solutions. Scholars then take it to the next level by volunteering their...
Illustrative Mathematics
$20 Dot Map
Challenge the addition skills of young learners with this open-ended math problem. The task is simple, get from start to finish by connecting a series of three numbers. The trick is that the sum of the numbers must be less than...
Illustrative Mathematics
Shrinking
Is Aunt Nancy shrinking? Find out by calculating with the average height women lose each year. The activity practices multiplying and dividing with decimals and rounding the final answer.
Serendip
Golden Rice – Evaluating the Pros and Cons
More than half the world's population eats rice as a daily staple ... imagine if that rice could prevent illness. Scientists genetically engineered rice to include vitamin A for just that purpose. However, room for debate still exists....
International Technology Education Association
Tidy Up Those Sloppy Force Fields!
It is just magnetic. This resource presents the concept of Earth's and another planet's magnetic field and how spacecrafts detect them. Learners study a problem using magnetometers and participate in three experiments to come up with a...
Novelinks
The Lightning Thief: Problematic Situation Strategy
In the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Percy is faced with a major decision. After reading, chapter 19, discuss the decision-making process Percy took, what he decided to...
Greater Grace Christian Academy
Cereal Box Book Report
Need a creative idea for an elementary book report? Use a cereal box project to engage your readers beyond plot, setting, and characters. The lesson includes templates for the project and examples from Charlie and the Chocolate...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Circle and The Line
Here is a resource where algebra learners show their understanding of a system of equations involving a circle and a line. Once graphed, learners see two points of intersection, one where the ordered pair is read, and a second where...
Illustrative Mathematics
Gifts from Grandma, Variation 3
There are three money word problems in this activity, each one is set in the same context. The first asks what was the total amount grandma spent, the second how many grandchildren grandma has, and the third asks how much grandma spent...