Education Center
The Real Thing
What's the difference between a real dog and a pretend dog? First graders choose the illustrations of Gloria the dog from Officer Buckle and Gloria that show a dog doing something that a real dog can do, such as barking or sleeping...
Curated OER
Population and Food Supply
What does it mean for something to grow exponentially, and how does that compare to linear growth? This activity tries to help learners gain an understanding of these concepts while modeling real-world problems. Linear and exponential...
Federal Reserve Bank
The Output Gap: A‘Potentially’ Unreliable Measure of Economic Health?
How can we accurately estimate what the economy should produce now and in the future? Have your pupils tackle this question as they learn about real versus potential GDP and as they review data regarding the output gap in...
Sharp School
Real Life Economics 101
Your learners will take key economic concepts, such as identifying needs versus wants and the four factors of production, and design a video to explain their topic choice to the class. Rather than have one person in charge of dispensing...
Curated OER
Gravity Versus The Mighty Egg - Biology Teaching Thesis
Students are able to describe the principles of gravity. They name other places in the real world where we compensate for gravity. Students design a shock absorber with limited materials and explain how it works to protect an egg. They...
Illustrative Mathematics
Coupon Versus Discount
All too often stores give coupons for an item, but when you go into buy it, the item is on discount. The store won’t take the coupon if the discount is used. So what do you do, use the coupon or take the discount? This activity...
Curated OER
Chapter 7: Measuring Domestic Output, National Income, and the Price Level
Young economists will enjoy this approachable and informative presentation. It is full of helpful graphs and definitions. Especially interesting will be the graph that measures the global perspective of the underground economy as a...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Surprise!: Challenge Activities (Theme 2)
Surprise! is the theme of this series of challenge activities. The surprise comes from the information your scholars will discover when researching topics such as alligators and crocodiles, living in other countries, becoming a...
NOAA
Investigating Sea Level Using Real Data
The news reports on rising sea level, but how do scientists measure this rise? Scholars use NOAA data including maps, apps, and images to work through five levels of activities related to sea level. Each level in the series adds a new...
Virginia Department of Education
Complex Numbers
Build on your class' understanding of real numbers as they begin working with complex numbers. Pupils begin with an exploration of i and the patterns in the powers of i. After developing a definition for i, they...
Curated OER
Rainbows, Bridges & Weather, Oh My!
Explore how real-world applications can be parabolic in nature and how to find quadratic functions that best fit data. A number of different examples of modeling parabolas are explored including a student scavenger hunt, the exploration...
Curated OER
Fact Versus Opinion
Students differentiate between fact and opinion. They define fact and opinion, then listen to and identify examples of each. Students identify different books where facts and opinions can be found, and cut out newspaper and magazine...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Polygons-Changing Area Versus Changing Perimeter
Investigate the area and perimeter of polygons in this geometry activity. Young geometers use grid paper to draw a quadrilateral and calculate its area and perimeter. They also read The Greedy Triangle to identify the changing shape of...
Curated OER
Formal versus Informal Language
Engage in an activity that focuses on the concepts of formal and informal language use. Middle and high schoolers compare and contrast each style by using a Venn diagram that includes some examples. They read and hear a passage of lyrics...
Illustrative Mathematics
Chicken and Steak, Variation 2
Many organizations put on barbecues in order to make money. In a real-world math problem, the money allotted to purchase steak and chicken at this barbecue is only one hundred dollars. It is up to your potential chefs to figure out how...
BioEd Online
Muscles and Bones in Space
Being an astronaut takes not only high mental acuity, but also a high level of physical fitness, especially for those who spend a long amount of time away from Earth, such as the astronauts serving on the International Space Station....
Illustrative Mathematics
But Mango Is My Favorite...
Opening up a package of fruit snacks is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. When all the mango flavored ones are missing, learners calculate the probability that one bag versus the whole box is missing the...
Federal Reserve Bank
Lesson 4: Back to School
Based on your current level of human capital, how long would it take you to earn $1,000,000? What about your potential human capital? Learners explore the importance of education and experience when entering the workforce, and compare...
K20 LEARN
Round and Round We Go
Connect the dots on trigonometry with K'nex. Scholars use a K'nex model of a Ferris wheel to collect data points to plot on a height versus time graph. They'll then consider what type of function best models the data in the graph—and...
Curated OER
Why Save? Better Off Saving
Students examine the pros and cons of saving versus spending money and evaluate real-life situations as well as their own spending habits. They discuss the best and worst purchase they have made and why, explore the "Downtown...
Curated OER
Reel or Real?
Pupils compare and contrast a live versus an animated performance of the same title. They view and take notes during the animated version, take a field trip to observe the live version, and write an opinion on which performance is most...
Curated OER
Velocity of Traffic on Highway 26
Physics fanatics time five cars as they pass on the highway. They use the times and a 20-yard distance to calculate velocity. They also graph distance vs. time. A page of student pre-lab questions is provided in addition to the activity...
Curated OER
Comparison Shopping
Elementary schoolers explore the concepts associated with comparison shopping, and the concept of need versus want. They also look closely at the power of advertising and become more aware of the messages that ads present. After taking...
Baylor College
Serving Sizes
Are serving sizes for different foods always appropriate for what you need? In this hands-on activity, learners work in groups to estimate what one serving size of various foods are, and then evaluate their hypotheses by measuring...