West Contra Costa Unified School District
Search and Rescue Activity
Get your classes moving and practicing sequences at the same time! Learners move about the room solving problems and finding their solutions. Problems include both recursive and explicit formulas and both geometric and arithmetic sequences.
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Discovering Zero and Negative Exponents
Need a hand with an Algebra II integer exponent lesson? This versatile worksheet can be utilized as a lesson to supplement instruction. It derives the idea of a negative exponent before practicing a variety of questions.
Curated OER
Order of Operations
Sixth graders are introduced to the concept of the orders of operations. The skills of using exponents are needed before trying the new concept. Students can be separated in groups for scaffolding.
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Matrix Multiplication Is Not Commutative
Should matrices be allowed to commute when they are being multiplied? Learners analyze this question to determine if the commutative property applies to matrices. They connect their exploration to transformations, vectors, and complex...
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Directed Line Segments and Vectors
Investigate the components of vectors and vector addition through geometric representations. Pupils learn the parallelogram rule for adding vectors and demonstrate their understanding graphically. They utilize the correct notation and...
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Equations for Lines Using Normal Segments
Describing a line using an algebraic equation is an essential skill in mathematics. The previous instructional activity in the series challenged learners to determine if segments are perpendicular with a formula. Now they use the...
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Using Sample Data to Estimate a Population Characteristic
How many of the pupils at your school think selling soda would be a good idea? Show learners how to develop a study to answer questions like these! The lesson explores the meaning of a population versus a sample and how to interpret the...
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The Multiplication of Polynomials
If you can multiply multi-digit integers, you can multiply polynomials. Learners use an area model to compare multiplying numbers to multiplying polynomials. They progress to using the distributive property.
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The Division of Polynomials
Build a true understanding of division of polynomials. Learners use their knowledge of multiplying polynomials to create an algorithm to divide polynomials. The area model of multiplication becomes the reverse tabular method of division.
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The Remainder Theorem
Time to put it all together! Building on the concepts learned in the previous lessons in this series, learners apply the Remainder Theorem to finding zeros of a polynomial function. They graph from a function and write a function from...
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Multiplying and Dividing Rational Expressions
Five out of four people have trouble with fractions! After comparing simplifying fractions to simplifying rational expressions, pupils use the same principles to multiply and divide rational expressions.
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The Geometric Effect of Some Complex Arithmetic 2
The 10th lesson in a series of 32, continues with the geometry of arithmetic of complex numbers focusing on multiplication. Class members find the effects of multiplying a complex number by a real number, an imaginary number, and another...
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The Geometric Effect of Multiplying by a Reciprocal
Class members perform complex operations on a plane in the 17th segment in the 32-part series. Learners first verify that multiplication by the reciprocal does the same geometrically as it does algebraically. The class then circles back...
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Getting a Handle on New Transformations 1
In the first of a two-day lesson on transformations with matrix notation the class transforms the unit square using general transformations, then calculates the area of the transformed image. They discover it is the same as finding...
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Getting a Handle on New Transformations 2
Use 2x2 matrices to move along a line. The second day of a two-day lesson is the 28th installment in a 32-part unit. Pupils work together to create and solve systems of equations that will map a transformation to a given...
Project Maths
The Unit Circle
It's not just any circle—it's the unit circle. The fourth instructional activity in the series is an introduction to the famous unit circle. While working through a series of activities, young scholars learn the components of the unit...
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Making Scale Drawings Using the Parallel Method
How many ways can you create a dilation? Many! Individuals strengthen their understanding of dilations by using various methods to create them. The new technique builds on pupils' understanding of the ratio method. Using the ratio,...
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Special Relationships Within Right Triangles—Dividing into Two Similar Sub-Triangles
Why are right triangles so special? Pupils begin their study of right triangles by examining similar right triangles. Verifying through proofs, scholars recognize the three similar right triangles formed by drawing the altitude. Once...
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The Volume Formula of a Pyramid and Cone
Our teacher told us the formula had one-third, but why? Using manipulatives, classmates try to explain the volume formula for a pyramid. After constructing a cube with six congruent pyramids, pupils use scaling principles from...
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Properties of Tangents
You know about the tangent function, but what are tangent lines to a circle? Learners investigate properties of tangents through constructions. They determine that tangents are perpendicular to the radius at the point of tangency,...
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Writing the Equation for a Circle
Circles aren't functions, so how is it possible to write the equation for a circle? Pupils first develop the equation of a circle through application of the Pythagorean Theorem. The lesson then provides an exercise set for learners to...
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Normal Distributions (part 1)
Don't allow your pupils to become outliers! As learners examine normal distributions by calculating z-scores, they compare outcomes by analyzing the z-scores for each.
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Matrix Multiplication Is Distributive and Associative
Learn the ins and outs of matrix multiplication. After discovering the commutative property does not apply to matrix multiplication in a previous lesson in the series, pupils now test the associative and distributive properties. The...
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Law of Cosines
Build upon the Pythagorean Theorem with the Law of Cosines. The 10th part of a 16-part series introduces the Law of Cosines. Class members use the the geometric representation of the Pythagorean Theorem to develop a proof of the Law of...