Curated OER
The Luxor Hotel Contract
High schoolers determine the surface area of the Luxor Hotel, using the square feet of the base, volume, and the volume formula. They create a scale model of the triangular/pyramid shaped hotel.
Teach Engineering
Off-Road Wheelchair Challenge
Challenge your class to use their understanding of the engineering design process to design and build a small-scale, off-road prototype for an assistive technology device. Teams select materials to build their scale models, and, using...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Step Inside the Brain
Before digital microscopes, scientists hired artists to draw the things visible in the microscope. Through training in neuroscience and art, Cajal revolutionized the way we view the beautiful brain. The third lesson plan in a series of...
Curated OER
Problem-Solving Decisions: Reasonable Answers
In this problem solving worksheet, students answer 6 questions pertaining to a story problem about a tabletop scale model of the Nile River.
Curated OER
Volcano Contour Models Activity and Tracing the Highs and Lows in San Francisco
Learners investigate how to draw topographic contours and read topographic maps.They examine the topography of San Francisco and contrast the elevation of different points within San Francisco.
Curated OER
The Ellipse
This is a practical sheet with the instructions to draw a set of ellipses. After following the diagrams, there are ten questions to complete, with calculations expected for alternate orbits and comparisons related to actual planets in...
Trash For Teaching
The Light-House Project
Groups work together to design a lighthouse, from designing and drawing the wiring diagram, to creating prototypes of the switch and circuit, to envisioning and building a scale model along with a blueprint. By including different...
National Arts Centre
Visual Metaphors in Scenic Design: Activity
As part of a study of how visual metaphors are used in set design, class members examine an image of designer Josef Svoboda's 3-D scale model for the opera Idomeneo, re` di Creta. They then find another example that employs a visual...
Curated OER
Scale Me Down
Students create scale drawings, and ultimately scale models, of real-world objects in this Math lesson about ratios, proportion, scaling factors, and cross products. The lesson includes ideas for cross-curricular extensions and is...
Curated OER
Map Your House
Students are introduced to the concepts of maps as scale models of the whole. After a brief lecture on creating and using an accurate scale when drawing and reading a map. They create a scale drawing of the floorplan of their homes.
Curated OER
Planning a Garden
Seventh graders research the World Wide Web to research and plan a garden for their school. They draw a scale model of the garden, determine the cost, and create a presentation to promote their garden plan.
Curated OER
The Stained Glass Window
Students use centimeter rulers and the attached worksheet containing a scale drawing of a stained glass window. The actual measurements of the stained glass window are given, and students are asked to find the actual measurement of the...
Curated OER
Set Design
Students explore proportional reasoning. In this middle school mathematics lesson plan students investigate scale drawings as they create a proportional representation for the carvings on Mt. Rushmore.
Curated OER
The Math in the Design and Building of Bridges
Research various types of bridge designs. Your class will be asked to consider what it would be like without bridges while learning about how they work. They will construct a model bridge based on given parameters. They then calculate...
Curated OER
"If you build it..."
Students utilize prior knowledge to erect and assemble a building from a drawing using spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. In this building lesson, students visualize a three dimensional structure from looking at a picture and converting...
Curated OER
Colors of Stars
Students observe the colors found in the flame of a burning candle and examine the basic concepts of matter and energy. Students apply this information to the color's of starts and the temperature of the stars photosphere. Students...
Curated OER
Scale Drawings
Middle schoolers discuss the importance of scaling drawings. In this math lesson, students create a scaled drawing of circuit boards. They explain why accuracy is very important when scaling.
Curated OER
Creating a 3d Model and Corresponding Topographic Map
Students create a landform model and topographic map. In this topography lesson, students use a real landform to create a model and topographic map to scale.
Curated OER
Portrait and Figure Drawing
Students investigate the self-portraits and figure drawings of famous artists such as Käthe Kollowitz, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt and others following their own attempts to create their expressive original drawings.
Curated OER
Scale
Students apply concepts of scales to solve problems. In this geometry instructional activity, students solve real world problems using scales, proportions and ratios. They predict the actual size of a model given the scale drawings.
Curated OER
Scaling Down the Pyramids
Students construct three-dimensional models of the three pyramids at Giza. They research the building of the pyramids and record the height, base and angle measurements of each pyramid. They create a file of facts regarding the pyramids.
Curated OER
Three D Constellations
Students address a major misconception in astronomy, the understanding of scale. The lesson is designed to introduce students to both celestial coordinates and to the first rung on the distance determination ladder, parallax.
Cornell University
Plant Cell Crime Scene
Use science to solve the mystery of the Poplar murder. Pupils use forensic botany to determine if a suspect could be the killer. By analyzing images from a Transmission Electron Microscope, learners determine if the material found on the...
Big Learning
The Antarctica Project: A Middle School Mathematics Unit
Antarctica is a big place, large enough to provide ample opportunities to learn about math. A two-week unit teaches middle school mathematics concepts using project-based learning. The resource covers functions, geometry (area,...