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.

Fifth graders complete activities to investigate parallel and perpendicular lines. For this plane geometry lesson, 5th graders watch a movie about parallel and perpendicular lines. Students work in pairs to describe and draw the lines in...

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.

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...

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.

Students visit the zoo and study the koala bears. In this habitat lesson, students take a field trip to the zoo and examine the habitat of the koala bears. Students watch videos about koalas and consider the needs of the koalas....

Students understand that a spreadsheet can be used to find the best scale to use in a model. They place the distances of the planets of the solar system to the Sun in one column of the spreadsheet. Students try different scales so that...

Fifth graders explore real-life situations of area and perimeter. They develop a list of real-life applications of area and perimeter, select a situation, and write a step-by-step procedure and diagram on graph paper for solving the...

Learners read newspaper articles. In this social studies activity, students locate the latitude and longitude of the location where the news article takes place. Learners write a summary of the news article.

Forget your ID number? Your pupils learn to use logarithms to determine the number of digits or characters necessary to create individual ID numbers for all members of a group. 

Have your class create original modern art sculptures. Learners analyze and discuss "The Profile," a sculpture by Martin Puryear. They work in teams to develop a proposal for a large outdoor sculpture in the community. Presentations...

A line is a line is a line. As a middle school assessment task, learners first identify graphs of given linear equations. They then identify the equations that represent real-world situations.

Explore the solar system with this lesson plan. Learners create a model of the solar system using toilet paper. With this creative approach, learners create a solar system according to distance and scale parameters, and write down a list...

Students utilize prior knowledge to erect and assemble a building from a drawing using spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. In this building lesson plan, students visualize a three dimensional structure from looking at a picture and...

Middle schoolers discuss the importance of scaling drawings. In this math instructional activity, students create a scaled drawing of circuit boards. They explain why accuracy is very important when scaling.

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...

Students draw conclusions and make conjectures given a specific scenario. In this geometry instructional activity, students model real life scenarios using properties of triangles. They model number facts and explain why the outcome is...

Learners 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.

In this satellite and solar cells activity, learners determine the electrical power generated by the solar cells on the IMAGE satellite. Students solve 3 problems including finding the usable area of the satellite, determining the power...

Young scholars engage in a lesson in which volcanoes be explored and examined. After watching a video, students create volcanoes out of clay.

This instructional activity introduces students to the ideas involved in understanding fractals. They develop a sense of infinity, self-similarity and recursion and

A function is like a machine that has an input and an output. Challenge scholars to look at the eight given points and determine the two functions that would fit four of the points each — one is linear and the other non-linear. The...

Students investigate the question: "How does a hot air balloon work?" They build small hot air balloons ans then lauch them. Students discuss how they think a hot air balloon floats. Pupils are introduced to the use of models as a...

Students create a ruler for the purpose of measurement using the standard and metric systems. The rulers are of different lengths and are compared to one another. Then students make conversions of different lengths using both systems of...