Ms. Amber Nakamura's Mathematics Website
Algebra Project
What would your dream house look like? A cottage? A medieval castle? High schoolers enrolled in Algebra design the perfect house while using slopes to write equations for various aspects of the project.
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
Paying the Rent
Learning how a bank account works is a useful tool. The exercise in the resource is to deduct rent from a checking account and create an equation from a description. Participants then graph the balance of the bank account versus months...
Curated OER
Pairs of Whole Numbers
Mathematical reasoning and linear systems are two of the strategies used to solve this number puzzle. Your learners will enjoy the challenge and the variety of ways to approach this challenge.
Curated OER
Bernardo and Sylvia Play a Game
This activity presents a game played by two learners whose solution is an exercise in creating and analyzing with algebraic inequalities.
Illustrative Mathematics
Finding an Unknown Angle
Teach your class how to apply their knowledge of geometry as they explore the unknown. In order to find an unknown angle, students must understand that rectangles have four interior right angles, that right angles have 90 degrees, and...
Illustrative Mathematics
Busy Day
This activity gets at the heart of algebraic reasoning and setting up equations with one variable to solve real-world problems. The worksheet has only one problem, but it requires that learners first use their own reasoning...
Curated OER
Basketball
Tap into the competitive nature of teenagers as your class practices setting up and solving rational equations. This activity starts with a specific ratio of games won to games played, then asks how many more games must be played to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Similar Circles
Young geometers flex their transformation muscles in this brief but powerful exercise using dilations and translations to develop the similarity of circles. The plan provides guidelines to help learners navigate a pair of...
Illustrative Mathematics
Equal Area Triangles on the Same Base II
A deceptively simple question setup leads to a number of attack methods and a surprisingly sophisticated solution set in this open-ended problem. Young geometers of different strengths can go about defining the solutions graphically,...
Curated OER
Heart Rate Monitoring
Algebra learners like this resource because it is easy to understand and it relates to their lives. Whether you are starting a new workout routine, or just climbing the stairs, your heart rate increases and decreases throughout the day....
Illustrative Mathematics
Fishing Adventures 1
Often inequalities exist in many real-world contexts but young math learners struggle with understanding how to represent that relationship in a simple equation using an inequality. This activity focuses on the basic concepts by using...
Illustrative Mathematics
Battery Charging
Your class will be very interested in the results of this activity. How long does it take a MP3 and video game player to charge? Sam only has an hour and the MP3 player only has 40% of its battery life left. Plus, his video player...
Curated OER
How does the solution change?
Four simple equations, each with two variables, try to get at the important question of reasoning about equations. The problem isn't to solve the equations, but to understand the nature of their solutions. These equations address the...
Curated OER
Parabolas and Inverse Functions
Your Algebra learners will explore what equations are functions or not functions and how to alter the domain to produce a possibility for the relations being a function with a limitted domain.
Curated OER
Taxi!
Your young taxi drivers evaluate and articulate the reasoning behind statements in a conceptual task involving linear data. The given data table of distances traveled and the resulting fare in dollars is used by learners to explore...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Math Maven's Mysteries: The Secret of E. Quation the Great
Want to figure out a magician's secret for a cool balancing trick? Use your algebra knowledge to discover how this magic trick was done.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Math Maven's Mysteries: The Case of the Skating Bus Driver
The bus is not running in Point Logos because Suzie, the bus driver, has decided to go try out the new "Rocket Skates," at Skate Palace. Help the Math Maven choose an algebraic equation that will tell when the bus driver will be finished...
Math Medics
S.o.s. Math: Algebra
This lesson provides basic instruction on the major concepts in algebra. Content includes a focus on fractions, units of conversion, complex numbers, quadratic equations, factorization and roots of polynomials, solving equations, systems...
Math Medics
S.o.s. Math: Solving Equations
This tutorial explains how to solve a variety of equations, from simple to complex, and gives examples and solutions. Students are asked to solve for x before looking at a solution.
Math Is Fun
Math Is Fun: Introduction to Algebra
How is algebra like solving a puzzle? What is a variable? This simple introduction to algebraic equations offers examples of how to solve for "x" and how to balance equations. Follow a link to a "Simple Algebra Worksheet" when you're...
Free Math Help
Free Math Help: Introduction to Algebra
An explanation of algebra and equations that emphasizes how easy it is to learn the basics. The concept of balancing equations is looked at in detail. This page can be used by teachers in lesson planning or by students who seem to be...
Wyzant
Wyzant: Equation Calculator
Students can input an equation and have the site solve it for them, complete with steps shown and explanations given along the way. Equations must be simple, first- or second-degree with only one variable. A quick list of rules to follow...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Fibonacci Sequence & Robots
Using the LEGO NXT robotics kit, students construct and program robots to illustrate and explore the Fibonacci sequence. Within teams, students are assigned roles: group leader, chassis builder, arm builder, chief programmer, and...