Shodor Education Foundation
Estimating With Fire
Watch the damage from a forest fire in this interactive simulation activity that challenges learners to estimate the burn area using different approaches. Learners are given a worksheet to track the different burn patterns and practice...
Noyce Foundation
Sewing
Sew up your unit on operations with decimals using this assessment task. Young mathematicians use given rules to determine the amount of fabric they need to sew a pair of pants. They must also fill in a partially complete bill for...
Curated OER
Learning about gravity
Learn how to measure weight with newtons in a science experiment about gravity. After they read a short paragraph about force, fifth graders draw an arrow to indicate which way a spring is being pulled. Next, they survey their family...
Center for Math and Science Education
Solar System Launch
Trying to understand the vastness of outer space can be quite a challenge for young scientists. Help put things in perspective with this cross-curricular activity as students work in pairs creating scaled models of...
Curated OER
Double-the-Design Yarn Paintings!
Students cut yarn into several different lengths and fold paper in half, using skills for measuring and fractions. Then they use unconventional items (yarn) as tools to create mirror-image art and experience first-hand the math idea of...
Teach Engineering
Applying Statistics to Nano-Circuit Dimensions in Fabrication
Do flexible circuits change dimensions during fabrication? Groups use GeoGebra software to measure the length of pictures of flexible nano-circuits. To determine if the circuits change dimensions, future engineers use Microsoft...
August House
The Clever Monkey Rides Again
Use a West African folktale to practice several different skills in your first grade classroom. Learners read The Clever Monkey Rides Again and focus on rhyming words, reading comprehension, measurement, art, movement, and word...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Mapping Greenhouse Gas Emissions Where You Live
After investigating the US Environmental Protection Agency's climate change website, your environmental studies students discuss greenhouse gas emissions. They use an online interactive tool to look at data from power production...
Civil War Trust
Map the Civil War
Mapmaking was a very important element in successfully planning attacks on enemies during the Civil War. Guide pupils through the process of pacing to find the average length of their steps, measure the distance between one object...
Curated OER
Nouns in a Story
Students, assessing a variety of formatting tools with Microsoft Word, utilize a bank of vocabulary words to make a personal dictionary of nouns. They classify nouns for people, places, things and ideas and separate them into common and...
K12 Reader
Eratosthenes: Geographer and Mathematician
Mathematicians can be famous, too! Introduce your class to Eratosthenes with a reading passage. After they complete the passage, learners respond to five questions, some of which require opinions and others reading comprehension skills.
Virginia Racing Commission
Project Hoofbeat: Incorporating the Horse in the Classroom:
It's all about horses in this cross-curricular packet that includes everything equine from United States horse history, breeds, grooming tools, and plenty of new vocabulary terms. Split into 11 lessons, learners complete crossword...
Mathed Up!
Angles
What does a geometric farmer drive? A protractor, of course! A set of assessment worksheets prompts learners to use a protractor as they measure angles, name angles, and identify lines. Use the video as a way to...
Curated OER
A Model Solar System
If Earth is modeled by a grapefruit, what planet could be represented by a golf ball? This activity uses everyday and not-so-everyday objects to create a model of the Solar System.
NOAA
Climate, Weather…What’s the Difference?: Make an Electronic Temperature Sensor
What's the best way to record temperature over a long period of time? Scholars learn about collection of weather and temperature data by building thermistors in the fourth installment of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series....
NOAA
Ocean Exploration
Where am I? The second installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program starts with pupils guessing the years in which major ocean exploration events took place. The lesson then focuses on how...
Scholastic
Problem-Soving Strategies, Practice 1: Sample
A variety of word problems help your learners examine the ways that they find solutions. Each question provides opportunities to add, subtract, and multiply time, measurements, and money.
Teach Engineering
Better By Design
Which modification is the best? Using the scientific method, pairs determine the effects of each control surface on the distance of a glider's flight. The activity, section 16 in a 22-part unit on aviation, allows pupils to gain a better...
Exploratorium
Far Out Corners
Construct a three-dimensional optical illusion when your class is exploring vision and how the eye and brain work together. Three concave corners are mounted inside of a black box, but as a light is shined upon them, they appear to be...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Designing a 3d Product in 2d: a Sports Bag
Sew up pupil interest with an engaging, hands-on lesson plan. Learners first design a sports bag given constraints on the dimensions of fabric. They then evaluate provided sample responses to identify strengths and weaknesses of included...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Maximizing Area: Gold Rush
Presenting ... the gold standard for a lesson. Learners first investigate a task maximizing the area of a plot for gold prospecting. They then examine a set of sample student responses to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
Curated OER
Narrow Corridor
Buying a new sofa? Learn how to use the Pythagorean Theorem, as well as algebra and graphing techniques, to determine whether the sofa will fit around a corner (which I'm sure you'll agree is a very important consideration!).
Mathematics Assessment Project
Solving Problems with Circles and Triangles
After completing a task involving examining the ratio of areas of triangles and circles in a given figure, scholars examine sample responses to identify other strategies they could use to solve the problem.
Curated OER
Volume, Mass, and Weight
Study the difference between mass and weight. Your math group will compare the weight of an item to the amount of space that it uses. They'll then use conversion factors to find the difference between kilograms and pounds. Essential...