Enlargements make it bigger, right? A video shows viewers how to perform a basic dilation with a fractional scale factor. They learn how to use the scale factor to find the location of the transformed vertex by multiplying the horizontal...

Learners examine the process of drawing a picture to scale. They analyze and discuss real-life blueprints for a house, and create a scale drawing of an original invention using calculators and rulers.

After examining how a spring scale works, teams work together to design their own general measurement device. Reading material provides background information, but there is no part of the procedure in which learners handle an actual...

Reflect on altering scale factors. The last lesson in the series of 22 has the class compare the two scale drawings they created. They realize that the scale drawing becomes a scale drawing of each other. Class members continue to work...

Classmates create a scale drawing from another scale drawing, changing the scale in the process. Groups enlarge or reduce the scale of the drawing and discuss their processes.

Young scientists gain a better understanding of space, the solar system and its vastness by creating a scale model. Students first need to calculate the distance between each of the nine planets according to the size of their scale. This...

Practice the metric system with this basic activity. Guided by a fun illustration of a mouse, students problem solve using a balance scale. Two graphic organizers allow them to record their findings in grams and kilograms.

Tap into your pupils' imagination by asking them to design futuristic, ideal cities. They must discuss and take scale and size into account, looking at some model pieces of art for inspiration and analysis. The final product for each...

A wonderful lesson incorporating math and physics skills along with specific details about the planetary bodies. The cross-curricular approach makes for a valid activity to challenge multiple ages and abilities. Your class could work in...

Square the scale factor when working with scaled drawings and area. The 19th lesson in a series of 22 introduces calculating actual areas from scale drawings. The lesson encourages pupils to use the square of the scale factor to find the...

How will a scale factor affect a figure—negatively? Using a grid, the narrator of an engaging video performs a dilation with a negative scale factor. The presenter compares a positive scale factor with a negative scale factor to explain...

Scholars build upon their knowledge of scale drawings by using percents to represent the scale factor. Individuals work with scaling in vertical, horizontal, and both directions.

It's a neat idea, but the task of designing a system for filling jars with consistent specific amounts of a product may be a little out of reach, especially for younger pupils. Intended as an engineering design lesson, this may be better...

Have your aspiring contractors compute the length of two walls in a compound-shaped attic when given a scale drawing of it and the other dimensions. They find the area, determine the number of rolls of insulation they will need to...

Use a probability scale line to help introduce learners to odds and probability. They start by examining an example line, looking at where events would fall from 100% probability to 0%. Next, learners complete two of these on their own,...

Students create their own copies of Phoenix Birds using a grid system.

Electromagnetic radiation behaves like both a wave and a particle. Help classes explore this concept through a lab investigation. Young scientists create optical interference patterns on a glass slide using a carbon layer. They analyze...

Proportions are ratios found using multiplication or division. Middle schoolers solve measurement problems, find a figure's missing dimension, and find the distance between two points. Resource features four lesson plans with detailed...

See how design and geometry go hand in hand. The activity asks learners to use geometry to design a backyard garden given dimensions of each feature. Scholars work with ratios and scale to develop an accurate scale drawing that includes...

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.

This is great go-to activity for those spring or fall days when the weather beckons your geometry class outside. Learners start with a small tree, devising strategies to accurately estimate the leaf count. They must then tackle the...

In a scale measuring noise, an increase in 10 dB is a 10 time increase in power. Mathematicians examine the data graph of a real world exponential growth, with no logarithmic scale, and then create two equations relating the...

Programming a robot is a mathematical task! The activity asks learners to examine the process of programming a robot to vacuum a room. They use a coordinate plane to model the room, write equations to represent movement, determine the...

Measurement and map skills are the focus of this instructional activity, where young scholars crawl through a "cave" made out of boxes, desks and chairs, observing the dimensions.  Your young geographers measure various aspects of...