Young scientists know it is hotter along the equator, but why is it also rainier? Through the process of completing two experiments and a worksheet, scholars discover the answer is the intertropical convergence zone. First, they...

How are maps like fish? They both have scales. The chapter includes six different activities at three different levels. Scholars complete activities using natural resources, learn how to read a map, see how to make a compass rosette,...

See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...

The first STEM lesson in a group of 10 explores composting. After discussing how to make a better tomorrow, classes are challenged to track garbage in their communities, visit a local waste management facility, and conduct a survey...

Atoms, elements, and molecules, oh my! Teaching the fundamentals of chemistry to curious sixth graders has never been easier to accomplish. Here is a resource that pulls together everything needed to get them off to a good start,...

Climate change is a hot topic in the news. Class members examine carbon dioxide data to analyze trends of our atmospheric makeup over time. They also discuss climate and climate change, and determine how these changes are affecting life...

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.

Young scholars determine how to use a scale and the importance of a scale model.  In this wind turbine lesson students use a method used to determine the visual impact of wind turbines. 

Students work in cooperative groups to find the actual measurements of an historical building/landmark. Then they use ratio and proportion to figure the measurements that might be used to create a scale model of the structure.

How well does the class understand dilations? The three-part assessment presents problems related to the properties of dilations. Pupils perform dilations and determine whether a dilation is responsible for a specific image.

Scaling needs to be picture perfect. Pupils use proportional reasoning to find the missing dimension of a photo. Class members determine the sizes of paper needed for two configurations of pictures in the short assessment task.

Investigate the Law of Conservation of Mass through a lab exploration. Individuals combine materials to initiate chemical reactions. They monitor for signs of reactions and measure the masses before and after the reactions for...

Asses the class to determine their knowledge of proportional relationships involving percents. Class members work through the nine-question assessment with a variety of percent problems. The multi-step problems involve simple interest,...

Comparing the movement of graphs geometrically when small changes are made to the parent function motivates this collaborative discussion on the transformations of functions to their various forms. Vertical and horizontal shifts due to...

You can make it if you bake it! Young scientists model electronic chip fabrication with an easy bake oven. They create a design to embed in their brownie "chips" and compare their models to wafer production in basic nanotechnology.

A pre-test contains questions about transformations that lead to congruent and similar images. It also covers angle relationships associated with triangles and parallel lines intersected by a transversal. 

Students investigate the economic and daily activities in a typical African community. They design and construct a small scale house, play an African board game, create African money, discuss vocabulary, and write an essay.

A great way to incorporate math into life science, this instructional activity has learners measure migratory routes on a map and calculate the actual distance that shorebirds on the routes would cover. Learners compute the distance...

Don't give your classes the third degree. Use radians instead! While working with degrees, learners find that they are not efficient and explore radians as an alternative. They convert between the two measures and use radians with the...

Learners estimate and determine the number of cents (pennies) that are needed to equal the mass of a variety of common objects. They develop a process for measuring and explore concepts related to units of measurement.

Students follow Amelia's adventure on a satellite image. They use measuring and math skills to determine the distance she traveled.

The single question in this activity has multiple ways to be solved. Two boys ran a mile. Their times were similar, except one time was a fraction of the other. Who ran faster? In demonstrating the answer to this problem, upper graders...

Young mathematicians put their skills to the test in the real world during this four-lesson consumer math unit. Whether they are learning how compound interest can make them millionaires, calculating the cost of remodeling...

Doing is more effective than watching. Learners use spaghetti to discover the relationship between the unit circle and the graph of the sine and cosine functions. As they measure lengths on the unit circle and transfer them to a...