North Carolina State University
Construction
Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...
Census at School
Just How Old Are You?
Do you know how old you are in seconds, minutes, days, weeks, or months? This intriguing question is presented as a way for learners to estimate in units of time. They'll build a better sense of what each increment of time is as they...
NASA
The Drake Equation
In this Drake Equation worksheet, students read about how scientists can estimate the number of intelligent civilizations that may exist in our galaxy. Students answer 7 questions about the Drake Equation and they use the internet to...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: Monday's Child
Do you know what day of the week were you born? You can find the exact day when you try this math challenge that explores problem solving with algorithms. Find out how scientist and statisticians use algorithms in their jobs. A one page...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: Tv Ratings (Pdf)
Here's a challenge for the avid TV watcher. Use your data interpretation skills to explore America's TV watching habits in this NCTM Math Challenges for Families activity. See if you can figure out which night of the week has the...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: Drip Drops
Figure out how much water you waste in a week in this exploration using your problem solving, measurement, and estimation skills. This activity is from the NCTM Math Challenges for Families series.