6-8
In this lesson, students take on the role of a villager in a
third-world country trying to feed her village. While listening to you
read aloud the book
One Grain of Rice by Demi, students work
collaboratively to come up with a bargaining plan to trick the raja
into feeding the village using algebra, exponential growth, and
estimation.
6-8
In 1999 the world population passed the 6 billion mark. In this lesson, students predict when it will reach 7 billion. Students discuss the reliability of their predictions, compare them to past trends, and discuss social factors that can affect population growth.
3-5, 6-8
The
Stomachion is an ancient tangram-type puzzle. Believed by
some to have been created by Archimedes, it consists of 14 pieces cut
from a square. The pieces can be rearranged to form other interesting
shapes. In this lesson, students learn about the history of the
Stomachion, use the pieces to create other figures, learn about symmetry and transformations, and investigate the areas of the pieces.
6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students experience an application of proportion that scientists actually use to solve real-life problems. Students learn how to estimate the size of a total population by taking samples and using proportions. The ratio of “tagged” items to the number of items in a sample is the same as the ratio of tagged items to the total population.
6-8, 9-12
By using sampling from a large collection of beans, students get a
sense of equivalent fractions, which leads to a better understanding of
proportions. Equivalent fractions are used to develop an understanding
of proportions.
This lesson can be adapted for lower-skilled students by using a
more common fraction, such as 2/3. It can be adapted for upper grades
or higher-skilled students by using ratios that are less instinctual,
such as 12/42 (which reduces to 2/7).
Scaffold the level of difficulty in this lesson by going from a simple
ratio such as 2/3 to more complicated ratios such as 2/7 or 5/9.
6-8, 9-12
This lesson offers students a method for finding the slope of a line from its graph. The skills from this lesson can be applied as a tool to real-world examples of rate of change and slope.
6-8
Instead of calling numbers to play Bingo, you call (and write) expressions to be evaluated for the numbers on the Bingo cards. The operations in this lesson are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. None of the expressions contain exponents.
6-8
In this lesson, students use Cuisenaire Rods to build trains of different lengths and investigate patterns. Students make algebraic connections by writing rules and representing data in tables and graphs.
6-8
In this lesson, students use information from NBA statistics to make and compare box and whisker plots. The data provided in the lesson come from the NBA, but you could apply the lesson to data from the WNBA or any other sports teams or leagues for which player statistics are available.
6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students will use Cuisenaire Rods to build trains of different lengths and investigate patterns. Students will use tables to create graphs, define recursive functions, and approximate exponential formulas to describe the patterns.
