Pre-K-2, 3-5, 6-8
This tool allows you to create any geometric shape
imaginable. Squares, triangles, rhombi, trapezoids and hexagons can be created,
colored, enlarged, shrunk, rotated, reflected, sliced, and glued together.
9-12
Explore the amplitude, period, and phase shift by
examining the graphs of various trigonometric functions.
6-8
In this lesson,
students learn the definition of like terms and gain practice in identifying
key features to sort and combine them. Most middle school students are adept at
recognizing the nuances of dress and manner that identify groups and cliques
among their peers. This lesson applies the observation and sorting skills that
students already possess to the important task of identifying and combining
like terms. Students will play the game Ker-Splash and derive rules for working
with like terms.
3-5
Students compute with whole numbers and and decimals
as they make recommendations for buying an aquarium for the class. Students
research the various materials needed for the aquarium and make plans based on
their findings. They solve the problem while working within a budget.
3-5
In this lesson, students apply their knowledge of whole
number place value to decimal place value by using different blocks to represent
one whole. By using blocks other than the unit cube to represent one whole,
decimal place value can be explored and understood in a concrete fashion.
3-5, 6-8
Studying the behavior and motion of dinosaurs is obviously a
challenge since these creatures are extinct. If researchers wish to examine the
running velocity of a dinosaur, they must instead consider other evidence of
dinosaur motion and make an indirect estimate. In this lesson, students will
play the role of researchers who field test the Alexander Formula—a formula that uses paleontology data to estimate dinosaur running
velocities. Students will serve as human analogues, making measurements on
themselves, computing predicted running velocities using the Alexander Formula,
and calculating their actual running velocities. They will then evaluate the
accuracy of the formula by comparing estimated and actual running velocities
for the class.
6-8
The lesson is based upon Aesop’s fable,
“The Crow and the Pitcher,” and involves students making predictions and conducting
experiments to determine how many pebbles the crow would need to add to the
pitcher in order to bring the water to drinking height. In the course of the
investigation, students gain a real-world understanding of linear functions and
such concepts as slope,
y-intercept,
domain, and range.
6-8
In this lesson, students will play card
and computer games by adding fractions to make 1. Students will determine how
the fractions are related, by first determining what they have and then how
much more is needed. Through different interactive games, students will utilize their skills and build upon them to expand their
understanding of fractions. Students will be able to determine common
denominators and other strategies to add fractions with like and unlike
denominators.
Pre-K-2, 3-5
This kinesthetic lesson involves using models to practice
regrouping and to reinforce place value understanding. Students work together
to play games involving bases 10 and 5. Students will also interpret models as
numbers.
Pre-K-2
In this lesson, students work at stations where they
practice counting large numbers by grouping herds of cows into tens and
leftover ones, developing a deeper understanding of place value. The activities
involve the use of manipulatives, ten-frames, and the Illuminations online activity
Grouping and Grazing.
