3-5
In this activity students will analyze data and select fictional
baseball players based on player statistics. They will apply concepts of
probability to choose the order of batters on their team. After creating a
spinner for each player to represent the statistics, they use the spinners to
play a simulated baseball game.
3-5
In this lesson,
students use operations of whole numbers and/or fractions to determine the
precise numbers of three types of dried beans needed to make salads. The use of
manipulatives and partner activities provide differentiation and support
learning for students of varying abilities.
6-8
Photographs, blueprints, models, and computer renderings may
serve as virtual representations of real cities. But how accurately do they
represent their real counterparts? In this lesson, students examine a computer
representation of a city and compare the sizes of its features with the sizes
of analogous features in a real city.
Pre-K-2, 3-5
In this lesson,
students will use operations to discover
patterns with integers in magic squares. They will apply what they have learned when building their own magic
squares.
6-8
Students use their class schedules to create
time-distance graphs by counting the number of walking strides they take from
their lockers and timing themselves as they walk through their class schedules.
They will use their graphs to answer questions about slope,
x- and
y-intercepts, and the meaning of horizontal and vertical lines.
3-5
In this lesson, students explore the relationship
between perimeter and area. Students use pattern blocks to build polygons to
explore how the perimeter can be different for two or more polygons with the
same area.
Pre-K-2
In the book
Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh, two mice find a
teeter-totter and have a fun time balancing each other. When more animal
friends come along to join them, they find their teeter-totter unbalanced. This
hands-on lesson uses the book as an introduction to the concept that both sides
of an equation need to be equal and balanced in order to use the "equal to" symbol; otherwise the "not equal to" symbol must be used. In
addition, students use pictures and symbolic letters to represent variables in
an equation.
Pre-K-2, 3-5
In this lesson, students
use a visual model using snap cubes or grid paper to build numbers in two
columns to show whether they are odd or even. They then use the models
to generalize about sums of odd and even numbers.
3-5
In this lesson, students use pattern blocks to create
polygon "chains" and calculate the perimeter of the trains as they get
longer. The students will recognize and create patterns based on adding the
same shape repeatedly to the train. The students then write algebraic
expressions to describe the patterns.
6-8, 9-12
This lesson is based upon a story from Virgil's
Aeneid. Students work in groups to
investigate maximizing area with a fixed length of rope. They investigate which
figure results in the greatest area by real-life experimentation as well
algebraically. Students gain an understanding of quadratic functions, the
isoperimetric principle, and parabolas.