6-8
In this lesson, students classify polygons according to more than one
property at a time. In the context of a game, students move from a
simple description of shapes to an analysis of how properties are
related. This lesson was adapted from an article which appeared in the
October, 1998 edition of
Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School.
3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Use this interactive tool to create dynamic drawings on isometric dot paper.
6-8
Explore
polyhedra using different representations and perspectives for three
dimensional block figures.
6-8
Understand ratio, proportion, scale factor, and similarity
using perimeter, area, volume and surface area of various rectangular shapes.
6-8
Students explore drawing a mat plan when given a three dimensional figure built from cubes. Students also explore building a three dimensional figure when given the mat plan.
3-5, 6-8
Who can build the best boat? In this lesson, students are challenged to create aluminum foil boats that are then tested by filling them with plastic bears until they sink. The lesson serves as a fun, hands-on way to collect data. The data from two attempts is collected and used to make two class box-and-whisker plots with some surprising results.
6-8
In this lesson, students use geoboards to explore the relationships between the area of a square and its side length. They also gain a numeric and geometric understanding of squaring a number and envision what the square root of a number looks like.
6-8
In this lesson, students use an interactive applet to investigate the formula for the volume of a rectangular prism. Students will construct two origami boxes and use centimeter cubes to measure and compare the volume of the boxes. Students will also analyze how changing the dimensions of the prism affects its volume.
6-8, 9-12
This lesson can be used for students to discover the relationship between dimension and volume. Students create two rectangular prisms and two cylinders to determine which holds more popcorn. Students then justify their observation by analyzing the formulas and identifying the dimension(s) with the largest impact on the volume.
6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students use polydrons to create nets of rectangular prisms. They discover that there are many configurations for rectangular prisms with the same volume, and determine that certain configurations minimize surface area. The lesson continues in a discovery activity related to building the most cost-efficient and appealing fish tank.
