6-8, 9-12
This lesson plan presents a classic game-show scenario. A student picks
one of three doors in the hopes of winning the prize. The host, who
knows the door behind which the prize is hidden, opens one of the two
remaining doors. When no prize is revealed, the host asks if the
student wishes to "stick or switch." Which choice gives you the best
chance to win? The approach in this activity runs from guesses to
experiments to computer simulations to theoretical models. This lesson
was adapted from an article written by J. Michael Shaughnessy and
Thomas Dick, which appeared in the April 1991 issue of the
Mathematics Teacher.
9-12
This activity allows students to become familiar with percents and
taxes. Students learn how to determine the amount of tax a family will
pay based on a certain income. This lesson was adapted from an article
by Warren W. Esty, which appeared in the May 1992 edition of
Mathematics Teacher.
9-12
This lesson, adapted from an activity in
Navigating through Geometry in Grades 9‑12, requires students to investigate reflections using hinged mirrors. With a kaleidoscope, students will examine the interior angles of regular polygons.
9-12
This lesson introduces students to the many factors that play a role in
creating a forest-fire danger rating index. They will be looking at how
we use a scale to quantify the abstract idea of forest fire danger.
Using the real-world situation, students examine the meaning of the
slope and intercepts of a line. To complete the activities related to
these indexes, students should be comfortable with linear, quadratic
and exponential functions and their graphs. Students’ facility with a
graphing calculator is assumed. Students also use summation notation to
do the activities relating to the Nesterov index. This lesson plan was
adapted from the article "Smokey the Bear Takes Algebra," which
appeared in the October 1999 issue of the
Mathematics Teacher.
9-12
This lesson offers a pair of puzzles to enforce the skills of identifying equivalent trigonometric expressions. Additional worksheets enhance students' abilities to appreciate and use trigonometry as a tool in problem solving. This lesson is adapted from an article by Mally Moody, which appeared in the March 1992 edition of
Mathematics Teacher.
9-12
In this lesson, students interpret the meaning of the slope and
y-intercept of the graph of real-life data. By examining the graphical representation of the data, students relate the slope and
y-intercept
of the least squares regression line to the real-life data. They also
interpret the correlation coefficient of the resulting least squares
regression line.
9-12
This lesson focuses on using Euler diagrams to explore direct, indirect,
and transitive reasoning. It was adapted from the article "A Visual
Approach to Deductive Reasoning" by Frances Van Dyke, which appeared in
the September 1995 issue of the
Mathematics Teacher journal.
9-12
This lesson is similar to Lesson One: Traveling Distances; however,
this lesson is designed so students examine real-life data that
illustrates a negative slope. Students interpret the meaning of the
negative slope and
y-intercept of the graph of the real-life
data. By examining the graphical representation of the data, students
relate the slope and
y-intercept of the least squares
regression line to the real-life data. They also interpret the
correlation coefficient of the least squares regression line.
9-12
This lesson is designed to allow students to select their own real-life
data to plot and interpret. Interpreting the meaning of the slope and
y-intercept
of their least squares regression lines will help reinforce the
concepts introduced in Lessons One and Two of this Unit Plan. The
students are then given the opportunity to display their work.
9-12
This lesson is designed to allow students to view the work of other
students in the class and to explain their own work. Some teachers may
be tempted to skip this step in the Unit Plan, but it is very important
that students be given the opportunity to verbalize what the
mathematics means that they performed in Lesson Three.