6-8
Students consider the amount of time that space travelers must spend on their journey. Students improve their concept of time and distance, while at the same time learn more about the solar system.
6-8
Students consider the amount of time that space travelers need to travel to the four terrestrial planets. Students also think about what kinds of events might occur on Earth while the space travelers are on their journey.
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
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
This lesson focuses students on the concept of 1,000,000. It allows students to see first hand the sheer size of 1 million while at the same time providing them with an introduction to sampling and its use in mathematics. Students will use grains of rice and a balance to figure out the approximate volume and weight of 1,000,000 grains of rice.
6-8
In this lesson, expressions representing area of a rectangle are used to enhance understanding of the distributive property. The concept of area of a rectangle can provide a visual tool for students to factor monomials from expressions.
6-8
Students explore two different methods for dividing the area of a circle in half, one of which uses concentric circles. The first assumption that many students make is that half of the radius will yield a circle with half the area. This is not true, and it surprises students. In this lesson, students investigate the optimal radius length to divide the area of a circle evenly between an inner circle and an outer ring.
6-8
In this lesson, students learn about the mechanics of the Electoral College and use data on population and electoral votes for each state. Students calculate the percentage of the Electoral College vote allocated to each state, and use mathematics to reflect on the differences. Several questions are provided to strengthen understanding of measures of central tendency and fluency with decimals and percents.
6-8
This problem-solving lesson challenges students to generate election
results using number sense and other mathematical skills. Students are
also given the opportunity to explore the mathematical questions in a
politically challenging context. Calculations can be made using online
or desktop tools or using the data gathered on the Lesson 1 activity
sheet, Why California? Additional resources are introduced to extend
the primary activity.
