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Two Runners

3-5

In this activity, students use a software simulation of two runners along a track. Students control the speed and starting point of the runners, watch the race, examine the graphs, and analyze the time-versus-distance relationships. This activity helps students understand, describe, and compare situations involving constant rates of change.

Pigging Out

3-5

This lesson uses the story of The Three Little Pigs to motivate students to think and reason mathematically in a number of ways. Students develop reasoning skills and identify similarities and differences through the use of Venn Diagram. Spatial reasoning is also emphasized in this lesson.

If the Shoe Fits...

3-5

Students use classification skills to compare and contrast versions of the Cinderella story. Students identify similarities and differences between two versions. In addition, they use attributes to classify and sort information.

Rescue Mission Game

3-5

Students play a game to learn about the four forces of flight: lift, drag, thrust, and weight. Before playing the game, students conduct a probability experiment with spinners and record their results in tally tables and bar graphs. They then use their findings to select spinners with the greatest probability of helping them win the game. In a portion of the game, students use ordered pairs to plot points on the coordinate plane to show their flight path.

This lesson was adapted from Travel in the Solar System in Mission Mathematics II: Grades 3‑5, a NASA/NCTM project, NCTM 1997.

Picture This

3-5

In this lesson, students participate in an activity in which they conduct a survey, analyze and summarize the data they collect, and draw conclusions from their findings. This lesson plan was adapted from the article "Picture This" by Marty Hopkins, which appeared in Teaching Children Mathematics, February 1998, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 354-59.