How Much Is a Million?

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.

Space Shuttle

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.

Seeing Geometry in Art

Students use paintings studied in the previous lesson to connect their knowledge of geometric shapes and terms with Kandinsky’s use of geometric figures.

Components of a Vector

In this lesson, students manipulate a velocity vector to control the movement of a car in a game setting. Students learn that vectors are composed of two components: magnitude and direction.

Gather Data

To test their conjectures, students gather data using one of three different methods: using a simulated online dive; covering a tank with plexiglass to simulate ocean water; or, incrementally filling a column with water to simulate increasing depth.

Euler Diagrams and Logic

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.

Modeling Orbital Debris Problems

In this lesson, students examine the problem of space pollution caused by human-made debris in orbit to develop an understanding of functions and modeling. It allows the students an opportunity to use spreadsheets, graphing calculators, and computer graphing utilities.

Categorical Data

In the first lesson of this unit, students formulate and refine questions that can be addressed with categorical data. They consider aspects of data collection such as how to word questions and how to record the data they collect. Finally they represent and analyze the data in order to answer the question posed.

Exploring Equal Sets

This lesson builds on the previous lesson and encourages students to explore another model for multiplication, the familiar set model. Students find products using equal sets and present results in the form of a table. The students apply their knowledge about multiplication in the creation of pictographs.