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Persevering Through Problem Solving with Open Middle: Order of Operations

In this lesson, students will engage in a low-floor, high-ceiling Open Middle task that challenges students to think critically about order of operations. Suggestions for facilitating this lesson based on Building Thinking Classrooms are provided, as well as extension questions and questions for reflection.
March 2024 Cover

Supporting Black Students’ Mathematical Identity

6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students will explore the historical and contemporary contributions of the continent of Africa, which includes its resources and people. Through engaging activities and discussions, students will develop a strengthened mathematical belonging by connecting with the rich heritage of Africa, fostering a sense of pride and recognition in their own black identity.

Understanding and Comparing Three-Digit Numbers

3-5

In this lesson, students will learn to make math drawings for hundreds, tens, and ones and connect the drawings to numerical symbols on layered place-value cards.  Students will then compare two-digit and three-digit numbers, justifying their choices using math drawings and/or the layered place-value cards to show their classmates their reasoning. 

2024August Cover
Geometry

Surface Area of Plastic Items

6-8
In this lesson, students will use a Geogebra applet to explore the net of a right cylinder and learn why the surface area of a right cylinder is made up of a rectangle and two circles. Students will then measure the dimensions of a familiar plastic item and approximate its' surface area.
2024August Cover

Disintegration of Plastic Items

6-8
In this lesson, students will learn what happens to plastic waste, how plastics disintegrate, and why plastics are so difficult to remove from waterways.
2024August Cover

Personal Plastic Consumption

6-8

In this lesson, students will consider how many single-use plastics they use in a week. Students will then use ratio tables and graphs to investigate what happens when they scale up to a month, six months, and a year. 

2024August Cover

School-Wide Plastic Consumption

6-8

In this lesson, students will use ratio tables and graphs to estimate how much plastic is used by all the students in their class, all the students in their grade, and all the students in their school. Students will then determine how many plastic items each student can use in order to meet a school-wide goal of reducing plastic consumption. 

2024August Cover

Great Pacific Garbage Patch and Trash Wheels

6-8

In this lesson, students will explore the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and learn how trash wheels help reduce the amount of plastic that pollutes our waterways. Students will then model a sampling method used to measure the amount of plastic collected by trash wheels. 

2024August Cover

The Problem With Plastics

6-8

In this unit, students use plastic as a context to explore mathematical and environmental concepts. The unit starts with an investigation of the surface area of a right cylinder, using a Geogebra applet to visualize and calculate the surface area of familiar plastic items.

Following this, students learn about the breakdown of plastics in the environment and their persistence in waterways. They apply ratio tables and graphs to analyze their own plastic consumption across different time frames, scaling up from a week to a year.

Students further explore plastic use on a larger scale, considering their class, grade, and school, and determine individual actions to collectively reduce plastic consumption.

To conclude, students investigate the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and model methods such as sampling and trash wheels used to measure and mitigate plastic pollution in waterways.