3-5
“Where’s
the math?” This is a question that can be answered by students as they examine
pictures from a virtual math trail. Expanding a student’s awareness of the
world is emphasized throughout this activity. As students share thoughts and
verbally express ideas, they are able to grow and communicate with other mathematically.
6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students will explore reflections,
translations and rotations. Students participate in a modeling activity where
they will learn the rules for translations and reflections. Then students
will practice using these transformations, as well as explore the rules for
rotations, in the game
Flip-n-Slide on Calculation Nation®.
Pre-K-2, 3-5
In this lesson, students learn to compose and decompose
numbers into the hundreds place as they move from standard form to expanded form and back again.
Students explore composing and decomposing numbers using base ten blocks and
place value cards.
Pre-K-2
In this lesson, students work at stations where they
practice counting large numbers by grouping herds of cows into tens and
leftover ones, developing a deeper understanding of place value. The activities
involve the use of manipulatives, ten-frames, and the Illuminations online activity
Grouping and Grazing. Pre-K-2, 3-5
This kinesthetic lesson involves using models to practice
regrouping and to reinforce place value understanding. Students work together
to play games involving bases 10 and 5. Students will also interpret models as
numbers.
6-8
In this lesson, students will play card
and computer games by adding fractions to make 1. Students will determine how
the fractions are related, by first determining what they have and then how
much more is needed. Through different interactive games, students will utilize their skills and build upon them to expand their
understanding of fractions. Students will be able to determine common
denominators and other strategies to add fractions with like and unlike
denominators.
3-5
In the first lesson (of two), students start a business from the ground up! Students collaborate to develop a product and are given a $1000 budget in which to start their business. Students participate in a live auction of real estate locations within the classroom, determine the wholesale prices of various products, and work together to develop an advertising campaign all to prepare for the big day- selling day!
3-5
In this lesson, students will create memorable benchmarks for ounces and pounds by playing a classroom scavenger hunt game in which they gain points for finding objects that weigh approximately an ounce or pound. Students will practice weighing objects and will discuss why it is important to know the difference between ounces and pounds.
3-5
In this series of 3 hands-on activities, students develop and reinforce their understanding of hundredths as fractions, decimals, and percentages. Students explore using candy pieces as they physically make and connect a set/linear model to area models.
3-5
Students love games! In this lesson, students apply what they know about area by planning a four square tournament for their school. They'll calculate the total area of a large room and figure out how many four square game courts are possible. The lesson promotes problem solving and decision making as students work to design a tournament space that allows for movement of people and active game play.
3-5, 6-8
Who can build the best boat? In this lesson, students are challenged to create aluminum foil boats that are then tested by filling them with plastic bears until they sink. The lesson serves as a fun, hands-on way to collect data. The data from two attempts is collected and used to make two class box-and-whisker plots with some surprising results.
6-8
In this lesson, students look at patterns in calendars to determine the day of the week for a particular date. Students also use division to explain why those patterns occur, and then relate them to modular arithmetic. The final assessment is for students to find the day of their birth.
9-12
In this lesson, students transform images through rotation, reflection, dilation, and translation using matrix multiplication. After digitizing images by representing the images as matrices, they multiply image matrices by various transformation matrices, producing transformed images.
6-8
The National Bank of Illuminations has been robbed! Students apply their knowledge of ratios, unit rates, and proportions to sort through the clues and deduce which suspect is the true culprit.
6-8
In this lesson, students use an interactive applet to investigate the formula for the volume of a rectangular prism. Students will construct two origami boxes and use centimeter cubes to measure and compare the volume of the boxes. Students will also analyze how changing the dimensions of the prism affects its volume.
9-12
In this lesson, students observe a model of exponential decay, and how kidneys filter their blood. They will calculate the amount of a drug in the body over a period of time. Then, they will make and analyze the graphical representation of this exponential function.
6-8, 9-12
An Armstrong number is an
n-digit number that is equal to the sum of the
nth powers of its digits. In this lesson, students will explore Armstrong numbers, identify all Armstrong numbers less than 1000, and investigate a recursive sequence that uses a similar process. Throughout the lesson, students will use spreadsheets or other technology.
3-5, 6-8
The rules of Krypto are amazingly simple — combine five numbers using
the standard arithmetic operations to create a target number. Finding a
solution to one of the more than 3 million possible combinations can be
quite a challenge, but students love it. And you’ll love that the game
helps to develop number sense, computational skill, and an
understanding of the order of operations.
6-8
Students use equations to determine eBay profit on new technology. EBay is an online auction agency. For a limited time after a “new” product’s street release date, it is possible to track the profit that sellers make for auctioning them on eBay. Students use previous data of selling prices to derive a linear equation for the “closing bid price” on a product.
6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students use polydrons to create nets of rectangular prisms. They discover that there are many configurations for rectangular prisms with the same volume, and determine that certain configurations minimize surface area. The lesson continues in a discovery activity related to building the most cost-efficient and appealing fish tank.
