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Symbolic Similarity
How many things does one transformation tell you? Learners compare and contrast the graphs of different parent functions with the same transformation. Using a rational and absolute value function, pupils identify key features of their...
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Strings and Areas
You'd be surprised what you can do with a string! The constraint is the length of string, and the task is to maximize area. Given a series of composite shapes, learners must create a formula for the maximum area for a specified...
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Hockey Pucks
Package design is a mathematical task for any business. Young scholars use a package design to determine the number of packages required for specific shipments. Using ratios, proportions, and fractions, they make decisions about the best...
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Bricks for Books
Maximize a profit with an understanding of geometric dimension. A real-world task challenges learners to design a pattern using three different brick shapes. The bricks are dedicated with a different donation for each shape, so part of...
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Circling Trains
And round and round the park we go! Given a description of an amusement park with the locations of three attractions connected by walkways, learners consider what happens when additional attractions join the mix by doubling the length of...
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Center of Population
Let the resource take center stage in a lesson on population density. Scholars use provided historical data on the center of the US population to see how it shifted over time. They plot the data on a spreadsheet to look the speed of its...
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The Bus Route
Patterns are extremely helpful when solving a puzzle. Young scholars attempt to find times a bus will pass each stop. They identify a pattern in the known stop times to identify the solutions.
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Swimming Pool I
Take a dive into a three-dimensional task. Given a specific surface area, individuals must maximize the volume of a cylindrical swimming pool. They combine their understanding of surface area and volume to create a cubic function that...
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Summertopia
What if the unit of money changes tomorrow? Would you be prepared? Learners calculate currency conversions using fictional units of money. The fictional unit's base is 60 rather than 100, which can connect to time or even degrees.
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Stocking the Shelves
How many ways can you stock a shelf? It's probably more than you think! Young scholars use data in a frequency table to determine how many ways to stock a shelf given a specific constraint for types of groups. They then repeat the task...
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Sum and Product
From linear to quadratic with a simple operation. An exploratory lesson challenges learners to find two linear functions that, when multiplied, produce a given parabola. The task includes the graph of the sum of the functions as well as...
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Squares and Cubes
The task is simple, but the solution is a little more complex. Learners must find the smallest number that results in a perfect square when multiplied by two and a perfect cube when multiplied by three. The task requires an analysis of...
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Square-Ness
Are there some rectangles that are more square than others? A thought-provoking task asks individuals to create a formula that objectifies the square-ness of a set of rectangles. They then use their formulas to rank a set of rectangles.
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Heights and Weights
Height is dependent on weight—or is it the other way around? Given data from a physicians handbook, individuals compare the height and weight of males and females at different areas. They calculate differences and ratios to assist with...
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Graphing Elements
How do you graph a sentence? Scholars do just that as they represent relationships between independent and dependent variables with a graphical representation. Given a sentence, they determine the pertinent relationship and create a...
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Gestation and Longevity
Is the gestation length of an animal a predictor of the average life expectancy of that animal? Learners analyze similar data for more than 50 different animals. They choose a data display and draw conclusions from their graphs.
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Function Project
What if a coordinate plane becomes a slope-intercept plane? What does the graph of a linear function look like? Learners explore these questions by graphing the y-intercept of a linear equation as a function of its slope. The result is a...
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Boards IV
Build a connection between algebraic sequences and spreadsheets. Learners examine a specific folding pattern and convert the pattern into a spreadsheet. The goal of the spreadsheet is to produce a sequence of a specific pattern modeled...
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Boards III
Learn to visualize mathematical patterns as a folded pattern. Beginning with a visual display, the task encourages pupils to view sequences as a folded table. The pattern of the table then becomes a formula in a spreadsheet that...
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Boards II
Build spreadsheet skills while investigating decimal multiplication. An open-ended task asks learners to edit a spreadsheet to create a multiplication table for decimals. Provided with a specific interval, pupils create formulas that...
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Crazy Clocks
While a stopped clock is right twice a day, a fast or slow clock confuses people for weeks. Scholars observe a clock running slow and must correct it before observing a clock running fast and working it backward. Finally, a multi-step...
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City of New Orleans
In the United States, most trains operate at a top speed of 100 miles per hour. Scholars use information on the distance and time of a train trip to determine if the train ever reaches a specific speed. They connect pieces of information...
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Cities and Gas Stations
In Utah, one stretch of highway goes for 106 miles without a single gas station. Where should people build one? Scholars face the dilemma of where to place a new gas station between three cities. They consider distance and proximity to...
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Cheetah's Lunch
Run like a cheetah. A performance task challenges pupils to solve several different problems involving the speed of a cheetah. Given information for scenarios where the cheetah chases its prey, they determine if the big cat is fast enough.