Teach Engineering
Applications of Linear Functions
It's not so straightforward — lines can model a variety of applications. Pupils experience linear relationships within the context of science, including Hooke's and Ohm's Laws. Class members got a taste of motion and speed from the...
Balanced Assessment
Fermi Number
A fermi number is a rough estimate of a quantity that is difficult or impossible to measure. Individuals design a process for making an estimation of a given scenario. For example, they determine a plan for estimating the number of...
Balanced Assessment
Monitor Pricing
Out with the old and in with the new. Learners use a set of prices of computer monitors from 1994 to make a prediction. They then use one current price and what they know about the old prices to make a more recent prediction. Their...
Balanced Assessment
Number Trick
Show your classes the magic of numbers. Using a number trick, learners practice writing algebraic expressions. They then use their expression to perform the trick. Their exploration should help them understand the magic behind the trick.
Balanced Assessment
Marbles in a Glass
Allow learners to design their own strategies to solve a problem. Given dimensions of a glass and a smaller marble, scholars must find the dimensions of a larger marble. The answer key suggests using the Pythagorean Theorem, but multiple...
Balanced Assessment
Star from Square
Quilting is not only beautiful and unique—it is a mathematical art. Show your classes how to design a quilting block while practicing area and circumference of circles. Scholars create a star from a square and then find the circumference...
Balanced Assessment
Frosting on the Cake
Party planners need algebra too! Here, pupils decide the perfect size of a cake based on available ingredients. They use the concepts of area and perimeter to make their conclusions.
Balanced Assessment
Modern Building
Turn your pupils into emerging architects with a resource that asks learners to analyze a scale drawing of a building. They use the scale drawing to interpret the size of the actual building before recreating the drawing using a...
Curated OER
Hot Under The Collar
Pupils try to get a collar on temperature with a short assessment item that asks them to compare two different methods in converting Celsius to Fahrenheit. Individuals try to find out when an estimation provides conversions that are too...
Balanced Assessment
Stick Patterns
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but these sticks will make me smarter. Pupils examine arrays of sticks to determine the next array in a pattern. They use the number of sticks added to each previous array to determine a recursive...
Balanced Assessment
Plenty of Pentagons
Why are only four colors needed to color webs from regular pentagons, not five? An assessment task requires young mathematicians to first construct regular pentagons using a compass and straightedge, then has them consider a shape formed...
Balanced Assessment
Produce Stand
Interpret a graph of the number of oranges at a produce stand to determine a likely event at different times. They also analyze the graph to determine which time period oranges were selling most quickly.
Balanced Assessment
How Big is Big?
Now you can create your own monster movie. Learners estimate the size of a scale model monster given comparison statements and analyze these estimates to determine if the scale model accurately portrays a lizard.
Balanced Assessment
Pen Pals
It's always nice to hear from friends. Your budding mathematicians read letters from pen pals and convert customary measurements into metric units and vice versa. They also write letters to an imaginary pen pal using metric units.
Balanced Assessment
Refiguring Pythagoras
Why was Pythagoras so obsessed with squares? The assessment task posits the question of whether the geometric interpretation of the Pythagorean Theorem holds for figures other than squares. Scholars first consider the case of semicircles...
Balanced Assessment
Solar Elements
Let your brilliance shine like the sun. Future mathematicians and scientists consider given data on the abundance of different elements in the sun. The assessment task requires consideration of how these different abundances relate to...
Balanced Assessment
County Concerns
Apply area concepts to help farmers and settle county disputes. Scholars use a given diagram and information about an insecticide spraying campaign to determine the monetary benefit to farmers. They then decide which of two counties has...
Balanced Assessment
Triangle in Circle
Even kindergartners can draw triangles in circles, but the assessment task requires a bit more geometric knowledge. Scholars investigate triangles that have a diameter of a circle as one of its sides. They must consider triangles that...
Balanced Assessment
Walkway
Evaluate different aspects of geometry with one task. An assessment activity prompts learners to determine the area of a pathway in the shape of a parallelogram. The Pythagorean Theorem and area formulas for various polygons provide the...
Balanced Assessment
Dot Patterns
Use geometric patterns to teach your class how to write functions. The assessment task has scholars consider a pattern of dots to draw the next picture of the pattern. Pupils then analyze the pattern, which helps them develop a function...
Balanced Assessment
Above Average
Raise the bar and strive to be above average. The assessment task requires budding mathematicians to think critically and evaluate given statements. What does it truly mean to be above average?
Balanced Assessment
Greater, Lesser, In-Between
Goldilocks and the Three Numbers? The pre-activity task involves finding digits to complete decimals or fractions that satisfy given constraints, such as finding a fractions that is in between two others. The main task involves a similar...
Balanced Assessment
At the Supermarket
Grocery managers and chefs sure use lots of math. Scholars first use ratios and unit rates to determine a price for a can of corn. Once individuals have the pricing, they determine the amount of ingredients necessary to make brownies...
Balanced Assessment
Fractured Subtraction
Can you spare a 10? Scholars determine digits that could complete a two-digit subtraction problem. They must find all possible combinations of digits and provide an explanation for their reasoning.