Radford University
Surviving the Month
Pupils create budgets based upon family expenditures. They determine what the monthly payments will be for buying a car and a house based on compound interest for the total amount.
Radford University
Percentages: Lessons 2 and 3
What does salary have to do with it? Working in small groups, scholars use percentages to find simple interest and the value of a car they can afford on a given salary. Learners continue on to work with salaries and calculate amounts...
Radford University
Percentages: Lesson 1
Math can be taxing at times. With a short lesson, pupils determine how income tax affects take-home pay. Learners determine their net pay based on tax tables and how adjustments in their gross pay changes the paycheck.
Radford University
Subdivision Design and Quadrilaterals
They say real estate is location, it might be more about area. Learners work individually and in groups to design subdivisions by dividing the land up into lots. Scholars design floor plans to fit on the lots along with including a park....
Radford University
How to Build a Happy Home
Build a complete house in just a few days. Learners create floor, roof, deck, and landscape plans for a two-story house. Scholars then use their knowledge of area formulas, trigonometric ratios, and the Pythagorean Theorem to determine...
Radford University
The Wheels on the Bus
Find a cheaper way to keep buses going round and round. Small groups use their knowledge of ratios and proportions to find ways to save money on school transportation. The teams determine the number of miles buses currently travel by...
Radford University
Natural Disaster Recovery and Quadrilaterals: Trapezoids and Land Assessments
After a tornado, an insurance company is in need of finding the area of a plot of land. Pupils use their knowledge of trapezoids and area formulas to calculate the area of the plot of land. The scholars work in groups to justify the...
Radford University
Ping Pong Packing
Bounce off some ideas to reduce the amount of wasted space. Teams work together to determine the best size and shape of container to package a large order of ping pong balls. Groups are to design the container to reduce the amount of...
Radford University
2 and 3 Dimensional Shapes
Take a similar approach to three dimensions. Pupils develop the relationship between areas of similar objects and see how they relate to the ratio of the sides. Building upon area formulas, small groups put together volume formulas for...
Radford University
Natural Disaster Recovery and Quadrilaterals: Fencing and Roofing Materials
Storm into a better understanding of geometry. Using a tornado as a backdrop, scholars practice their skills finding perimeters and areas of rectangles. Learners apply their knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem to find missing sides of...
Radford University
Corn and Popcorn
Have a popping good time. Using probability and statistics skills, learners determine which type of popcorn to buy based on the percentage of kernels popped. After analyzing corn and popcorn sales to make a prediction of future sales,...
Radford University
Next Top Model
Create a world of similar models. The geometry and measurement unit uses real-world scenarios to create models of familiar buildings and rooms. Scholars work with blueprints and scale models to compare areas and volumes between the...
Radford University
The Science of Surveys
To drill or not to drill? An informative unit has scholars first research the advantages and disadvantages of oil drilling in Alaska. They set up and conduct a sample survey to assess attitudes toward oil drilling in a specific...
Radford University
What Is Normal?
Are you taller than a Major League Baseball player? Future mathematicians learn about normal distributions, percentiles, z-scores, and areas under a normal curve. They use the concepts to analyze height data of Major League Baseball...
Radford University
Danger! – An Analysis of the Death Toll of Natural Disasters
Decipher the danger of natural disasters. Using researched data, scholars work in groups to create data displays on the number of deaths from different types of natural disasters. They share their graphical representations with the class...
Radford University
Mathematical Modeling: Lessons 2-3
Not all functions are created equal. Pupils apply regression analysis using polynomial, exponential, and logarithmic functions to investigate the relationship between variables and to decide which function would be best to model the...
Radford University
Mathematical Modeling: Lesson 1
Will more deer result in more big game licenses? Scholars first research data on the number of deer and the number of big game licenses in Virginia between 1990 to 2009. They apply polynomial, exponential, and logarithmic regression to...
Radford University
Are Kitchen Cabinets at the Correct Height? Lesson 6
Don't hit your head on the kitchen cabinet. Using previously collected female height data, scholars apply confidence intervals and tests of significance to perform a data analysis. They connect the data to the height
of kitchen cabinets...
Radford University
Are Kitchen Cabinets at the Correct Height? Lessons 1-5
Here's a not-so-normal unit on normal heights. Future statisticians anonymously collect class data on female heights, weights, and shoe sizes. They then analyze the data using normal distributions, z-scores, percentiles, and the...
Radford University
The Puppy’s Empire
Dogs can't do math ... but people sure can! A set of five lessons has scholars apply math concepts to solve problems related to buying a new dog, such as designing a fence and a dog house, estimating how large the dog will become, and...
Radford University
The Game of Life … Mathematics Style
Make life more organized using mathematics. Scholars get a good look at budgeting and personal finance by using linear equations. They research salary information and costs to develop mathematical models, including equations and graphs.
Radford University
Government Spending
Spend some time with lines of best fit. An informative unit has learners investigate government spending. They research data on poverty, educational spending, social security, and defense spending, and then analyze lines of best fit for...
Radford University
Pollution and Curves of Best Fit
Don't put the resource on curves of best fit out on the curb. Using researched data on trash and recycling, scholars create scatter plots and regression curves to analyze the information. As a culminating activity, they complete projects...
Radford University
Function Family Fun
It's time for a family reunion—function families, that is. Pupils first review different types of parent functions. They then see how to apply transformations to graphs and learn how to select the most appropriate type of function to...