Radford University
How Tall is the Tree?
Pairs or small groups work together to determine the height of a tree using similar triangles. Learners make a judgement which direction to let a tree fall to avoid hitting any structures. They then write letters to the principal...
Radford University
Building a Recreation Center
It's all about location, location, location. Small groups work to find the best spot for a rec center to serve three different communities. Learners construct the inscribed and circumscribed circles of a triangle to find the best place....
Radford University
Tiling a Kitchen Floor
Cover the floor with math. Pupils work to determine the proper shape to cover a kitchen floor. They first determine the number of tiles to purchase and configure their placement to reduce the amount of waste. Teams finish by creating a...
Radford University
Getting Around Millbrook
When is the distance formula not accurate? Referencing a map of the school, pairs determine the walking distance between two locations. Creating coordinates for each location, pupils determine the distance between the two points and...
Radford University
How do I Create a Scaled Model of a Full-Sized Basketball Court?
Take mathematics to the hoop! Pairs first measure the linear distances on a basketball court. Using those measurements, they determine the scale lengths to create a scaled model. To finish the activity, learners create models of the...
Radford University
Finding a Location for Your Kitchen Island
Where is the best place to work? Small groups map out a kitchen on a coordinate plane and find the centers of the work triangle to find the best place to install an island. The teams use algebraic methods to locate the center by finding...
Radford University
Triangular Irrigation
Try to keep the pipe short. Learners investigate where to place a water pump to use the least amount of pipe. Scholars use their knowledge of reflections and congruent triangles to find the best location for the water pump. Finally, they...
Radford University
Distance and Midpoint Formulas in a Mall
Go for a walk in the mall. Pupils find distances between stores on a diagram of a mall on Quadrant I. The scholars also determine the midpoint between a store and an entrance to the mall to then create their own paths and determine their...
Achieve
Medication Dosage
Here's the cure to boredom. Given a patient file, including medication dosage information, scholars determine the amount of medication left in the patient's bloodstream over time. They analyze the sequence of numbers and determine a...
US National Archives
WWII: Western Europe 1939-45 – Invasion
Without the benefit of history, Western Europe in the 1940's had no idea what was about to befall them. Class members use primary sources, including political cartoons, videos, and internal documents, to analyze how much of a threat...
California Education Partners
Grapes of Wrath
To demonstrate their ability to comprehend complex text, individuals analyze the details, syntax, and diction John Steinbeck uses in a passage from The Grapes of Wrath to reveal the develop and evolution of Mae's character.
Illustrative Mathematics
Cell Phone Plans
Turn your classroom into a local cell phone store. Then, have your cell phone agents use linear equations to visually display three cell plans and their advantages. It makes for a great group project. Discuss how to decide which plan is...
Radford University
“FUN-ctions” Find the Equation of a Scream
Take a function along for a ride. Given the graph of a roller coaster track, pupils determine key features of the graph such as the maximum, minimum, intervals of increase and decrease, and roots. They figure out the equation of the...