A rich and well-designed instructional activity on estimation is here for you. The instructional activity utilizes a video; ITV Series: The Eddie Files 'Estimation: Going to the Dogs,' along with many websites. Several fantastic learning...

Add some randomization into simulations. The 11th installment in a series of 25 presents two new methods to use in simulations--colored disks, and random numbers. Pupils use random numbers to run simulations where the probabilities make...

Watch the damage from a forest fire in this interactive simulation activity that challenges learners to estimate the burn area using different approaches. Learners are given a worksheet to track the different burn patterns and practice...

Following a catchy video about decomposing numbers, young mathematicians build and write numbers using dice. Class members work to create an anchor chart that displays six ways to make numbers. Beans get scooped and estimated, then...

Common Core is all about getting your learners to open their minds and think about the why and how. This problem has them thinking about unknown numbers and their relationship with one another when we round and...

Work it out — find the average time clients spend at a gym. Pupils use a table of random digits to collect a sample of times fitness buffs are working out. The scholars use their random sample to calculate an estimate of the mean of the...

This is great go-to activity for those spring or fall days when the weather beckons your geometry class outside. Learners start with a small tree, devising strategies to accurately estimate the leaf count. They must then tackle the...

A second attack at figuring out the number of leaves on a tree, this activity makes both an excellent follow-up to version 1 and a stand-alone activity. Learners practice setting parameters and deciding acceptable estimate precision, and...

Investigating the large numbers of science is the task in a simple but deep activity. Given a one-sentence problem set-up and some basic assumptions, the class sets off on an open-ended investigation that really gives some...

Who has the most? Young learners practice charting data using familiar information. They help fill out a classroom chart by recording the number of people, pets, televisions, etc. in their home. Guiding questions help them investigate...

What if I can no longer justify area by counting squares? Lead a class discussion to find the area of a rectangular region with irrational side lengths. The class continues on with the idea of lower approximations and...

Using food as a manipulative is one of the best ways to incorporate hands-on learning in the classroom. This hands-on approach allows young mathematicians to compare, order, and identify fractions with the use of Twizzlers® and...

Captivate your class by having them find the value of their names, different zoo animals, musical instruments, etc.,with a mental math lesson. Using the coding formula listed, children learn to fluently estimate and calculate...

In an introductory lesson, youngsters take a pre-assessment quiz, get a grasp of a gram of mass, and then estimate the mass of microorganisms that live within a human body. Using Glo Germ™, a material that allows you to simulate the...

if you've ever had to guess how many items were in a jar, then this problem is for you! With a big jar full of red and white marbles, does picking a sample of 16 allow your learners to get a good estimate on the percentages of each...

Your archaeologists begin this task with a table of values to estimate the time passed based on the half-life of Carbon 14 remaining in a plant. They then move on to find when a specific amount of Carbon 14 is present in the same plant,...

Emerging statisticians develop the ability to make inferences from sample data while also working on proportional relationships in general. Here, young learners examine samples for bias, and then use random samples to make...

Are the means the same or not? Groups create samples from a bag of numbers and calculate the sample means. Using the sample means as an estimate for the population mean, scholars try to determine whether the difference is real or not.

First graders are exposed to addition of three whole numbers in a math activity centered around Eric Carle's, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As the teacher reads, young mathematicians use counters and ten-frames to symbolize the number of...

Learners look at bands of colors and estimate how many rings of color there are. While working in groups, they come up with a plan of how to accurately count the rings. They attempt to find a pattern in the colors, and decide whether...

The use of box scores from baseball games is the foundation of this math instructional activity. Organize your class into groups of four, and give identical box scores from a baseball game that was just played. Have them create word...

Examine two works of art and use these pieces as inspiration for dialogues. The whole class discusses Renoir's Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge. Then, in groups of either three or ten, pupils...

Young scientists observe the spectra of elements and compare that to the Doppler effect. Hook scholars from the beginning all the way to the extension activities in this 5E-format lesson. 

Have young mathematicians subtracting fractions in no time with this manipulative-based math lesson. Using their sets of fraction circles, students explore a number of word problems involving the subtraction of fractions before working...