Three activities make up an introductory lesson designed to create a strong foundation in comparing fractions to decimals and exploring and building decimal models. Pupils brainstorm and complete a Venn diagram to show how decimals and...

Develop automatic, meaningful counting skills with your class by using everyday classroom/school items, objects, and opportunities. Counting skills should be practiced during the year using objects and items they are familiar with and...

Using a carousel activity, class members gain an understanding of the idea of inferences by using pictures then connecting them to mathematics. Groups discuss their individual problems prior to sharing them with the entire class....

How likely is it that the school cafeteria will serve chicken tomorrow? Discover the concept of probability with the roll of the dice. Pupils evaluate the liklihood of several statments about everyday life. Then, a mathematical...

How much water does it take to brush your teeth? How about to wash your clothes? Perform an experiment that measures water usage in everyday tasks and compares them to the days before indoor plumbing, specifically the California...

Take a chance with an activity sure to improve your class's skills. An introductory lesson focuses on probability and chance. It shows how probability is always a value between zero and one, i.e., the probability of an event is always...

There is no more useful life skill to learn than budgeting and setting financial goals. It's math that is used by every person, everyday. Learners examine the responsibilities and costs involved in family economics. Through a series of...

Find the point that splits the data. The instructional activity presents to scholars the definition of the median through a teacher-led discussion. The pupils use data lists and dot plots to determine the median in sets with even and odd...

Your middle schoolers will show what they know with their bodies when they become the coordinate plane in this conceptual development unit. Starting with the characteristics of the coordinate plane, learners develop their skills by...

Building upon previous knowledge of sequences, collaborative pairs analyze sequences to determine the type and to make predictions of future terms. The exercises build through arithmetic and geometric sequences before introducing...

Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...

Encourage scholars to problem solve everyday frustrations using the STAR method. Using the acronym, learners remember to stop, think, act, and review. Participants begin with a math analogy in which they problem-solve to find the correct...

Deep mathematical thinking is found with just a coin and a number line. Combining computing some probabilities in a discrete situation, and the interpretation of a function, this simple task gives learners a lot to think about on...

This hybrid worksheet connects mathematics to a science class. Learners practice solving problems that involve making a variety of conversions. An assortment of questions hits all the calculations needed for a middle school or beginning...

Pack the lesson into your plans. Young mathematicians learn about packing and optimization with the context of circular paving stones. They use coins to model the paving stones, and then apply knowledge of circles and polygons to...

The second installment of a seven-part series focuses on the refraction of light and how it affects the colors we see. Learners consider how this concept connects to biosensors for cancer detection.

How can a canned food drive be connected to math? It's as simple as counting and organizing the cans! Children demonstrate their ability to sort non-perishable foods into categories that include soup cans, vegetable cans, boxed items,...

Integrate history, math, and art into a study of The Grapes of Wrath with a series of activities that ask learners to investigate the social, political, economic, and environmental factors at play during the 1930s. Designed to be used...

Scholars show what they know about data collection and analysis with an activity that examines a smaller population of Houghton, Texas. Independently or in pairs, learners identify their research question, gather, graph, and analyze...

Here is one of the better lessons I've come across on how to teach fractions and decimals. This instructional activity does a great job of showing how these two mathematical representations of numbers are interrelated. Some excellent...

Ever played 20 Questions? A similar game helps young learners practice asking and answering yes-or-no questions. Spread out several objects, preferably all similar with slight variations (buttons or coins would work well). A leader...

Make solutions to projectile motion problems magically appear using equations. Pupils watch a clip from a Harry Potter movie and find the length of time it takes for a remembrall to fall into Harry's hands. They use a projectile motion...

Not only do future engineers learn the difference between accuracy and precision, they also get some hands-on experience using different measuring tools.