Explore a basic pattern to practice writing expressions. In collaborative groups, learners examine a contextual pattern and write an expression to model it. The task encourages groups to describe the pattern in multiple ways.

Put on your thinking caps because middle school math has never been more interesting in this huge resource full of thought provoking questions. Written as a newsletter, the resource has 10 two-page newsletters with a variety of...

Patterns and polynomials go hand in hand. Budding mathematicians analyze sequences of dot diagrams to discover the patterns in the number of white dots and black dots. They use the identified patterns to write and simplify a polynomial...

Your learners explore growing patterns by describing, extending, creating, and evaluating practical pattern problems in this three-day collaborative unit. Beginning with concrete patterns and function tables to extend and...

Patterns in math emerge from seemingly random places. Learners explore the patterns for factoring the sum and differences of perfect roots. Analyzing these patterns helps young mathematicians develop the polynomial identities.

Think, question, brainstorm, and make your way through a newsletter full of puzzles and word problems. The resource includes 10 different newsletters, all with interesting problems, to give class members an out-of-the box...

Do your classes truly understand the distributive property? Use a demonstrative lesson plan to represent the distributive property in various ways. Learners solidify understanding by creating a geometric pattern for distributive...

An interesting way to look at the kitchen floor is to count the number of tiles in the border. Fred starts with four white floor tiles and writes an expression for the number of tiles needed for the colored border. Algebra learners are...

After completing an assessment task where they express numbers as the difference of squares (i.e., 9 = 5^2 – 4^2), class members note any patterns that they see in the problems.

Math is all about finding patterns. In this ask, scholars first investigate a sequence formed by squaring the sum of the digits in the previous term. They go on to investigate a second sequence and write an algebraic expression for this...

The world is full of patterns. Help learners quantify those patterns with mathematical representations. The first Algebra lesson in a compilation of four uses a series of activities to build the concept of patterns using multiple...

Polynomial multiplication and factoring go hand in hand. Why not teach them together. This resource begins with an area model for distributing a monomial and then connects the process to factoring the GCF. Learners then advance to...

If you can multiply binomials, you can factor trinomials! This is the premise for a lesson on factoring. Pupils look for patterns in the binomials they multiply and apply them in reverse. Examples include leading coefficients of one...

Investigate polynomial factoring patterns by finding a connection to volume. As learners build a three-dimensional solid from smaller solids, they convert the visual model to a mathematical expression. Their models represent the sum of...

Examine parts of an expression in this algebra lesson. Ninth graders identify the properties of the coefficient and their behavior to the graph. They graph the equation on a TI to see their results.

Is there a relationship between powers and roots? Here is a lesson that asks individuals to examine the graphical relationship. Pupils create a table of values and then graph a square root and quadratic equation. They repeat the process...

Develop a solid understanding of multiplication and division properties of exponents. Individuals expand exponential terms to discover the patterns and create the properties in the second installment in a series of 15. The activity...

Learners investigate patterns and functions. In this algebra lesson, students examine the repetition of integers and objects. They create formulas for the repetition and identify them as function using equations.

Playing with matches (unlit, of course) becomes an engaging learning experience in this fun instructional unit. Teach pupils how to apply properties of exponential functions to solve problems. They differentiate between quadratic and...

Middle schoolers describe plotting functions on the Cartesian coordinate plane. They solve functions on paper and using an online tool to plot points on a Cartesian coordinate plane creating lines and parabolas.

Explore patterns in the multiplication table in order to deepen your third graders' understanding of this essential skill. Implement this activity as a whole-class lesson, allowing students to work in pairs or small groups to support...

Factoring doesn't have to be intimidating. Build on prior knowledge of multiplying binomials and factoring simple trinomials to teach advanced factoring of quadratic expressions with a lesson that uses various methods of exploring the...

Sixth graders study number patterns. They observe dominoes to determine the next domino in the sequence. After studying the dominoes, they write an expression to represent the pattern.

What do you do with a difficult-to-factor quadratic expression? This lesson provides the answer. Pupils learn a grouping strategy to help factor trinomials. When guess and check seems too tedious, this method is the "works every...