Test your pupils' reasoning skills with several activities and a quick mystery to solve. Learners watch and analyze a few video clips that demonstrate reasoning in action, practice deduction with an interactive and collaborative...

Whodunnit? Find out who killed Mr. Brooks through a logical examination of evidence. Class members fill out a couple of data tables to help them pin down the suspect. After they've figured out just who the culprit is, pupils compose...

This a fun problem for young geometers to play with while gaining important insight into deductive reasoning. Some will find the answers very quickly, others might take a less direct path, but all will use their knowledge of the sum of...

Strive to determine your stride. Scholars first view an informative video on the Kentucky Horse Park and the 28-feet stride of the Man o' War. They then work together in groups to find the length of their own strides by using the number...

Students differentiate between inductive and deductive reasoning. In this geometry instructional activity, students identify congruent figures and examine logos for congruency.

Tenth graders investigate deductive reasoning.  For this geometry lesson, 10th graders compare and contrast inductive ns deductive reasoning.  Students use deductive reasoning to investigate algebraic proof and explore...

Explore the process of inductive and deductive reasoning. A collaborative lesson plan has some groups apply an inductive approach and others a deductive approach. Through class discussion, scholars compare their processes and discuss...

Four simple equations, each with two variables, try to get at the important question of reasoning about equations. The problem isn't to solve the equations, but to understand the nature of their solutions. These equations address the...

What do Sherlock Holmes and geometry have in common? Why, it is a matter of deductive reasoning as the class learns how to justify each step of a problem. Pupils then present a known fact to ensure that their decision is correct.

Sorting big and small objects builds spacial reasoning classification, and visual discrimination skills. Your class will read a story about big and small bubbles, practice identifying big and small objects, then sort big and small balls...

Students explain the reason for the changes in season. For this lesson examining the relationship between the Earth and the Sun, students use an applet to discover how the alignment of the Earth and the Sun cause the change in seasons.

This collaborative activity investigates the meaning of a trapezoid and a parallelogram. It begins by presenting two different definitions of a trapezoid. Learners are to reason abstractly the difference between the two definitions and...

Connect your pupils to the problem by presenting a situation with which they can identify. Individuals analyze a graph of water use at a school by reasoning and making conclusions about the day. The instructional activity...

Stay on track to learn about proportions. Scholars watch an introductory video that shows the split time for a runner on an outdoor track. Applying concepts of proportional reasoning, they determine what the runner's split time would be...

Give a round of applause for completing the task. Scholars watch a video that shows an extremely fast clapper and a timer. The activity requires applying concepts of rates and proportional reasoning to estimate the number of claps in one...

Young scientists examine why we have seasons on Earth, and how the motion of the Earth around the Sun causes them. Groups of learners are given a variety of balls, a bamboo stick, a marker, and a flashlight, then use the objects to...

Explore the concept of work with your class, using bottles, water, and corks to calculate work, while using the formula work = rate x time. Students conduct multiple experiments, timing how long it takes for water to drain out of the...

Teach solving absolute value inequalities through inquiry. Groups use their knowledge of absolute value and solving inequalities to find a solution set to an absolute value inequality. Working collaboratively encourages discussion,...

This writing pre-assessment has minimal instruction but maximum support and encouragement. It begins with a review of the book, Rain School, through a think-pair-share and small group discussion. The discussion...

The object is to model fraction division by asking “How many are in one group?” It is a difficult concept to understand, but developing the model that shows one cup to a certain amount of container or one container to a certain amount of...

Students compare graphs of their data that was generated on a NASA website.  In this seasons lesson students complete a lab activity. 

In critiquing someone else's theory, learners share insight into their own understanding of mathematical concepts. Fifth graders will explore the notion that products are always larger than their factors. While this statement is...

Jim and Jesse started their road trip with the same amount of money. Your class must find the amount of money each one had given, the amount of money spent, and the ratio of money at the end. This is a comprehensive problem that...

Get your learners to think outside the box. Students require a good understanding of ratios and their relationship to fractions to complete the problem. The only quantities given in the problem are the ratio of the number of votes for...