Introduce your class to map projections and coordinates, the basics for the work done in a GIS, with an activity that uses Google Earth to challenge learners to think about the earth's shape. 

Find the distance between various locations in a neighborhood. Scholars use the interactive to find distances between locations on a map. The map is overlaid onto a grid to provide coordinates for each location, and pupils apply...

Young geographers discover not only how to read and recognize coordinates on a map, but also gain a deeper understanding of latitude and longitude and how climate changes can vary significantly across latitudes.

The Kuril islands stretch from Japan to Russia, and the ongoing dispute about their jurisdiction prevents many scientific research studies. Scholars learn to create a topographic profile of a specific area around their schools. Then they...

Find your way around using vectors. Scholars use an interactive to learn about vector addition. They answer a set of questions about modeling a route on a map using vectors.

Scholars learn to plot points on the coordinate plane. The lesson introduces the idea that the first coordinate of a coordinate pair represents the horizontal distance and the second coordinate represents the vertical distance. 

Map your way to success in understanding coordinate points. Individuals drag town landmarks to their appropriate locations on a coordinate plane representing a map. They answer a set of challenge questions to see if their answers are...

Paul Langan's novel The Bully is the core text in a six-session unit plan that engages high schoolers in an in-depth examination of bullying and its effects on bullies, victims, and bystanders. The richly textured and carefully...

A 10-lesson unit explores the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. Over the course of two weeks, scholars read nonfiction excerpts, discuss their findings, and complete activities. An assessment equipped with multiple choice and matching...

Circles are the foundation of many geometric concepts and extensions - a point that is thoroughly driven home in this extensive unit. Fundamental properties of circles are investigated (including sector area, angle measure, and...

How do we know where we are in the world? A presentation for middle schoolers explains absolute location and other geography terms such as relative location. It also gives scholars the opportunity to practice finding absolute location on...

Scholars learn how to find the distance of vertical and horizontal line segments on the coordinate plane in the 19th installment of a 21-part module. The use of absolute value comes in handy.

Does it matter how many points to dilate? The resource presents problems of dilating curved figures. Class members find out that not only do they need to dilate several points but the points need to be distributed about the entire curve...

Use the coordinate plane to show two figures are similar. The lesson incorporates congruence transformations and dilations to move a figure on to another figure. Pupils determine that if a similarity transformation exists...

Introduce translations as transformations that move figures in horizontal and vertical distances with a video that shows how to translate the figures. A second video covers how to determine the translation that has occurred. Pupils...

Turn the class around. Scholars define rotations of multiples of 90 degrees and create algebraic mappings for them. After an introduction to symmetry, pupils determine which letters of the alphabet have rotational and reflectional...

Do pupils know that the Vietnam War spanned a period of 30 years? A war that long is bound to leave devastating effects. Help young historians develop a comprehensive understanding of the war through multiple units on the subject that...

Challenge the class to prove that the dilation properties always hold. The instructional activity develops an informal proof of the properties of dilations through a discussion. Two of the proofs are verified with each class member...

Combine transformations and triangle congruence in a single lesson. Scholars learn to view congruent triangles as a rigid transformation. Using triangle congruence criteria, learners identify congruent triangles and the rigid...

Translating complex numbers is as simple as adding 1, 2, 3. In the ninth lesson in a 32-part series, the class takes a deeper look at the geometric effect of adding and subtracting complex numbers. The resource leads pupils into what it...

Thinking of assigning a research paper? Get writers off on the right foot with a lesson that introduces the BEAM research model. Writers brainstorm the background of their topic, explicate the aspects of their topic, consider the...

Enlargements make it bigger, right? A video shows viewers how to perform a basic dilation with a fractional scale factor. They learn how to use the scale factor to find the location of the transformed vertex by multiplying the horizontal...

Where in the world are we? As a reading comprehension exercise, kids read a short passage about navigation using latitude and longitude, and then respond to a series of questions based on the article.

How do the five themes of geography relate to the country of Iceland? Pupils learn about everything from the differences between relative and absolute location to how humans both adapt and change the environment. The presentation...