Curated OER
Dream Room Interior Design
Students compare and contrast the different periods of interior decor from the 20th Century to the present. They create a three dimensional model of an architectural blueprint.
Curated OER
The Luxor Hotel Contract
High schoolers determine the surface area of the Luxor Hotel, using the square feet of the base, volume, and the volume formula. They create a scale model of the triangular/pyramid shaped hotel.
Kentucky Educational Television
The Road to Proportional Reasoning
Just how big would it really be? Young mathematicians determine if different toys are proportional and if their scale is accurate. They solve problems relating scale along with volume and surface area using manipulatives. The last day of...
Annenberg Foundation
Geometry 3D Shapes: 3D Shapes
Explore vocabulary related to three-dimensional shapes. An instructional website describes the characteristics of different geometric solids. Learners can use an interactive component to view nets, faces, vertices, and edges of common...
Curated OER
Layers of Rock
Juvenile geologists drill clear plastic straws down into a playdough sedimentary rock model, pulling out sample rock cores. As they analyze their cores, they apply the law of superposition and discover that originally horizontal layers...
Curated OER
Inside the Crater
Learners explore and analyze what's inside the crater of an active volcano. They research the history of powerful eruptions and how they have helped to make our planet what it is today. Each student then illustrates, designs and...
Radford University
Building Sandcastles
Finalize the plans before playing in the sand. Learners design sandcastles using geometric and composite figures. They create blueprints, including the scale, and three-dimensional models of their castles. Finally, scholars calculate the...
Curated OER
Time Problems and Dimensional Analysis
In this time problems and dimensional analysis learning exercise, students convert 10 problems from one unit of measurement to another using the process of dimensional analysis. They use conversion factors to solve for the unknown units.
Curated OER
The City Inside a Cell
Students compare cell structure to the structure of a city. In this cell structure lesson, students investigate differences and similarities between cell structure and city structure. Students create a 3-dimensional, edible model of a cell.
Curated OER
How to: Build a Plant Cell
Students build a 3-dimensional model of a plant cell with household objects. In this plant biology lesson, students construct replica plant cells in groups of three. After completing their projects, students share their creations with...
Perkins School for the Blind
Building an Organic Molecule
Glucose is a simple sugar and a molecule that can be illustrated through modeling. Scientific investigators with visual impairments use hands-on models to reconstruct the process of bonding molecules. The tools used in this activity are...
Curated OER
Investigating Shapes in Our World
First graders explore shapes. In this geometry lesson, 1st graders make shapes with geo-boards, use play-dough to make three-dimensional figures, and make a shape book using pre-cut shapes.
Curated OER
Visual Arts: Art in Public Places
Students create 3 dimensional art. In this sculpture lesson, students collect objects that represent their community's values to include in a 3 dimensional sculpture. Students write a paragraph explaining the chosen theme of their...
GNS Science
Think like a Geologist: 2
All models are better in three dimensions. A hands-on lesson asks learners to create 3-D models of a rock layer using a template. They arrange the puzzle piece sides together to create models that are scientifically correct. Once the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Christo’s Building
Hook your charges on how to solve a real-world art problem with mathematics by showing works of Christo. You can find eye-catching images on the Christo and Jeanne Claude webpage. Here, math learners help Jean Claude and Christo prepare...
Curated OER
3-D Cubes
Pupils investigate cubes. In this geometric solids lesson, students review geometric concepts previously taught, then logon to a computer game in which they find cube figures and identify the shadow of hidden cubes.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Representing 3-D Objects in 2-D
How does the shape of the surface of water in a container change as water leaks out? After tackling this question, learners take part in a similar activity with more complex figures.
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Candies R Us
A box is fun to make, especially when it's a candy box! These activities help to cement understanding of the difference between surface area and volume. Have individuals measure the surface area of their box in two-dimensions before...
Curated OER
DNA Model and Protein Synthesis
Young scholars build a 3-dimensional model of DNA coding for the hormone oxytocin.
Curated OER
Teaching About Plate Tectonics and Faulting Using Foam Models
Young scientists learn about plate tectonics and the three different types of faults (normal, reverse, and strike-slip) using foam models. The activity also covers common types of locations where these faults are found.
Curated OER
Modeling Mania Math Topic: Using Models
Students examine problem solving techniques when working on spatial problems. They discover how models, sketches, and drawings can be used to understand on something works. They design a model of a bridge using given dimensions and...
Curated OER
Gumdrop Crystal Models
A great way to learn about molecular structures is to make a model. Gumdrops and toothpicks are used to construct crystal models. The models are based on theories of crystal shapes that occur because of positive and or negatively charged...
Radford University
Fun with Solids
Geometry is all around us—if we're only willing to look. The final three activities of the Fun with Solids unit continue work on surface area and volume. For lesson three, scholars investigate the formulas for spheres and solve a problem...
Science Matters
Excretory System
Not a waste of time or energy! Introduce young scholars to one of the waste eliminating systems of the body in a hands-on lesson exploration. The 14th lesson in a 21-part series asks groups to build models of the excretory system...