Kenan Fellows
Introduction to a Flight Computer
Keep your hands on the wheel—at all times! Scholars learn why pilots use a flight computer through a high-flying demonstration. Making calculations for speed, distance, or time is automatic if you know how to use a flight computer.
Illustrative Mathematics
Equal Area Triangles on the Same Base II
A deceptively simple question setup leads to a number of attack methods and a surprisingly sophisticated solution set in this open-ended problem. Young geometers of different strengths can go about defining the solutions graphically,...
Illustrative Mathematics
A Bobbie Bear's Buttons
Young mathematicians help Bobbie Bear pick colored buttons out of a box as they learn how to decompose numbers less than 10 into pairs of smaller numbers. To support students with the process, consider creating a worksheet or graphic...
Curated OER
The Random Walk
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
Equality Number Sentences
Understanding the concept of equality is fundamental to the success of young mathematicians. To explore this basic idea, children compare the dots arranged in pairs of rectangles in order to determine whether or not they contain an equal...
Illustrative Mathematics
Christina's Candies
Help Christina figure out how many chocolate and lemon candies she has with a lesson on decomposing numbers. When presenting this context to the class, the teacher chooses the total number of candies and the number that are chocolate,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Pick Two
Learning to break apart numbers into smaller pairs is a critical step young mathematicians take as they develop their number sense. To practice this skill, children are provided with sets of three numbers and are asked to pick the two...
Illustrative Mathematics
Right Triangles Inscribed in Circles II
So many times the characteristics of triangles are presented as a vocabulary-type of activity, but in this activity they are key to unraveling a proof. A unique attack on proving that an inscribed angle that subtends a diameter must be a...
Illustrative Mathematics
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor
What better way to engage children in a math lesson than by talking about ice cream? Using a pocket chart or piece of chart paper, the class works together creating a bar graph of the their favorite ice cream flavors. Learners then work...
Kenan Fellows
Weight and Balance of an Airplane
A career in aeronautics might be calling your class members. Building from the previous two lessons in the series, learners continue analyzing the mathematics of aeronautics. Groups create a paper airplane using paperclips for balance....
Illustrative Mathematics
Banana Pudding
Making banana pudding despite misplacing your one-cup measuring cup is easy as long as you can find your quarter-cup measuring cup! This real-life activity provides a good opportunity for learners to interpret division of a whole...
Curated OER
The Class Trip
Mrs. Moore's class is trying to earn money for a trip to the science museum, but how much more do they need? Solve this problem with your own class as they develop their ability to model real-life situations algebraically. As an added...
Curated OER
Art Class, Variation 2
Given a set of six paint mix ratios, artistic mathematicians produce an equation that relates the number of parts for blue paint to parts for yellow paint resulting new shades of green.
Illustrative Mathematics
Bike Race
A graph not only tells us who won the bike race, but also what happened during the race. Use this resource to help learners understand graphs. The commentary suggests waiting until the end of the year to introduce this topic, but why...
Curated OER
Repeating Decimal as Approximation
You are used to teaching repeating decimals with bar notation that keeps us from writing that number over and over again; now teach what the over and over again represents. This activity allows your mathematicians to explore the infinite...
Curated OER
Rumors
Your young gossipers write an exponential function for the number of people who have heard a rumor after a number of days have passed. Learners then answer a series of questions, including whether or not the solutions are realistic by...
Curated OER
Carbon 14 Dating in Practice II
Your archaeologists combine proportional reasoning with exponential functions in a real-life task centered on Carbon 14 dating.
Curated OER
Using Function Notation II
Learners write an example to show a function statement true and another to show it false in this short task that addresses some common student misconceptions.
Curated OER
Interesting Interest Rates
Your young bankers compare earning interest accumulated yearly and monthly to decide which method most increases their balance. Using an exponential function to model the bank balance affords the learners more practice connecting...
Illustrative Mathematics
Alike or Different Game
How are a circle and triangle alike? How are they different? These are the types of questions children will answer while playing this fun geometry game. Including a variety of conventional and unconventional shapes, this activity allows...
Curated OER
ARE YOU A TRIANGULATEER?
Learners explore about triangles and their relationship to the worlld around them. They are able to identify triangular shapes in their environment. Students are able to communicate to one another their understanding of triangles outside...
Curated OER
Egyptian Fractions
You don't have to be an ancient Egyptian to decipher fractions in this activity that focuses on adding fractions with unlike denominators and developing fraction number sense. Egyptians represented fractions differently than we do. They...
Illustrative Mathematics
Mr. Brigg's Class Likes Math
A quick discussion question that brings some collaboration into your classroom will allow your thinkers to make a decision about sampling. Mr. Briggs wants to know if the results from his class are a valuable comparison to the entire...
Curated OER
Goody Bags
Looking for Common Core math center ideas for your Kindergartners? This a great one that is easy to set up, change up, and can be individualized to the learning level of each child. Start with a collection of zippered plastic bags...