How much fabric is necessary for bunting? Scholars use given dimensions of triangular bunting (hanging decorations) to determine the amount of fabric necessary to decorate a rectangular garden. The task requires pupils to consider...

Sprechen sie Deutsch? Future cryptographers must decide whether an unknown text is written in English or in German. They use provided pie charts about the frequency of words in the English and German languages to help make their decisions.

Use statistics to decide if NFL quarterbacks earn their salaries! Learners study correlation coefficients after using technology to calculate regression equations. Through the data, they learn the meaning of correlation and correlation...

The United States consumes more oil than any other country, about 1.85 billion barrels (or 77 billion gallons) a day. Viewers learn about the history of fossil fuel exploration and how they are formed in an informative presentation. They...

Bulls eye! Design dart boards with specific chances of winning. Individuals determine the probability of hitting a circular and a triangular dart board inscribed in squares. They create dart boards that have a 50 percent chance of...

Class members demonstrate a proficiency with conditional probabilities through this task. Individuals calculate probabilities using multiplication and addition. They also distinguish between repetition and non-repetition while...

Substances with the same empirical and molecular formula must be differentiated by their structural formula. Part two in a series of 36 has pupils using chemical formulas to calculate how much of a compound is present in a given...

The members of your economics class may be busy earning graduation credits, but the credit they should be concerned about is their financial credit. The third lesson in a unit about Hurricane Katrina and other events that can result in...

Small but mighty! Learners explore the role of microbes in a healthy ecosystem. An engaging lesson asks pupils to design an aquaponics system that demonstrates that healthy microbes are necessary to maintain the ecosystem.

How do we distinguish between the number of things touching our skin? Scholars explore an interesting lesson through an experiment. They learn that there must be an unstimulated sensory unit between two touches to distinguish them. They...

Model and explore osmosis using squash and potatoes. Young scientists expose chunks of potatoes to different concentrations of a squash solution. They compare the weights of the chunks before and after exposure to the solution and use...

Lettuce talk for a moment about your culinary scholars; do they have what it takes to create a great salad? Show them the finer points of salad preparation with a career and technology lesson that combines direct instruction, creativity,...

Make money disappear! Young scholars watch as a copier shrinks a dollar bill to 75 percent of its size. Learners are left to determine the size of the dollar bill after nine passes through the copier.

Explore the connection of surface area to bonding within atoms. Learners complete lab investigations to model changing surface area with different sizes and concentrations of atoms. A flour fireball demonstration follows the labs to...

Tweet all about it! Junior journalists explore the Twittersphere to determine its effectiveness as a news broadcasting tool in the 12th installment of the 16-part Social Media Toolbox. Participants follow and record their observations of...

First there was pi and now there's e. A discovery-based lesson helps learners find a pattern in compound interest as the compounding period changes. Their investigation results in the discovery of the number e. The lesson is the first in...

Gain a little interest in functions with a real-life task. Young scholars analyze home loan data with a geometric sequence and series. They use the models to make predictions about the total loan payments at certain intervals in a...

Package design is a mathematical task for any business. Young scholars use a package design to determine the number of packages required for specific shipments. Using ratios, proportions, and fractions, they make decisions about the best...

How many people live on the planet, anyway? The first resource in a six-part series covers the topic of the world population. Scholars work in groups to conduct research and make population posters after learning about the global...

Pack the lesson into your plans. Young mathematicians learn about packing and optimization with the context of circular paving stones. They use coins to model the paving stones, and then apply knowledge of circles and polygons to...

A math model is a good model. A slide show presents 10 sample items on modeling and data analysis. Items from Smarter Balanced illustrate different ways that Claim 4 may be assessed on the 8th grade math assessment. The presentation is...

Young history sleuths examine an inventory of the belongings of a Virginia colonist and use deductive reasoning to determine what the document reveals about colonial life. They then use a Venn diagram to compare the inventory with a...

Eighteen is the age of adulthood in the United States, but 21 is the legal drinking age. Pupils use the provided website to determine whether the age to legally purchase and consume alcohol should be lowered. They weigh the pros and...

Should the United States continue the practice of using drone strikes abroad? Readers explore the top pro and con arguments in preparation for a debate or discussion about the topic. They read about the history of drone strikes, view a...