Young mathematicians practice their reasoning as well as adding and subtracting skills with this instructional activity that includes five simple word problems about birthdays. Learners are give pictures of birthday cakes and based on...

Teach your readers to be critical thinkers. A strategy is outlined that can be used to compare and contrast entities. An example lists four states. The learner removes one state that "does not belong" in the list for some reason, and...

What is and what will be the role of newspapers in the future? Keeping this essential question in mind, class members use print, electronic, and/or web editions of newspapers, to investigate topics that include financial...

Shapes are so fun! Little ones explore, identify, and create shapes using tangrams or pattern blocks. The activity is intended to stimulate critical thinking while engaging learners through play and shape identification. Each child will...

Take your third graders' problem-solving skills to the next level. Six word problems need a solution, but they aren't solvable in their current forms. Learners explain the piece of missing information that they need to solve the word...

Really neat! Kids choreograph a dance phrase and then measure the distance and speed of the phrase using a timer and a meter stick. They collect the data on a table which they use to determine an average. A series of observation and...

Turn your 6th graders into detectives while growing their love of reading. Using critical thinking skills, they will be able to describe the five basic elements of detective fiction, read detective novels, make predictions, use the...

Twenty-one pieces of tagboard can lead your class to a greater understanding of integers when you use them to form a human number line. After creating this math tool, two strategies for adding and subtracting will have your...

Practice basic operations for young mathematicians in fun ways! Using two decks of cards (Ace through 10 plus the joker), learners play "memory" by matching numbers that can be added to make 10 and writing number sentences. In another...

Learners discuss Sol LeWitt and conceptual art, then analyze the differences in expressing a concept through model-based inquiry and aesthetic art criticism. They develop a geometric, scientific, or mathematical concept, then create an...

This can be used as a critical thinking exercise in congruence or as a teaching tool when first introducing the concept. Four octagons are arranged in such a way that a square is formed in the middle. With this information, geometry...

If you're teaching 3rd or 4th grade math, this presentation is a must have. It defines perimeter and polygons, then describes the process by which perimeter is determined through pair share discussion and critical thinking questions....

Seventh grade math is so much fun! They solve 10 different problems that include using patterns to complete a table, describe the pattern, and identify the specific term in the pattern for each. Then they give a description of the...

Get out those protractors! Geometers measure interior and exterior angles of 10 polygons, including a 24-gon. They also calculate the interior angle sum of the polygons. 

This is a twist on the old "guess how many jellybeans" game. Using estimation and math skills, learners participate in a fun "mystery jars" activity, trying to make educated guesses at how many objects are in two jars. The basic activity...

The lesson plan starts out with a brain drain, which is a great way to get students to activate prior knowledge and build lasting connections. They tell everything they know about prime factorization, use their knowledge to...

Not only is Wassily Kandinsky fun to say, his art contains tons of angles. Learners discuss Kandinsky's music-inspired abstract art and four types of angles. They search one of his paintings for obtuse, right, straight, and acute angles,...

Trigonometry, art, and Valentine's Day come together in a creative activity about parametric equations. Learners calculate several equations before graphing them either by hand, on a graphic calculator, or Excel spreadsheet to curve...

Playing with mathematics can invoke curiosity and excitement. As pupils construct triangles with given criteria, they determine the necessary requirements to support similarity. After determining the criteria, they practice...

You know you have stumbled on something interesting when you launch this app. You are suddenly taken into a world of mystery and intrigue, and of course, math-skills practice.

If you think Dr. Seuss has no place in a math classroom, then take a look at this resource. Based on the classic children's book Green Eggs and Ham, this sequence of activities engages children learning to model real-world contexts...

Use the area of polygons to calculate the area between curves. Pupils calculate areas under income and expense curves by filling the space with squares and right triangles. Using that information, they determine the profit related to the...

Scale the challenge of learning about ratios and scales. Young mathematicians learn to incorporate fractional measurements when considering scales and scale factors. They use an interactive to investigate the concept and critically...

The class examines the new tax cut plan proposed by President Bush. They practice calculating income tax rates and interpreting the data. Then they research topics that are of interest to them related to taxes.