Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Charting the Progress of New Horizons
In 2006, New Horizons began its mission to fly to Pluto. As it continues its journey, scholars track its progress with the help of an informative website, all the while reinforcing measurement concepts with the construction of a scaled...
Illustrative Mathematics
Counting Squares
Challenge young mathematicians' understanding of squares with this geometry puzzle. The task is simple, identify as many squares as possible in a 3x3 array. Allow learners to work independently or in pairs as they search for squares,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Telling a Story With Graphs
Turn your algebra learners into meteorologists. Learners are given three graphs that contain information about the weather in Santa Rosa, California during the month of February, 2012. Graph one shows temperatures, graph two displays the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Overlapping Rectangle
Challenge young mathematicians' ability to compose and decompose shapes with this fun geometry puzzle. The goal is simple, locate all of the rectangles shown in a picture of three overlapping rectangles. Perform this activity as a whole...
Illustrative Mathematics
Regular Tessellations of the Plane
Bringing together the young artists and the young organizers in your class, this instructional activity takes that popular topic of tessellations and gives it algebraic roots. After covering a few basic properties and definitions,...
Teach Engineering
Both Fields at Once?
An MRI uses both a magnetic and electricity, so how do the two interact with each other? Class members observe the effects on a charged particle when it is subject to both an electrical and magnetic field. The teacher background...
Teach Engineering
Designing Bridges
Introduces your class to the types of loads experienced by a bridge. Groups calculate the ultimate load combinations to determine the maximum load requirement. Using this information, builders then determine the amount of material...
NASA
Just How Far is That Star?
Pupils often wonder how we know the distance to various stars. Starting with a thought experiment and progressing to a physical experiment, they determine the brightness and distance to various stars. The evaluation requires...
Teach Engineering
Pushing it Off a Cliff
Focus on the conservation of energy, specifically looking at gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, with a lecture that involves having friends throw light objects at each other to determine which has more kinetic energy and...
Teach Engineering
The Challenge Question
A research position becomes a modeling job. The introductory lesson in a series of nine presents the challenge of analyzing a set of bivariate data. The class brainstorms what the data may represent. Pupils must decide what is needed to...
NASA
Connecting Models and Critical Questions
Scholars use data to analyze and determine which sets of information need to be counted. They create a model to explain differences among chemical elements using graphs to prove concept mastery.
Illustrative Mathematics
Ratio of Boys to Girls
How many boys are in the class? Here is an introductory exercise describing ratios. The commentary shows different ways learners can approach the problem, using a tape diagram of boys to girls and using a table. The activity includes...
Illustrative Mathematics
Margie Buys Apples
One of the most common, everyday applications of math is dealing with money. This single problem calculating how much change Margie receives is more involved than it appears at first glance. An understanding of how fractions and decimals...
Illustrative Mathematics
Banana Bread
Show your future bakers how to choose the right baking pan by calculating the volume of a pan. The resource compares two pans, one with decimal edge lengths and is too small for the recipe and one that may work. Your number crunchers are...
Chicago Botanic Garden
GEEBITT (Global Equilibrium Energy Balance Interactive TinkerToy)
Young scholars use the GEEBITT excel model to explore how global average temperatures are affected by changes in our atmosphere in part two of this series of seven lessons. Working in groups, they discuss, analyze graphs, and enter data...
Curated OER
A Recipe For Success
Sixth graders explore a relevant application of ratios and proportions. They apply this concept through guided practice and interactive feedback.
Curated OER
Torque Me Off
Students investigate the lever and the mathematics associated with levers. They determine the conditions necessary to balance a system of forces around a fulcrum.
Curated OER
It's Your Future
Students learn about productive resources along with their requirements, supply and demand, savings, investments and interest rates. In this supply and demand instructional activity, students create a career plan and personal budget of...
Curated OER
PAY CREDIT WHEN CREDIT IS DUE
Students learn about credit cards and scores and how to and not to use them. In this financial concept lesson, students are given hypothetical scenarios where they are able to apply learning's to given situations as they figure rates,...
Curated OER
On Our Own- Surviving on Another Planet
Students investigate current models for Lunar and Martian settlements and study the mathematics behind these designs. They design their own Lunar or Martian settlement with an explanation of why their model would work best.
Curated OER
Going "Diggie" with Math Word Problems
Sixth graders create word problems. In this sixth grade mathematics lesson, 6th graders use digital cameras to photograph interesting events around school and create word problems for their photographs that address the key concepts...
Curated OER
The Fibonacci Keyboard- Jazz and Math
Learners demonstrate an understanding of the relationships of the Fibonacci Sequence. They apply the Fibonacci Sequence and find its relationship to a piano keyboard. They explore various relationships between music and the Fibonacci...
Curated OER
The Geometry of Indigenous Art
Young scholars examine the concepts of symmetry, rotations, reflections, translation, dialations, and tessellations and apply them to indigenous art. They also do Internet research and create artwork (painting, pottery, computer graphic...
Curated OER
How Creepy!
Students observe and measure a model of slow down slope movement. In this graphing lesson students collect, record, and organize data that apply to models.