The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of several garbage patches around the world where garbage accumulates naturally. As part of a GIS unit that combines oceanography, environmental science, and life science, class members investigate...

To get the word out that the Great Pacific garbage patch (GPGP) contains millions of pounds of non-biodegrading plastics, individuals research the GPGP and write an article for a newsletter. Researchers present their facts in a...

Water, water, everywhere, right? Wrong. Learners assess their own knowledge of water availability on Earth. Then, through a reading, a teacher-led presentation, and an activity, pupils learn about the importance of available clean...

Let the true colors shine through. Pupils conduct a flame test to identify an unknown element. Class members calculate and prepare specific molarity solutions of three chemicals. Using their observations of the colors emitted, they...

Encourage your class to solve local environmental issues. Groups brainstorm environmental issues that are affecting the community, choose one they want to solve, and design a product or service to solve their chosen issue. They then...

To increase awareness and launch a discussion of consumerism, class members view What Would It Look Like, a 25 minute film of images that capture the global effects of the consumption of goods. Viewers make a list of the images that...

Create trigonometric functions from circles. The first lesson of the module begins by finding coordinates along a circular path created by a Ferris Wheel. As the lessons progress, pupils graph trigonometric functions and relate them to...

When told to describe a line, do your pupils list its color, length, and which side is high or low? Use a learning exercise that engages scholars to properly label line graphs. It then requests two applied reasoning answers.

The class gets their mean and median all in a row with an assessment task that uses a population of ducklings to work with data displays and measures of central tendency. Pupils create a frequency chart and calculate the mean and median....

Parallelograms are pairs of triangles all the way around. Pupils measure to determine the area and perimeter of a parallelogram. They then find the area of the tirangles formed by drawing a diagonal of the parallelogram and compare their...

Enough stuffed crust to go around. Pupils calculate the area and perimeter of a variety of pizza shapes, including rectangular and circular. Individuals design rectangular pizzas with a given area to maximize the amount of crust and do...

Discover how to use mathematics to make a stronger soccer team. Young soccer enthusiasts use given data to make decisions about a soccer team. They decide which position to assign each player, consider what makes a good pass and...

Reflections are the geometric mirror. Pupils explore this concept as they discover the properties of reflections. They focus on the coordinates of the reflections and look for patterns. This is the third lesson in a seven-part series.

Yes, scientists say, there is other life in our solar system! And the best place to look is on Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Here, learners mimic the techniques scientists use to gather information about objects in our solar system, write...

Put the better archer in a box. The performance task has pupils compare the performance of two archers using box-and-whisker plots. The resource includes sample responses that are useful in comparing individuals' work to others.

The Hopewell people of the central Ohio Valley used right triangles in the construction of earthworks. Pupils use the Pythagorean Theorem to determine missing dimensions of right triangles used by the Hopewell people. The assessment task...

Explore different representations of numbers. Scholars convert between fractions, decimals, and percents, and then use these conversions to plot the values on a horizontal number line.

Sew up your unit on operations with decimals using this assessment task. Young mathematicians use given rules to determine the amount of fabric they need to sew a pair of pants. They must also fill in a partially complete bill for...

Functions require an input in order to get an output, which explains why the answer always has at least two parts. After only three multi-part questions, the teacher can analyze pupils' strengths and weaknesses when it comes to...

Working with transformations allows the class to take a turn for the better. The short assessment has class members perform transformations on the coordinate plane. The translations, reflections, and rotations create pattern designs on...

Designers in Prague are not diagonally challenged. The mini-assessment provides a complex pattern made from blocks. Individuals use the pattern to find the area and perimeter of the design. To find the perimeter, they use the Pythagorean...

The class braids irrational numbers, Pythagoras, and perimeter together. The mini-assessment requires scholars to use irrational numbers and the Pythagorean Theorem to find perimeters of rugs. The rugs are rectangular, triangular,...

We can learn from the past to protect the future. Pairs look at two historical earthquakes: San Francisco, Calif., and Kobe, Japan. Pupils compare the two earthquakes and their impacts, then determine how engineers may use the...

To conclude the study of the play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope, class members craft an in-class essay comparing Doescher's adaptation to George Lucas's film, Star Wars: A New Hope.