It's time to crack open that piggy bank and see what's inside. First, count up the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, identifying what fraction of them are dimes. Then calculate the total value of the coins, writing another fraction...

What starts as a basic question of division and remainders quickly turns abstract in this question of related ratios and radii. The class works to surround a central coin with coins of the same and different values, then develops a...

Cash in on a great resource. After watching a video of a coin counter, pupils estimate the number of coins and the amount of money they see. They then use additional given information and systems of equations to find the actual values.

Use volume to count your change. Pupils watch as a cube is filled with stacks of pennies and make an estimate on how many pennies are in the cube. The teacher provides additional information to the class members about the size of the...

Round and round you'll go! Learners watch as different-sized circles fill with coins. They collect data and then make a prediction about the number of coins that will fit in a large circular rug.

Take your class on a North American adventure with a currency conversion problem. Pupils are asked to change US dollars into Canadian dollars and then to Mexican pesos. The commentary includes two solutions, converting by unit rates and...

Young economists explore opportunity cost by counting how much money Susan has in her piggy bank. From here, they are challenged to help Susan make a choice about what she can buy with her money. 

Here is a well-designed resource that provides five yes-or-no questions which model different situations with linear functions. It makes a good pre-test for the beginning of the unit. The purpose is to elicit common misconceptions of...

Combine math, creative writing, and leprechauns in a fun St. Patrick's Day activity! Using a bag of gold coins and marshmallows, kids write a math story about a leprechaun that includes a multi-step equation to solve.

Second graders take a trip to the arcade in an activity that engages them in problem solving with money. Composed of three word problems, youngsters are instructed to determine various combinations to represent a given value by using...

Composed of three word problems, this math activity exposes young mathematicians to relationships present in multiplication and division. The first problem is most useful with a tape diagram in which learners are working with equal-sized...

Challenge young mathematicians to buy classroom supplies by staying within the means of a $1,000 budget. The mathematical activity provides learners with the opportunity to decide what items from the supply list would benefit a class of...

There are three money word problems in this activity, each one is set in the same context. The first asks what was the total amount grandma spent, the second how many grandchildren grandma has, and the third asks how much grandma spent...

Block play can teach children about gravity, physics, and spatial relationships. A hands-on lesson incorporates these concepts with an activity in which learners examine the relationship between levels in a pile. Scholars begin to...

In this real-world example, algebra learners start to get a sense of how to represent the relationship between two variables in different ways. They start by looking at a partial table of values that define a linear relationship. They...

Students connect literature (story Jelly Beans for Sale by Bruce McMillan) to math concepts. In these estimating and money lessons, students work with jelly beans, unifix cubes, pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, to estimate and make...

A quick problem to test your middle schoolers' knowledge of dividing with decimals. Also a good practice of unit rates, they must compute the cost of one gallon of gas when given the total amount for a fill up. Can be used as a preface...

Here is a real-world application for systems of equations. When is it better to pay an enrollment fee and lower daily rate, and when is it better to pay the regular price? The local swim center is having a special offer, reductions in...

More on the fictitious takeover of the Apple Corporation by Microsoft. In this scenario, Microsoft has $28.00 per share to spare, so how many do they need to offer to make an even trade? This is an engaging problem to solve when...

A great subtraction and division discovery opportunity for young mathematicians, this learning task involves seven word problems that require multiple steps. Learners use a math table to persevere in solving problems that are...

Working in pairs, scholars use picture cards to practice segmenting words into phonemes and blending phonemes into words. When a peer answers correctly they place a penny in a treasure chest. Incorrect responses make the card go back in...

The dreidel song, or "I Have a Little Dreidel," is a fun traditional song for the season of Hanukkah. Teach your class how to play the dreidel game with an activity that includes the lyrics to the classic song.

Challenge the addition skills of young learners with this open-ended math problem. The task is simple, get from start to finish by connecting a series of three numbers. The trick is that the sum of the numbers must be less than...

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.