Containing many resources for further reading about thinking skills, this site provides a lot of good information about how to improve problem solving.

An article, from the online journal From Now On, that discusses a wide range of issues related to originality of thought--the kind of thinking that leads to new ideas, innovation, and creative problem solving. Covers a variety of...

If you are stuck on ways to teach creativity in your classroom, you will find many various techniques on this site. Everything from mind mapping to fuzzy thinking is listed here. Each technique has a link to its description.

Students will solve a word problem with various outcomes by creating a meaningful representation of the problem by using objects, pictures, or equations. An explanation is provided.

The Christopher Columbus Awards is a national, community-based science and technology program for middle school students. The program challenges the students to work in teams, with an adult coach, to identify a problem in their community...

This very simple device has been made to try and stop 'bird's nest' tangles that can occur when using reels of fine wire.

The purpose of this task is for students to find different pairs of numbers that sum to 4. Students will solve an everyday problem in their head and then model their solution using counters. They can represent their solutions using...

Students are given a word problem with multiple solutions. They are challenged to solve the problem using manipulatives, to draw a picture to represent their work, and possibly record their responses using equations. Examples of...

Students are asked to solve a word problem with both addends unknown. They will write an equation and draw a picture to use to explain their answer.

In this learners are asked to write an equation to solve a real-world problem. There are two natural approaches to this task. In the first approach, students have to notice that even though there is one variable, namely the number of...

Students will learn that there are multiple ways to solve math problems, such as drawing a picture, using counters, using fingers, using a number line, and memorizing facts. The teacher writes a simple addition problem on the whiteboard...

In this lesson plan students solve word problems involving money and use the symbols correctly.

In this lesson plan students count the money and use symbols correctly to solve the word problem.

In this lesson plan students solve word problems involving money and use symbols correctly.

In this lesson, 7th graders write and solve an inequality to solve the problem.

For this task, students are shown three unit squares and two line segments connecting two pairs of vertices. They are asked to find the area of a triangle formed by intersecting lines. They can solve it using coordinate geometry or...

Note that in each of these problems we are given a set of a specified size and a specified number of subsets into which it is to be divided. The questions ask the student to find out the size of each of the subsets. Students are not...

This task asks students to use similarity to solve a pool table problem. Students must use the fact from physics that when an object bounces off of a wall, the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. Aligns with G-SRT.B.5.

This task has students apply their knowledge of parallel lines to solve a geometric problem on areas of triangles. The task is open-ended in that students can choose their method of completing the task. Aligns with G-GPE.B.5.

This lesson plan has students solving word problems using scale drawings.

Seventh graders are using proportional reasoning to solve real world problems in this lesson.

In this lesson plan, 7th graders use formulas for area and circumference to solve the word problem.

This task uses a situation that is familiar to students to solve a problem they probably have all encountered before: How long will it take until an electronic device has a fully charged battery? Given data, students perform a variety of...

Some friends are at the beach looking out onto the ocean on a clear day and they wonder how far away the horizon is. A second problem asks how far the horizon would be from the top of a mountain. Students must also answer a question...