Warm up to the idea of subtracting integers. After watching a video where the contents of a cup instantly freeze when tossed into the air, pupils estimate the air temperature of Duluth, Minnesota (where the video was made). They then use...

Give a round of applause for completing the task. Scholars watch a video that shows an extremely fast clapper and a timer. The activity requires applying concepts of rates and proportional reasoning to estimate the number of claps in one...

Design it with soda cases. After viewing a picture of a soda case display, pupils develop questions about the design using information from the teacher. Scholars use the information and their knowledge about area and multiplication to...

Determine how far the ball rolled. The class watches a video of a person controlling a sphere rolling on the floor. Pupils develop some questions about the video and make estimates to the solutions of the questions. The teacher provides...

Apply the mantra of real estate to solar panels: location, location, location. Learners use a Solar Pathfinder to conduct site assessments for possible spots on school grounds to place a solar module. They find the amount of insolation...

Put the infinite power of the sun to good use. Young scientists learn about solar energy by completing a challenging project. They imagine that they are in charge of planning a solar panel array for a building and must decide where to...

Following a catchy video about decomposing numbers, young mathematicians build and write numbers using dice. Class members work to create an anchor chart that displays six ways to make numbers. Beans get scooped and estimated, then...

How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...

Ice cores provide scientists with knowledge of historic melt layers, air temperatures, greenhouse gases, and climate stability. Scholars work in groups to build layers representing snow and ice over thousands of years. Then, groups...

Not too much, not too little, but just right in the middle. Using researched census population data, young statisticians plot population data over time. They develop an idea of midpoints to estimate populations for years that census data...

If you've always wanted to know the perimeter of the state of Oklahoma, now's your chance. A measuring activity has learners use three different sticks to estimate the perimeter of the state. Along the way, they learn how convergent and...

Through a series of problems, learners determine the variability of a data set by looking at the deviations from the mean. Estimating means of larger data sets presented in histograms and providing a way to calculate an...

Data starts to tell a story when it takes shape. Learners describe skewed and symmetric data. They then use the graphs to estimate mean and standard deviation. 

Extend the concept of exponents to irrational numbers. In the fifth installment of a 35-part module, individuals use calculators and rational exponents to estimate the values of 2^(sqrt(2)) and 2^(pi). The final goal is to show that the...

Thank goodness we have calculators to compute logarithms. Pupils use calculators to create logarithmic tables to estimate values and use these tables to discover patterns (properties). The second half of the activity has scholars use...

Develop a definition of irrational numbers through an exploration of square roots. The 11th activity in this series of 25 asks scholars to estimate the value of a square root. Learners observe as the estimation extends further and...

Build on your classes' understanding of irrational numbers by comparing their values. The 13th lesson in the 25-part module has individuals estimate values of both perfect and non-perfect roots. They finish by graphing these numbers on a...

Are the means the same or not? Groups create samples from a bag of numbers and calculate the sample means. Using the sample means as an estimate for the population mean, scholars try to determine whether the difference is real or not.

Estimate the proportion in a population using sampling. The 20th installment in a series of 25 introduces how to determine proportions of categorical data within a population. Groups take random samples from a bag of cubes to determine...

Determine whether there is a difference between two grades. Teams generate random samples of two grade levels of individuals. Groups use the mean absolute deviation to determine whether there is a meaningful difference between the...

Sometimes dealing with decimals is so much easier than dealing with fractions. The ninth lesson in a 21-part module has the class consider situations when it might be easier to add or subtract fractions by first converting to...

Even though this activity is just a simple review of estimation, it is a fast and easy way to explore this topic. Young mathematicians estimate the number of items contained in two jars and discuss their answers. Afterwards, they can use...

Students use proportions to estimate the size of populations. They describe the data with using a graph or table of the estimate. Students use descriptive statistics to calculate mean, median, and mode. They also compare and contrast an...

Students, while utilizing the classroom and the computer lab with a bag of colored candy, gather and interpret data, calculate averages and draw conclusions and draw a bar graph. They estimate how many candies are in the bag, what...