Students investigate the concept of the number one million. In this number concepts lesson, students read the book How Much is a Million? and brainstorm questions, such as "how many leaves are on a tree" and "how many hairs are on your...

Young mathematicians explore the maximun area for patio with the added complexity of finding the mimimum cost for construction. First, they maximize the area of a yard given a limited amount of fence and  plot width v. area on a...

Practice consumer mathematics through by investigating home mortgages. Budding economists find the interest rates for 30-year and 15-year loans and calculate the estimated monthly payments. They use their data to compare periods of time...

Students study water conservation. In this water conservation lesson, students investigate the scarcity of water and determine reasons for conserving water.  Students estimate how much water they use in one day and identify ways to...

Hook your class up to an online home energy usage calculator so that they can estimate the amount used per month by their families. Then give them Watt meters with which they will measure the power consumption of several small...

Significant figures estimate the precision of your calculations. Teach your high school scientists how to count and identify significant figures at the beginning of the school year so that they are adept at using them in their...

Rounding numbers can be fun using this game. Learners estimate and round numbers to the tens, hundreds, and thousands using this presentation. What a clever way to review this concept.

Building strong mental-math skills requires learners to have a strong number sense. They practice multiplying two and three-digit numbers in their heads using estimation or approximation. They estimate or round each number and then...

Teach the class how to estimate by rounding to the nearest 10. They review the rules for rounding, try rounding a few numbers using a number line, then round on their own. This is a good introduction that explains how to round and why we...

After a whole-class discussion of water reservoirs, ten liters of water are given to each lab group to represent Earth's total amount of water. They divide the water into smaller containers, each representing one of those reservoirs. The...

After calculating the amount of energy in a wave, future engineers plan and present to the class a design for a seawall that will minimize erosion on the shore. Not only must they consider the energy that will impact the wall, they also...

Math and science to the rescue! Some basic math concepts help scientists predict wildlife populations. Using tokens, groups simulate tagging a wildlife population. They then use proportions to estimate the population of the wildlife.

What a fun way to practice counting for youngsters! Especially effective for kinesthetic and visual learners, this activity has scholars stacking "books" on a "bookshelf." Templates are provided for the bookshelves and books; consider...

Dividing single-digit numbers by triple-digit dividends is a great drill for long division skills. Each of these has a remainder, and there is an example to demonstrate this step-by-step process. There are 12 problems total, and scholars...

This is a great exercise to give your class a bit of a reality check about having a baby. Few of them realize what a tremendous expense it is for the first year alone. Have them estimate what they think it will cost before giving them...

How much solar energy is available at my location? An engaging resource provides a presentation along with script to give the class background information on determining solar radiation. Pupils then work through a worksheet to...

Everyone's a winner. Scholars analyze a spinner with five unequal sections, three of which represent winning a toy car and the other two represent winning a toy truck. They conduct an experiment to estimate the number of toy cars and...

How do doctors predict a child's future height? Scholars use one case study to determine the height of a child two years into the future. They graph the given data, determine the line of best fit, and use that to estimate the height in...

Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away? Find out by browsing through a variety of handouts and learning the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables for good health. Learners will read and discuss how to visually...

Learners must investigate the validity of a claim made in a running magazine. They must identify and look up unprovided information, make appropriate estimations, and be able to convert units. Might be best used as a group or whole-class...

The learner puts reasoning and estimation to work. The directions are to place a decimal in the answer to make the equation true. Pupils are to look at the two problems, one multiplication and one division, and estimate an answer. No...

Do you know how much water you have had in the last 24 hours? Do you know how much your body needs? In this hands-on activity, your class members will estimate how much water our bodies lose each day by filling and emptying one-liter...

When it comes to eating a balanced diet, portion control is paramount, but what is the difference between the serving size on the nutrition facts label and a portion as determined by the USDA? In a comprehensive look at portion control,...

First, estimate existing knowledge about air with a class discussion. Then, hand out a 10-question pre-assessment quiz to record how much pupils know to compare to their knowledge later. This will also give mini meteorologists the...