Examine scenarios involving number patterns. Learners complete a series of activities, including working with Pascal's triangle ando completing chart activities based on different pricing for pizza toppings. An included extension has...

Parking structures don't build themselves. Investigate the process of designing and planning the construction of a parking garage. After considering the factors that must go into the design, scholars create their own models from a...

Does the space shuttle have an odometer? Maybe, but all that is needed to determine the distance to the moon is a little geometry! The lesson asks scholars to sketch the relationship of the Earth and moon using shadows of an eclipse....

Concepts are only valuable if they are applicable. An informative resource uses concepts developed in lessons 26 and 27 in a 36-part series. Scholars write equations and solve for missing side lengths for given right triangles....

Linear, quadratic, and now cubic functions can model real-life patterns. High schoolers create cubic regression equations to model different scenarios. They then use the regression equations to make predictions.

Groups of students rotate through five classroom stations to estimate, measure, and record volume, length, weight, mass, and area using both customary and metric measure. They evaluate their data to determine how close their estimates...

Random sampling is as easy as choosing numbers. Teams use random numbers to create a sample of book lengths from a population of 150 books. The groups continue by developing a technique to create samples to compare from two populations...

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...

Everyone does their fair share. The sixth segment in a 22-part unit presents the mean as a fair share. Groups build a conceptual understanding of the mean of a data set, rather than simply learn an algorithm. Learners use the...

After examining expressions in the first six lessons of the series, learners are now ready to apply those concepts to create equations in the seventh installment of 28. Each exercise contains a conceptual situation that helps build an...

Mathematicians use an inquiry method to solve linear equations. In this linear equations lesson, students practice solving equations using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They solve multi-step equations and equations...

In this mind-bending activity, young engineers explore this question of whether or not light actually bends. Using holographic diffraction gratings, groups design and build a spectrograph. The groups then move on research a problem...

Young architects are prompted to design a playground in assigned groups. Using a 10 x 10 grid. Your fifth graders will apply their knowledge of fractions, percents, and decimals to the real-world task of designing a playground....

It takes a strong foundation to build a house and a stronger one for a bridge. This resource presents the effects of geology and soil on bridge foundations. Working in groups, the class investigates the interaction of shallow and deep...

Fifth and sixth graders work alone or in pairs to determine the volume of paper boxes of various dimensions. Pupils write ratios of dimensions and volumes.

One hundred metric tons of CO2 can accumulate in one acre of forest over time—that's a lot of carbon! In the activity, groups of middle school learners determine what makes forests important. They then solidify the concept by using a...

Many people confuse atomic mass and atomic numbers. The sixth of seven lessons in a unit requires scholars to find the weight of different groups of pennies. Then, they must solve how many of each type of penny exists in a closed system...

What do you do with a difficult-to-factor quadratic expression? This lesson provides the answer. Pupils learn a grouping strategy to help factor trinomials. When guess and check seems too tedious, this method is the "works every...

Pupils solve multi-step number stories. They create number models to solve number stories.  Everyone chooses the appropriate operation to use after reading the problem, and then work in small groups to...

Show learners how to apply rational equations to the real world. Learners solve problems such as those involving averages and dilution. They write equations to model the situation and then solve them to answer the question —...

Use the Law of Cosines and the Law of Sines to solve problems using the sums of vectors. Pupils work on several different types of real-world problems that can be modeled using triangles with three known measurements. In the process,...

Learn the ins and outs of matrix multiplication. After discovering the commutative property does not apply to matrix multiplication in a previous lesson in the series, pupils now test the associative and distributive properties. The...

Explore properties of addition as they relate to matrices. Using graphical representations of vector matrices, scholars test the commutative and associative properties of addition. They determine if the properties are consistent for...

The 14th lesson in the unit has the class prove the nine general cases of the geometric representation of complex number multiplication. Class members determine the modulus of the product and hypothesize the relationship for the...