Illustrative Mathematics
Making a Clock
Have a fun time teaching children to read analog clocks with this whole-group math activity. Using large sets of the numerals 1-12 and 0, 5, 10...55, the teacher creates a large clock on either the carpet or the white board, explaining...
Curated OER
Minutes and Days
Elapsed time is a skill developed by the single question that is the center of this activity. Fifth graders are asked to find out the time that is 2011 minutes after the beginning of 2011. This question addresses the standard that...
Math Learning Center
Grade 2 Supplement Set D5 – Measurement: Telling Time
Have your class play concentration memory games using analog and digital clocks. Second graders become little experts with time telling to the minute, quarter, half, and hour. Use as a fun Friday treat as well as other...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Parking Lot
Use the real-world cost of parking a car to demonstrate the properties of a function. The resource describes to learners how much it is to park in a certain lot. It is up to your number crunchers to complete a table of minutes and...
Houston Area Calculus Teachers
Collecting Driving Data
Give AP Calculus classes the opportunity to check the accuracy of their calculations! A calculus activity involves the collection of data, the application of mathematics, and the analysis of the accuracy of results. Young mathematicians...
101 Questions
Safe Cracking
How long would it take to break into a safe by testing every possible combination of codes? Pupils view a video clip of this happening and must determine the total amount of time before success. They measure how long each step takes, add...
Illustrative Mathematics
Battery Charging
Your class will be very interested in the results of this activity. How long does it take a MP3 and video game player to charge? Sam only has an hour and the MP3 player only has 40% of its battery life left. Plus, his video player is...
School World
Moon Observation Project
Mrs. Flynt has designed a 12-day moon observation activity that is best assigned when daylight hours are shorter. Middle school moon experts record several factors, including the altitude above the horizon, the azimuth, the phase, and...
North Carolina State University
Construction
Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...
Census at School
Just How Old Are You?
Do you know how old you are in seconds, minutes, days, weeks, or months? This intriguing question is presented as a way for learners to estimate in units of time. They'll build a better sense of what each increment of time is as they...
Exploratorium
Magnetic Pendulums
Passing a copper wire coil through a magnetic field influences another coil to also sway. It is with this demonstration that you can teach your physical science fans about electromagnetism. Note that the assembly requires about an hour,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Running at a Constant Speed
The learner must use the given constant speed to find the unit rate. A table is made in order to relate the speed to the time and the distance. From the table, learners are able to see the unit rate in miles per minute and miles per...
NASA
Understanding the Effects of Differences in Speed—Problem Set D
Fall back and slow down. The fourth lesson in a six-part series on air traffic control leads the class to find the difference in distance traveled based upon the difference in speed. Pupils work through a problem related to walking...
Teach Engineering
Wizardry and Chemistry
No need to go to Ollivanders to buy a magic wand. In the chemistry lab activity, young magicians mix chemicals to create combustible compounds. By applying these compounds to an iron wire, they create magic wands.
Curated OER
"The Soil Around Us" Project
Young geographers collect samples of different kinds of soil to match to the soil terms in Barry Rudner's rhyming book Filet of Soil: dirt, mud, dust, soot, etc. They start a glossary for the project on index cards or large sheets of...
Teach Engineering
Sudsy Cells
Let's hope that your soap is doing what it's supposed to! The second of six installments in the Cells unit has scholars perform an experiment cultivating bacteria in Petri dishes. They test soaps and detergents to see which is most...
Curated OER
Extending the Definitions of Exponents, Variation 2
Introduce the concept of exponential functions with an activity that extends the definition of exponents to include rational values. Start with a doubling function at integer values of time, then expand table to include frational time...
Illustrative Mathematics
The High School Gym
Learners apply critical thinking skills as they analyze data about the temperature inside a gymnasium during a school assembly. The focus is on representing temperature as a function of time and interpreting input and output values...
Teach Engineering
Super Slinger Engineering Challenge
How well can you launch a ping-pong ball? Small groups design launchers that can launch a ping-pong ball 20 feet into a target. The teams follow the engineering design process as they develop a solution that meets the design...
Teach Engineering
Stop the Stretching
Stretch your teaching repertoire with an experiment on the elongation (stretching) and failure (break) of several materials. The point of the experiment is to design a composite material for chair webbing.
Teach Engineering
Building a Barometer
Forget your local meteorologist — build your own barometer and keep track of the weather with an activity that provides directions to build a barometer out of a narrow necked bottle, a glass, and some water. Using their barometer, teams...
Illustrative Mathematics
Converting Fractions of a Unit into a Smaller Unit
There is more than one way to answer a question; especially when you have fractions in measurement. Here are three questions with real-world situations in which 5th graders are asked to provide answers in three ways: a larger unit of...
Teach Engineering
Scale Model Project
Try your hand at scale models. Scholars create a scale model of an object using a scale factor of their choice. As part of the project, they give presentations on their processes and calculations. This is the last installment of the...
NASA
Introduction to Real Air Traffic Control—Problem Set A
Understand what it takes to control planes safely. The first lesson in a series of six introduces the class to the air traffic control situation. The pupils develop their understanding of units used in air travel, then learn how to read...