It's amazing the complex figures that can be made using only a few simple shapes. Following a class reading of the children's book Grandfather Tang's Story by Ann Tompert, young mathematicians use sets of tangrams to create models...

Building on young mathematicians' prior knowledge of three-sided shapes, this instructional activity series explores the defining characteristics of different types of triangles. Starting with a shared reading of the children's...

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...

Solving an equation is the art of creating simpler equivalent equations using properties of equality. Here, classes see that solving an equation is not always as easy as guessing. The instructional activity presents linear equations that...

In the eyes of children the world is a simple place, objects are either big or small. This simple activity aims to expand the comparison language of young mathematicians as they use the words taller and shorter to compare their...

Your learners will get lots of practice calculating simple and compound interest by the end of this lesson. Simple explanations and examples lead learners through the concepts and steps of calculating simple and compound interest...

How many people and animals can cram into a single bed? Find out with this cross-curricular math and language arts instructional activity. Following along with a reading of the children's book The Napping House by Audrey Wood, young...

Harness the power of algebra to solve problems. Young mathematicians learn to work out multi-step problems by applying algebraic techniques, such as solving equations and proportions. They use tape diagrams to model the problem to finish...

What is the connection between equivalent ratios? Class members first find the multiplication factor used to create equivalent ratios. Next, they take that information to determine whether ratios are equivalent. The second lesson on...

Solving these percent problems is a matter of counting. Pupils find percents by counting the number of events that meet the criteria and the total number of possibilities. Participants create the ratio and convert it to a percent to...

Introducing measurement can be as simple as reading a book and then using measurement tools to understand how big a foot really is. The class reads and discusses the book How Big is a Foot? by Rolf Myller, stopping often to consider...

Is the gestation length of an animal a predictor of the average life expectancy of that animal? Learners analyze similar data for more than 50 different animals. They choose a data display and draw conclusions from their graphs.

Work it out — find the average time clients spend at a gym. Pupils use a table of random digits to collect a sample of times fitness buffs are working out. The scholars use their random sample to calculate an estimate of the mean of the...

Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...

Do you like to read books but hate doing your math homework? Check out this site to find out how to integrate math skills into your novel. Cross-curricular activity sheet.