Illustrative Mathematics
Who Has the Best Job?
Making money is important to teenagers. It is up to your apprentices to determine how much two wage earners make with their after school jobs. Participants work with a table, an equation, and a graph and compare the two workers to see...
Las Cumbres Observatory
Plotting a Supernova Light curve
Supernovas burn for a short time but can give scientists extensive information about the universe. Learners analyze given data about the change in the light magnitude of a supernova. They look for patterns in the data and use them to...
Curated OER
Elementary Keyboarding Activities
Listen to the sound of children's fingers flying across their keyboards as they perform these fun typing lessons. From creating alphabet books and multimedia presentations to researching presidents and writing class...
Computer Science Unplugged
Lightest and Heaviest—Sorting Algorithms
How do computers sort data lists? Using eight unknown weights and a balance scale, groups determine the order of the weights from lightest to heaviest. A second worksheet provides the groups with other methods to order the weights. The...
101 Questions
Bolt Conversion
Usain Bolt and Superman have something in common—speed! A video of one of Bolt's races introduces young scholars to the concept of unit rate. Using data from the race, the narrator calculates a unit rate in kilometers per hour, which...
Curated OER
Mathemafish Population
It's shark week! In this problem, young mathematically minded marine biologists need to study the fish population by analyzing data over time. The emphasis is on understanding the average rate of change of the population and drawing...
Illustrative Mathematics
Estimating Square Roots
No calculators! Assure your learners that they can find the square root of a large number. All they need are two known squares close by and a table. Come up with an additional practice and your number crunchers will have it mastered in...
Curated OER
Finding Equal Groups
Build counting fluency in your kindergartners with this counting and grouping timed learning game. Provide various groups of objects to count such as a clear plastic bag filled with 7 beans or a cup with 5 pennies. There are many other...
Illustrative Mathematics
Running a Mile
The single question in this activity has multiple ways to be solved. Two boys ran a mile. Their times were similar, except one time was a fraction of the other. Who ran faster? In demonstrating the answer to this problem, upper graders...
Illustrative Mathematics
Grass Seedlings
Plants never grow at the same rate, and that is the antithesis for this word problem involving multiplication of fractions. On the learning exercise, Raul notices that Pablo's seedlings are 1 1/2 times as tall, and Celina's seedlings are...
John Lentine
Butterflies and Bugs
Symmetry, line, shape, art, and math are all connected through a fun hands-on craft. Included are instructions to a classic activity, where learners create butterflies to show symmetry in nature and then discuss symmetry in math. It is...
Illustrative Mathematics
Shake and Spill
Entertaining as well as educational, this math activity about decomposing numbers is bound to capture the engagement of young learners. Given a cup and five two-color counters, young mathematicians simply shake and spill the cup,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Walk-a-thon 2
During a walk-a-thon your learners must determine the walking rate of Julianna's progress. Using tables, graphs, and an equation, they must be able to calculate the time it took her to walk one mile and predict her distance based on the...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Scale Models
With instructions to adapt the activities for any grade K-12, any teacher can incorporate the concept of scale into the classroom with a simple, yet effective lesson.
Curated OER
Foxes and Rabbits 3
Use realistic data to find trigonometric models that best fit the populations of foxes and rabbits in a national park. Included are detailed explanations of the answers and process. This is a follow-up exercise to the lesson listed in...
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...
Curated OER
More and Less Handfuls
Working as a pair, two kindergartners will sit at a table and will pick two handfuls of counters. They will combine their individual handfuls into one, and count their own selection. They will then draw and record their count on a record...
Illustrative Mathematics
Walk-a-thon 1
Your mathematician's job is to explore the relationship between hours and miles walked during a walk-a-thon. The activity compels your learners to experiment with different means in finding out this proportional relationship. The answer...
Curated OER
How Heavy
Break out the balances for this primary grade lesson on weight measurement. Using common elementary school manipulatives like unifix or snap cubes, young mathematicians determine the weight of four different classroom objects. A graphic...
Curated OER
Cartography Project
A lesson involving mapping, the use of a compass, writing and following directions, and exploring the first two themes of geography is here for you. Learners create original maps that show the routes they take through their own...
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
Counting by Tens
With this daily counting activity, your kindergartners will master counting in sequence automatically from 0 to 100, and will count in multiples of ten to 100. With the whole class, count to 100. With each number, learners will whisper...
Illustrative Mathematics
Voting for Three, Variation 1
This is an opportunity for young mathematicians to apply reasoning to solve real-world problems with ratios. Even though there are three candidates for class president, students will only consider two at a time, making the first problem...
Illustrative Mathematics
What Shape Am I?
Sharpen your pencil and grab a ruler, it's time to draw some quadrilaterals! Given the definition of a parallelogram, rectangle, and rhombus, learners draw examples and nonexamples of each figure. The three definitions are...