Illustrative Mathematics
Longer and Heavier? Shorter and Heavier?
For many young children it seems obvious that longer objects are heavier than shorter objects. This assumption is put to the test as the class investigates the relationship between length and weight in a whole-group activity. Using a...
Illustrative Mathematics
Growing Bean Plants
Plant growth experiments offer rich, cross-curricular learning opportunities that can really excite and engage young learners. In this series, children work in pairs planting, measuring, and comparing the height of bean plants in order...
Curated OER
Symmetries of a Quadrilateral II
Learners investigate the symmetries of a convex quadrilateral in a collaborative activity. Rigid motion and complements are explored as learners analyze different cases of reflections across a line.
Curated OER
Tennis Balls in a Can
Make your classroom interesting by teaching or assessing through tasks. Deepen the understanding of Geometry and motivate young mathematicians. The task uses investigation with tennis balls and their container to prompt learners to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Archimedes and the King's Crown
Learners will shout "Eureka!" in this quick but deep activity replicating the famous bathtub experiment of Archimedes. Given the scenario of a king with a suspected fake crown, young investigators develop formulas using density to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Logistic Growth Model, Abstract Version
Here learners get to flex some serious algebraic muscles through an investigation of logistic growth. The properties of the constant terms in the logistic growth formula are unraveled in a short but content-dense...
Illustrative Mathematics
Tilt of Earth's Axis and the Four Seasons
Geometry meets earth science as high schoolers investigate the cause and features of the four seasons. The effects of Earth's axis tilt features prominently, along with both the rotation of the earth about the axis and its orbit...
Illustrative Mathematics
Accuracy of Carbon 14 Dating II
The scientific issue of carbon-14 dating and exponential decay gets a statistics-based treatment in this problem. The class starts with a basic investigation of carbon content, but then branches out to questions of accuracy and...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Cross Totals
Finally, it all adds up. Learners complete a number puzzle in which they investigate the sums of the digits one through nine in a cross pattern. They then try to determine what totals are possible and which ones are...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Cubic Graph
Connect cubic graphs to equations. After connecting solutions of a cubic equation to zeros of its related cubic function, pupils investigate a translation of the cubic function.
Mathematics Assessment Project
T-Shirt Sale
Everyone loves a sale! As pupils investigate a sale on t-shirts, they determine the percent discount and original prices.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Leaky Faucet
In the assessment task, learners investigate the rate at which a faucet leaks. They use unit conversions to determine the amount of water that leaks in a year. Maybe they should just fix the leak!
Mathematics Assessment Project
A Million Dollars
Could you carry a million dollars in $1 bills? As a middle school assessment task, learners investigate different questions regarding a million dollars. They then determine how long it would take to make a million dollars, how...
Illustrative Mathematics
Lines of Symmetry for Circles
Further your instruction on geometrical symmetry with an investigation of circles. Fourth graders come to realize that the lines of symmetry of a circle are infinite.
Cornell University
Mechanical Properties of Gummy Worms
Learners won't have to squirm when asked the facts after completing an intriguing lab investigation! Hook young scholars on science by challenging them to verify Hooke's Law using a gummy worm. Measuring the length of the worm as they...
Howard County Schools
Generous Aunt
Witness the power of exponential growth with an activity that investigates two different savings plans. Class members create tables of values to see how and when a savings plan increasing exponentially exceeds one increasing linearly.
Mascil Project
Design a Parking Garage
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...
NASA
Exploring Exoplanets with Kepler
Calculate the movement and properties of planets like professional astronomers! Scholars use Kepler's third law to find Mercury and Venus's distance from the sun. Using changes in brightness of distant stars and Kepler's third law,...
Curated OER
Investigating Triangles 1
Young scholars independently investigate the Pythagorean Theorem. They are given a set of triangles that involve whole number Pythagorean Triples. The main focus of the lesson is exploration rather than discovering the Pythagorean Theorem.
Curated OER
Math: Investigating Triangles
Tenth graders identify the trigonometric ratios for right angled triangles. Through independent investigation, they discover the constancy between the ratios of any two sides of similar triangles. In an alternative method, 10th graders...
Curated OER
Caterpillar Connections
Third graders investigate numerical and geometric patterns and express them in words or numbers. In this algebraic reasoning lesson, 3rd graders analyze the structure of the pattern and how it changes or grows, organize information...
Curated OER
How Many Toothpicks?
Students investigate different geometric patterns. In this geometry lesson, students create different shapes using toothpicks. They create different patterns and designs and complete a charts using different measurements.
Curated OER
Exploring Function Graphs
Tenth graders investigate three different sets of data that relate temperature to another variable in the physical world. These illustrate linear, inverse and exponential relationships.
Curated OER
Megabeasts
In this biology worksheet, middle schoolers use their mathematical skills to create a three dimensional scale model of an ancient insect. They draw a diagram of their insect and label it with as much information as possible.