Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Leaves on a Tree?
This is great go-to activity for those spring or fall days when the weather beckons your geometry class outside. Learners start with a small tree, devising strategies to accurately estimate the leaf count. They must then tackle the...
New York City Department of Education
Chris’ Garden Dilemma
Make the connections between area, tiling, and multiplication. A performance task and associated unit presents the concept of area and makes the connection to multiplication. Pupils work through three major sections of instruction that...
Illustrative Mathematics
Eratosthenes and the Circumference of the Earth
The class gets to practice being a mathematician in ancient Greece, performing geometric application problems in the way of Eratosthenes. After following the steps of the great mathematicians, they then compare the (surprisingly...
New York City Department of Education
Designing Euclid’s Playground
Create a geometric playground. Pupils work through a performance task to demonstrate their ability to use geometric concepts to solve everyday problems. The accompanying engineering design lessons show teachers how the assessment works...
Bowland
Youth Hostel
Given a set of criteria, individuals determine how to arrange males and females in a dormitory. They must meet the requirements and communicate their plan clearly.
Balanced Assessment
Dog Tags
Class members demonstrate a proficiency with conditional probabilities through this task. Individuals calculate probabilities using multiplication and addition. They also distinguish between repetition and non-repetition while...
Balanced Assessment
Sloppy Student I
"Does this work every time?" We've all heard it. Now learners get to explore methods to answer that question themselves. Pupils analyze a mistake that has been made with creating a formula for multiplying binomials. They then create...
Radford University
Triangle Inequality Task
Not all triangles are created equal. A simple hands-on activity has learners investigate the side lengths of triangles. They use pipe cleaners to determine whether triangles of given side lengths can exist and then use the results to...
Radford University
Peer Survey on Current Events
Stay up to date on current events as well as how the class views the issues. A performance task has scholars select a current event of interest and design a class survey on the topic. They conduct the survey, analyze, and report the...
101 Questions
Apple Mothership
Explore Apple's spaceship office building. Built in the shape of a circle, the office building offers a unique floor plan challenge. Young scholars use the dimensions of the building to estimate the square footage for each employee.
Radford University
Finding a Location for Your Kitchen Island
Where is the best place to work? Small groups map out a kitchen on a coordinate plane and find the centers of the work triangle to find the best place to install an island. The teams use algebraic methods to locate the center by finding...
EngageNY
End-of-Module Assessment Task: Pre-Calculus Module 2
Assess pupil understanding of the relationship between matrices, vectors, linear transformations, and parametric equations. Questions range from recall to more complex levels of thinking. Problems represent topics learned throughout the...
EngageNY
Mid-Module Assessment Task: Pre-Calculus Module 2
Assess your classes' knowledge using questions that require high-level thinking and explanation. Learners use matrices to answer application questions. They also demonstrate their understanding of matrix operations.
CCSS Math Activities
Building Blocks
Math is a lot like building blocks—it requires a solid foundation. A short performance task has pupils consider the volume of a cubic block. It then asks mathematicians to find the surface area and volume of a prism made from stacking...
Noyce Foundation
Apple Farm Field Trip
Monitor the growth of young mathematicians with a comprehensive addition and subtraction assessment. Using the context of a class field trip to an apple orchard, this series of four story problems allows children to demonstrate their...
CCSS Math Activities
Golf Balls
Land on the green with a fun resource. A short performance task asks pupils to consider the volume of containers that hold golf balls. They determine the percentage of empty space of the container for different numbers of golf balls.
CCSS Math Activities
Picking Apples
Pick the resource while it's ripe. A performance task challenges young mathematicians to consider the costs of apple picking. They compare the costs for two different orchards for different situations.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Middle School Mathematics Test 4
Raise expectations in your classroom and assess learners through the provided performance tasks. Class members must apply concepts learned throughout the year, providing a good measurement of how well they understand the...
Concord Consortium
Measuring the Unit Circle
Here's the right task to investigate right triangles in the unit circle. A short performance task has learners determine the product of two side lengths in a unit circle. They must apply similarity concepts and trigonometric ratios to...
Concord Consortium
You Are What You Drive
Grab the wheel in learning about functions. A short performance task challenges young mathematicians to develop a function that describes the cars eight people drive. They consider whether the inverse of the function exists. If not, they...
Concord Consortium
More or Less
How long can the cable get? A short performance task provides learners with information on the length of cables and the margin of error for each. They must determine the longest and shortest cable possible by splicing these cables.
Concord Consortium
Orthogonal Circles
Here's some very interesting circles for your very interested pupils. A performance task requires scholars to sketch a pair of orthogonal circles so the centers are the endpoints of one side of a triangle. They draw an additional circle...
101 Questions
Coca Cola Pool
Do the math before you do something crazy—like filling a pool full of Coca-Cola. A video shows a pool owner filling a large backyard pool with bottles of Coke. Scholars use the dimensions of the pool to determine the number of bottles...
CCSS Math Activities
Patchwork
Patch up any misconceptions about writing functions. Scholars undertake a performance task that has them first examine a pattern in patchwork cushions. They represent the patterns in triangular and rectangular blocks using a table and as...