Teach Engineering
Pushing it Off a Cliff
Focus on the conservation of energy, specifically looking at gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, with a lecture that involves having friends throw light objects at each other to determine which has more kinetic energy and...
National Wildlife Federation
Branching Out – Exploring Dendrochronology
Tree rings from North America give a continuous history of El Nino intensity over the last 1,100 years. Scholars learn how scientists use tree rings to create timelines demonstrating variations in weather patterns. The cumulative...
Illustrative Mathematics
Chicken and Steak, Variation 2
Many organizations put on barbecues in order to make money. In a real-world math problem, the money allotted to purchase steak and chicken at this barbecue is only one hundred dollars. It is up to your potential chefs to figure out how...
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 1: Sequences
Take steps into sequences. An 11-lesson unit builds upon pupils' previous understanding of writing expressions to develop the idea of sequences. The resource explores both arithmetic and geometric sequences using recursive and explicit...
Baylor College
Water: The Math Link
Make a splash with a math skills resource! Starring characters from the children's story Mystery of the Muddled Marsh, several worksheets create interdisciplinary connections between science, language arts, and math. They...
Curated OER
Star Wars: Rays and Angles Edition
Rays and angles and Star Wars? It sounds strange, but it's actually a fun game to help fourth graders get good at measuring and identifying angles and rays with a protractor. Each pair of children chooses which Star Wars character they'd...
University of Georgia
Splat!
What does viscosity have to do with splatter? An activity shows that the viscosity of a substance is inversely proportional to the distance of its splatter. Learners conduct the experiment by collecting data, graphing, and analyzing...
Fluence Learning
Divide Shapes
Let's partition rectangles into equal parts. Assess learners on their ability to divide shapes into equal parts, and their ability to explain their thinking.
Kenan Fellows
A Farmer’s Challenge to Breed to the Greatest of Grapes
What does your class know about GMOs? Are they savvy to selective breeding? Challenge young minds to engineer the greatest crop of all time using a hands-on genetics unit. Learners discover the good and bad details of selective breeding,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Counting Squares
Challenge young mathematicians' understanding of squares with this geometry puzzle. The task is simple, identify as many squares as possible in a 3x3 array. Allow learners to work independently or in pairs as they search for squares,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Overlapping Rectangle
Challenge young mathematicians' ability to compose and decompose shapes with this fun geometry puzzle. The goal is simple, locate all of the rectangles shown in a picture of three overlapping rectangles. Perform this activity as a whole...
PHET
Earth’s Magnetic Field from Space
Feel the pull of science! The final installment of this 18-part series is an application of everything learned in the previous high school lessons. Scholars are given a magnetic field map and must propose an arrangement of magnets that...
Virginia Department of Education
Exponential Modeling
Investigate exponential growth and decay. A set of six activities has pupils collecting and researching data in a variety of situations involving exponential relationships. They model these situations with exponential functions and solve...
NASA
Ripening of Fruits and Vegetables
How long do fresh foods last in space at the International Space Station? Which foods perish quicker than others? How can astronauts preserve their foods to make them last longer in space? Young scientists test the rates at which...
Illustrative Mathematics
Comparing Growth, Variation 1
Young mathematicians compare the growth of two snake lengths in feet over one year in a straightforward word-problem task.
Bismarck Public Schools
History & Math of the 1830s
Using this interdisciplinary worksheet, your young historians will have the opportunity to practice their math skills while learning about the drastic population increase in the United States during the presidency of Andrew Jackson....
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...
Teach Engineering
Tippy Tap Plus Piping
Getting water to a tap requires an understanding the fundamentals of fluid flow. Groups design, build, and test a piping system to get water from the source — a five gallon bucket — to a tippy tap. The objective is to be able to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Modeling London's Population
Looking at London's population from 1801–1961 in 20 year increments, high school mathematicians determine if the data can be modeled by a given logistic growth equation. They explain their thinking and determine the values of each...
Shodor Education Foundation
Polar Coordinates
Polar opposites might not work together—but polar coordinates do! The interactive provides learners the opportunity to graph trigonometric and algebraic functions using polar coordinates. The program takes either individual data points...
Curated OER
Snuggle Up To Pattern Blocks
Learners view and discuss a video about the use of pattern block shapes to form pictures. They, in groups, form garden and quilt designs using pattern blocks and then decorate the room with their art.
Curated OER
Patterns In Hexagon Tables
Sixth graders construct a rule about the number of sides found in a pattern of hexagons. In this mathematical problem solving lesson, 6th graders observe different hexagon patterns and create a rule about the relationship between the...
Curated OER
Popcorn!
Second graders pop popcorn as a way to experience the scientific process. They form a hypothesis, carry out an experiment and explain their findings.
Curated OER
Discovering Math: Concepts in Algebra
Students learn that speed is a function of time and distance, a quadratic equation can be used to figure out the path of fireworks, a photographer can use Algebra to figure out how many rolls he can afford if he needs twice as much of...