MARS - Mathematics Assessment Resource Service
Applying Properties of Exponents
The properties of exponents are all linked together and it is your mathematicians' job to discover and apply those rules. The comprehensive instructional activity begins with a pre-assessment task to check for prior knowledge and then...
Curated OER
Plant Part Exploration: Stems
Explore water transport in plant stems using this fun experiment! Your scientists will start by reading Stems by Vijaya Bodach. Then, activate prior knowledge about plant stem functions and water transportation....
Curated OER
Finding Our Place in Time
Students utilize interviewing skills of an historian to research the time period of the 1970's. They use prior knowledge of the 1960's to explain the mood of the country in the 1970's.
Curated OER
Freeze Pops
Students experience problem-based learning as they use prior knowledge of the states of matter to keep a frozen juice bar from melting.
Curated OER
Basic Search Methods Using Online Resources
Second graders practice using technology to gather information. In this online research lesson, 2nd graders use technology to find information for a research project. Students write a research paper, and give a presentation to the class...
Project Maths
The Unit Circle
It's not just any circle—it's the unit circle. The fourth instructional activity in the series is an introduction to the famous unit circle. While working through a series of activities, young scholars learn the components of the unit...
Teach Engineering
Storing Android Accelerometer Data: App Design
There's an app for that! Pupils learn to build an app that will store data on an Android. The instructional activity introduces class members to the tiny database, TinyDB, for Android devices. A video tutorial provides an...
Curated OER
Mini-Lesson Planning for Inferences
Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...
Curated OER
Ready Set Go Woah: KWL for Ender's Game
Readers of Orson Scott Card's award-winning science fiction novel, Ender's Game use the provided KWL worksheet to list what they already know about war, what they think they will learn in reading the book, the new information they...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Factoring Quadratic Expressions
Factor in different strategies in a lesson for factoring quadratics. Young mathematicians first create tables and area models to factor quadratic trinomials into two binomials by guess and check. Learners then investigate how they can...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Investigating Similar Triangles
Let your use of the resource be in proportion to its usefulness. Pupils investigate similar triangles by measuring side lengths and considering given angle measures. The results of the investigation help develop generalizations about...
Curated OER
The Secret of the Crystal Ball
Eighth graders use mathematical expressions to solve problems. In this basic properties of operations, 8th graders use prior knowledge and logical reasoning to solve equations. Students analyze an equation by solving a...
Curated OER
Oil Search
Students participate in a mock oil search game and attempt to find "oil" in a model oil field. They drill initially based on random guessing, but each time they drill they use prior knowledge to determine where to drill next. They must...
Curated OER
Hatchet: Predicting the Outcome Guide
What will happen in Hatchet by Gary Paulsen? Kids read a series of possible events that will occur in the novel and mark whether they agree or disagree with the probability of each event happening.
Random House
Recipe for an Ecosystem
Creating an ecosystem is as simple as baking a cake. Well, maybe not, but using a recipe analogy helps learners realize that ecosystems consist of different components that come together in unique ways. Offer this worksheet as an...
Illustrative Mathematics
Finding a 10% increase
A quick problem to test your mathematicians' knowledge on percent increase. Two different solutions are provided, mental math and computing. Ask your learners to include a description of what they did to supplement their answer.
Curated OER
Using Amino Acid Sequences to Show Evolutionary Relationships
Compare protein fragments, count amino acids, and use the information to explore common ancestry. The resource mentions a student worksheet, however, a separate printable worksheet is not provided. The exercises are written into the...
Curated OER
Probability Experiment Simulation: Design and Data Analysis Using a Graphing Calculator
Seventh graders simulate probability experiments. Using a graphing calculator, 7th graders design, conduct, and draw conclusions from simulations or probability experiments. Students construct frequency tables and compare the...
Curated OER
Science Review Using Movie Maker
Students reinforce science concepts learned throughout the year using Movie Maker. Eighth grade students work with fourth grade students in which they create a movie project about a science topic after completing a graphic organizer.
Appalachian State University
Making Your Point Using Dialect
Explore the sounds, importance, and effectiveness of dialect in literature. Active participants read, listen to poetry, and explore dialect by developing a formal definition, discuss the benefits of its use, complete a Venn diagram...
Curated OER
Data Analysis, Probability, and Discrete Math
Choose to supplement your probability unit with this resource and you won't be disappointed with the outcome. Teach young mathematicians to organize information using tree diagrams and lists in order to determine the possible outcomes of...
Curated OER
Find the Value of Expressions Using the Order of Operations
Here is another great way to introduce order of operations using "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally." Pre-determined small groups work cooperatively to solve expressions. Afterward, they write a journal entry to explain the steps they...
Illustrative Mathematics
Equivalent Expressions?
Pre-algebra pupils need to understand that two expressions are only equal if they have the same value. Show them that once the expression is multiplied by a number, the value of the expression changes. It makes for a good lead-in to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Robot Races
Analyze data on a graph to answer three questions after a robot race. Learners practice comparing ratios and reading points on a graph. Answers may vary on the last question based on accuracy of graphing. Use the instructional...