Math
Disneyland Parking Structure Math Project
Your students will use estimation strategies to figure out how many parking spots are there in the parking structure at Disneyland? And you bet I reveal the real answer!
A Donut Investigation
In this cross-curricular investigation, students will look into an intriguing question: do donuts or salads have more sugar? They'll grapple with misleading information, bias, and use their math skills to create a visual representation of sugar in popular foods.
How Many Will There Be? Chip Off The Block
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Math Curiosity: The Coloring Problem
No video gets me more email from students! How few colors can you use to color in any map so that no two, neighboring regions are the same color?
Math Curiosity: Magic Squares
Imagine a 3×3 square in which every row, column, and diagonal have the same sum. That's a magic square!
A Grid-Based Fraction Project
You've got 60 spaces on a grid to create an amusement park, a house, a farm, or whatever you'd like. Divide it into seven pieces, order it by size, combine into two halves, and more in this fraction project.
Addition: 3 Digits Plus 2 Digits (Multiple Solutions)
Typical practice problems don't move students up Bloom's Taxonomy. With this framework, you'll see kids stop and really think about how to approach multi-digit addition.
Place Value (Beyond Base 10)
Place value is something we cover in elementary school. It seems simple, but I'd wager that very few adults really understand the topic. I sure didn't until I worked with non-base-10 number systems in college. Your students can get a taste of this mind-boggling experience by imagining what it would be like if we didn't have the number 9. What would each digit represent then?
Writing A Story About Fraction Equivalence
When fractions take on a new denominator, it's as if they're wearing a disguise - same value, new look. So let's write a story about fraction equivalence starring a fraction who needs to fit in with a new group.
Parentheses: How big of a change can they make!?
Once students understand the order of operations, they often just get stuck doing increasingly difficult practice problems. That's a sure-fire way to squelch learning, though. Here, students determine where to place parentheses to make the greatest change in an expression.
Rounding Numbers (But Not To 10)
What could we possibly do to make rounding more interesting for students who already get it? In this series, students consider how they might round to values other than "the nearest 10." How, for example, do we round to the nearest 9? 7? 15?
Fraction Puzzlers: Add and Subtract Fractions To Reach A Number
You only have six digits to form three fractions. Can you combine them to get to 0?
What If There Were No Hundreds Place?
Imagine a world with no hundreds place. We'd have to call it ten tens instead. But then, what would we call the thousands place? How would we read 9999? What if we added one more?
A Calendar Math Project
Why are there 12 months? Why don't weeks fit into months evenly? Why don't weeks fit into the year evenly? What's going on with the calendar!
Undoing Multiplication With Division
Multiplication and division, natural foes, are constantly seeking to undo each other. Students will attempt to reverse the effects of multiplication by dividing once, twice, or even thrice!
Factors and Codes
Let's use factors to encode and decode words.
Doubling Dollars
Say you have a dollar. Say you can double that dollar each day: $1, $2, $4, and so on. How long will it take to reach… one million dollars? Not as long as you might think!
Same Perimeter, Different Area For Rectangles
Can two rectangles have the same perimeter but… different areas!?
Fizz Buzz: A Counting and Divisibility Game
Ready for a tricky counting and divisibility game?
Fraction Ordering Tournament
Which set of fractions would be the trickiest to order from least to greatest? Let's have a tournament!
Evens and Odds – Addition and Subtraction
When we're adding and subtracting, do evens make odds into evens? Do odds make evens odd? Which one has… more power!?
Fractals: Sierpinski’s Triangle
What if this triangle pattern just kept repeating… forever!?
Numerator or Denominator: Which has more power in a fraction?
What do you do with students who already get their fraction operations? Give them a contrived project about recipes or pizza slices? Make them solve annoyingly hard practice problems? Please. Here, we get students thinking in a whole new way, pondering which has more power, the numerator or denominator.
Finding The Volume of Laptops
How has the volume of laptops changed over time? You know you want to check out how huge those first versions were!
Fractals: Koch Snowflake
You could keep zooming in on this snowflake forever!
How Many Students Can Fit On The Playground?
So… just how many kids could we cram onto the playground?
Investigating Cost of Living
Would you save money if you lived in Las Vegas and commuted every day to San Francisco?
Math Curiosity: Palindromic Number Conjecture
Using this one weird trick, it seems that you can turn any number into a palindrome!
Visualizing Fraction Multiplication
What does it look like to multiply fractions?
Create Your Own Operation
The commutative and associative properties are a whole lot more interesting when you apply them to a mathematical operation that you created!
Calculators, Patterns, and Multiplying By Decimals
Before teaching students the procedure for multiplying with decimals, how much can they intuitively glean from a structured play session with calculators?
Analyze and Create Misleading Graphs
Let's make some intentionally bad graphs to learn how to spot poorly made graphs.
Grouping Quadrilaterals In A Hierarchy
Can we classify quadrilaterals like we classify living things?
Math Curiosity: A Pattern Packed Triangle
Pascal's pattern-packed triangle is a potent puzzle for pupils to ponder.
Measurement: An Elephant
What if I told you that an elephant weighed a back-breaking 176,000? Could you figure out the unit I'm using? But… how many corgis would that be?
Math Project: What If I Bought Apple Stock Instead?
What if you had an original iPod and sold it compared to if you had bought the equivalent amount of Apple stock and sold that?
Filling Up A Car With Other Liquids
Is gas actually that expensive? What if we filled a car up with… orange juice?
Math Project: Furnishing A Hotel
In this math project, students will design and furnish suites and rooms in a hotel. Then they will use their talents to sell their hotel in a presentation.
Discovering Pi With Sticky Notes
Pi is mysterious and strange! Why not let students discover it on their own?
How Many Ways: Fraction Equivalence
How many different ways can you make this math statement true using only the digits one through nine?
How Many Ways: Times Equals Minus
How many different ways can you make this math statement true using only the digits one through nine?
Crossing Every Bridge Exactly Once (aka Eulerian Paths)
How can you cross each bridge in this city exactly once?
How Many Will There Be? Desks
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Math Curiosity: Finding Primes
Prime numbers are unpredictable! How can we possibly find them all? An Ancient Greek mathematician found one way!
Angles of a Triangle
Why tell a kid the rules of a triangle when they can discover them!?
Math Curiosity: Odds & Squares
Why does the sum of the first 5 odds also equal 5 squared?
A Visual Guide To Dividing By Fractions
Have you ever wondered what it looks like to divide by a fraction, man?
A Nutrition-Based Math Project
Let's create a parody ad attacking a surprisingly calorie-rich meal.
Special Gifts with Special Requirements
Your special friends sure have some unique gift needs!
Subtraction: 3 Digits Minus 2 Digits (Multiple Solutions)
Typical practice problems don't move students up Bloom's Taxonomy. With this framework, you'll see kids stop and really think about how to approach multi-digit subtraction.
How Many Will There Be? Pyramids
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Fractions: Decompose and Recompose
What if we took a fraction apart, then took those pieces apart, then recombined them, and then recombined those, arriving back to the original fraction?
Analyzing Movies’ Success
So should we make another movie in this series?
What Do Mean and Median Mean?
When will mean and median give us different results?
A Caffeine Investigation – Part 1
So… just how much caffeine can you have before you end up in the ER?
Percents and Credit Cards
Let's buy something expensive with a credit card and then make only the minumum payments!
Exploring Circumference With Famous Circles
Let's find how the diameter and circumference of famous circles are related.
Deducing the Area of Triangles
Using patterns, students try to deduce where that area formula came from.
How Many Will There Be? Stairs
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Math Curiosity: Collatz Conjecture
The Collatz Conjecture: start with any number and get to 1 using just two rules. It seems to always work…
How Many Ways: Times Equals Times
How many different ways can you make this math statement true using only the digits one through nine?
Subtraction: 3 Digits Minus 2 Digits (Single Solution)
Typical practice problems don't move students up Bloom's Taxonomy. With this framework, you'll see kids stop and really think about how to approach multi-digit subtraction.
Math Curiosity: Klauber’s Triangle
In 1932, a leading authority on rattlesnakes, Laurence Klauber, discovered a startling pattern within a triangle of primes.
Measurement: How Old Is Mr. Byrd?
What if I told you that I'm 341,640 old? Could you figure out what unit I'm using? Hint: it's not years!
Exponents – How Low Can They Go?
Using exponent patterns, can students predict what the 0th power will be?
Intersecting Angles and Streets
There can never be just one angle.
Mow A Lawn
How long would it take to mow a very large lawn with a push-mower?
Math Curiosity: Four Squares
Every positive integer can be written as the sum of (at most) four perfect squares!
The Heaviest Pumpkin
How heavy is the world's heaviest pumpkin when measured in Mr. Byrds?
How Many Ways: 2 Digit ÷ 1 Digit = 1 Digit
How many different ways can you make this math statement true using only the digits one through nine?
Math Curiosity: Ulam Spiral
What if we make a huge spiral of numbers and then highlight only the primes? Well, a bunch of weird patterns show up!
Math Curiosity: Primes and Squares
Can any perfect square be written as the sum of two primes?
Measurement: How Big is this Bathtub?
So, if I told you a bathtub holds 640 of water, which unit would make the most sense?
Olympics: Winter vs Summer Medal Count
Which country has a great balance between their summer and winter Olympic medals?
Measurement: A Long Movie
What if I told you a movie was a whopping 0.017 long? Could you figure out the unit I'm using? This lesson packs in strange measurements of time as well as tiny decimals.
What’s the Pattern? Fraction Addition
Can your students figure out how to add fractions by looking for a pattern?
Math Curiosity: Goldbach’s Conjecture
Can any even number be written as the sum of two primes? Goldbach thought so, but we haven't proven it… yet!
How Many Will There Be? Flowers
These flowers sure are getting bigger faster! How large will they be in step 10? What about step 50?
How Many Will There Be? Sliced Circles
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Find The Pattern: Multiply Fractions
What if you set the stage for students to discover how to multiply fractions?
Lines, Line Segments, Rays, and Infinity!
A lesson about lines, line segments, and rays that avoids dull memorization. Instead, we ponder this delightful question: Which is longer, a ray or a line? Then, kids consider what these different geometric concepts would think about each other.
Factors and Codes 2: First Names
Scrambled up somewhere in 161,000 is a first name. Can you find it!?
How Many Ways: Order of Operations 1
How many different ways can you make this math statement true using only the digits one through nine?
How Many Ways: Fraction Subtraction 234
How many different ways can you make this fraction subtraction statement true using only the digits one through nine?
Olympic Medals by Population
Sure, the US has a whole lotta medals! But do smaller countries have more medals per capita?
Investigating Population Changes
How have the ages of three countries' populations changed from 1950 to 2020? And what problems might that create?
How Many Ways: Fraction Addition 234
How many different ways can you make this fraction addition statement true using only the digits one through nine?
Math Curiosity: Twin Primes
What do you call two prime numbers who are very close together?
Regular or Irregular Polygons – Concept Attainment
Can your students puzzle out the differences in these shapes - without any instruction!?
A Caffeine Investigation – Part 2
What do people know about the amount of caffeine in common beverages?
How Many Will There Be? Xs and Os
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Math Curiosity: Magic Triangles
Can you make each side of this triangle add up to 9 using the digits 1-6?
How Many Will There Be? Courtyard
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
How Many Will There Be? Triangles Within Triangles
A triangle splits and splits and splits again. How many will there be in step 20?
Math Curiosity: Waring’s Conjecture
So, can you write every odd (greater than 3) as the sum of three primes?
Letters With Symmetry
Let's group letters by their symmetry, then create symmetrical words, and then symmetrical sentences!
An Olympic Sized Pool and 2 Liter Bottles
How many 2 liter bottles could you fill up using the water in an olympic-sized pool?
An Olympic Sized Pool and Lots of Pasta
How many pounds of pasta could you cook using the water in an olympic-sized pool?
Math Curiosity: Legendre’s Conjecture
It seems like there's always a prime number between two perfect squares... but is this always the case!?
An Olympic Sized Pool and Jet Fuel
How many times could you fill up a jet plane using the fuel that would fit in an olympic-sized pool?
A Caffeine Investigation – Part 3
Students will analyze advertisements about caffeine and create a public service announcement to communicate their findings.
Polar Weather Report
Students work with negative numbers to create their Polar Weather Report.
How Many Will There Be? Earthworm
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Geometry Image: Esplanade Theaters
What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?
How Many Ways: Fractions Multiply 2/3
How many different ways can you make this fraction multiplication statement true using only the digits one through nine?
How Many Ways: Multiply Fractions Equal 1/4
How many different ways can you make this fraction multiplication statement true using only the digits one through nine?
Geometry Image: Victoria Conference Center
What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?
How Many Ways: Fraction Subtraction Equals 1/2
How many different ways can you make this math statement true using only the digits one through nine?
How Many Ways: Fractions Divide Equals 2/3
How many different ways can you make this fraction division statement true using only the digits one through nine?
Geometry Image: Skytree
What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?
How Many Will There Be? Squares in Squares
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Geometry Image: University Ave
What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?
How Many Will There Be? Checkerboard
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
How Many Ways: Divide Fractions Equal 1/4
How many different ways can you make this fraction division math statement true using only the digits one through nine?
How Many Will There Be? Crosses
Give kids a taste of a sequence, let them build an understanding, and then see how far their predictions can take them.
Geometry Image: Steigerwald
What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?
Grouping Shapes by Parallel and Perpendicular Sides
Which shapes go together based on parallel and perpendicular lines?