Math

Adding and Subtracting Fruit

Use super cute fruit to introduce algebraic thinking to your young students.

Back to School Math Worksheets

In these math problems, the solution is already given. But another number is missing!

Contig

Roll three dice and combine them using any mathematical operation. But be strategic to maximize your points!

Spring Math Worksheets: Multiplication and Division

Sets of multiplication and division practice problems. But the unknown isn’t where you expect it to be!

Spring Math Worksheets: Addition and Subtraction

Four sets of 2-digit and 3-digit addition and subtraction practice. But the unknown isn’t where you expect it to be!

What’s In My Brain: Pentagon vs Pentagon

We’re looking at regular vs irregular polygons.

Factors and Codes: First Names (Episode 2)

Scrambled up somewhere in 161,000 is a first name. Can you find it!?

Factors and Codes (Episode 1)

Let’s use factors to encode and decode words.

Grouping Shapes by Parallel and Perpendicular Sides

Which shapes go together based on parallel and perpendicular lines?

Letters With Symmetry

Let’s group letters by their symmetry, then create symmetrical words, and then symmetrical sentences!

Crossing Every Bridge Exactly Once (aka Eulerian Paths)

How can you cross each bridge in this city exactly once?

Polar Weather Report

Students work with negative numbers to create their Polar Weather Report.

Math Curiosity: Magic Triangles

Can you make each side of this triangle add up to 9 using the digits 1-6?

The Heaviest Pumpkin

How heavy is the world’s heaviest pumpkin when measured in Mr. Byrds?

Geometry Image: Esplanade Theaters

What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?

Geometry Image: University Ave

What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?

Geometry Image: Victoria Conference Center

What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?

An Olympic Sized Pool and Jet Fuel (Episode 3)

How many times could you fill up a jet plane using the fuel that would fit in an olympic-sized pool?

An Olympic Sized Pool and Lots of Pasta (Episode 2)

How many pounds of pasta could you cook using the water in an olympic-sized pool?

An Olympic Sized Pool and 2 Liter Bottles (Episode 1)

How many 2 liter bottles could you fill up using the water in an olympic-sized pool?

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.

Geometry Image: Skytree

What odd and interesting shapes can your students find in this geometric image?

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.

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? 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 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?

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.

Special Gifts with Special Requirements

Your special friends sure have some unique gift needs!

What’s the Pattern? Fraction Addition

Can your students figure out how to add fractions by looking for a pattern?

Find The Pattern: Multiply Fractions

What if you set the stage for students to discover how to multiply fractions?

Investigating Population Changes

How have the ages of three countries’ populations changed from 1950 to 2020? And what problems might that create?

Olympics: Medals by Population

Do big countries always have the most medals? Which smaller countries rank surprisingly high in the Olympics?

Olympics: Winter vs Summer Medal Count

Which country has a great balance between their summer and winter Olympic medals?

Mow A Lawn

How long would it take to mow a very large lawn with a push-mower?

Fizz Buzz: A Counting and Divisibility Game

Ready for a tricky counting and divisibility game?

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?

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?

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?

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: 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 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?

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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.

Measurement: How Big is this Bathtub?

So, if I told you a bathtub holds 640 of water, which unit would make the most sense?

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!

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.

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.

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? Triangles Within Triangles

A triangle splits and splits and splits again. How many will there be in step 20?

Math Curiosity: Klauber’s Triangle

In 1932, a leading authority on rattlesnakes, Laurence Klauber, discovered a startling pattern within a triangle of primes.

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: A Pattern Packed Triangle

Pascal’s pattern-packed triangle is a potent puzzle for pupils to ponder.

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!

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!?

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!

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?

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!

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.

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.

What’s In My Brain: Trapezoids or Not?

Which are trapezoids and which are not?

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?

How Many Ways: Times Equals Times

How many different ways can you make this math statement true using only the digits one through nine?

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: 2 Digit ÷ 1 Digit = 1 Digit

How many different ways can you make this math statement true using only the digits one through nine?

Fraction Ordering Tournament

Which set of fractions would be the trickiest to order from least to greatest? Let’s have a tournament!

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.

Same Perimeter, Different Area For Rectangles

Can two rectangles have the same perimeter but… different areas!?

Intersecting Angles and Streets

There can never be just one angle.

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!

Exponents – How Low Can They Go?

Using exponent patterns, can students predict what the 0th power will be?

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?

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?

Math Curiosity: Four Squares

Every positive integer can be written as the sum of (at most) four perfect squares!

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!

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?

Why Is Our Calendar So Weird!?

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!

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?

The Angles of a Triangle

Why tell a kid the rules of a triangle when they can discover them!?

Grouping Quadrilaterals In A Hierarchy

Can we classify quadrilaterals like we classify living things?

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.

Deducing the Area of Triangles

Using patterns, students try to deduce where that area formula came from.

Analyzing Movies’ Success

So should we make another movie in this series?

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!

Filling Up A Car With Other Liquids

Is gas actually that expensive? What if we filled a car up with… orange juice?

Math Curiosity: Odds & Squares

Why does the sum of the first 5 odds also equal 5 squared?

Investigating Cost of Living

Would you save money if you lived in Las Vegas and commuted every day to San Francisco?

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!

Fractals: Sierpinski’s Triangle

What if this triangle pattern just kept repeating… forever!?

Fractals: Koch Snowflake

You could keep zooming in on this snowflake forever!

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.

Math Curiosity: Waring’s Conjecture

So, can you write every odd (greater than 3) as the sum of three primes?

A Caffeine Investigation – Part 3

Students will analyze advertisements about caffeine and create a public service announcement to communicate their findings.

A Caffeine Investigation – Part 2

What do people know about the amount of caffeine in common beverages?

A Caffeine Investigation – Part 1

So… just how much caffeine can you have before you end up in the ER?

Math Curiosity: Primes and Squares

Can any perfect square be written as the sum of two primes?

What Do Mean and Median Mean?

When will mean and median give us different results?

Math Curiosity: Legendre’s Conjecture

It seems like there’s always a prime number between two perfect squares… but is this always the case!?

Math Curiosity: Finding Primes

Prime numbers are unpredictable! How can we possibly find them all? An Ancient Greek mathematician found one way!

Math Curiosity: Twin Primes

What do you call two prime numbers who are very close together?

Visualizing Fraction Multiplication

What does it look like to multiply fractions?

Percents and Credit Cards

Let’s buy something expensive with a credit card and then make only the minumum payments!

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?

A Visual Guide To Dividing By Fractions

Have you ever wondered what it looks like to divide by a fraction, man?

Exploring Circumference With Famous Circles

Let’s find how the diameter and circumference of famous circles are related.

Analyze and Create Misleading Graphs

Let’s make some intentionally bad graphs to learn how to spot poorly made graphs.

How Many Students Can Fit On The Playground?

So… just how many kids could we cram onto the playground?

Math Curiosity: Palindromic Number Conjecture

Using this one weird trick, it seems that you can turn any number into a palindrome!

A Nutrition-Based Math Project

Let’s create a parody ad attacking a surprisingly calorie-rich meal.

Math Curiosity: Collatz Conjecture

The Collatz Conjecture: start with any number and get to 1 using just two rules. It seems to always work…

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.

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.

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?

Disneyland Parking Tram Math Project

How many fully loaded tram trips will it take to transport a full parking structure to Disneyland?