Year of the Metal Rat Lunar New Year begins on Saturday, January 25th. This will be the year of the Metal Rat. The year name is a combination of 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches creating a sequence of…
Category: Holidays and Annual Events
Investigations that relate to regular annual events.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (5 activities)
Data on the National Mall sites – Two data analysis activities about the National Mall. Who do we honor? – What people or events are included in the National Mall monuments? Students use fractions or percents to decide what they can notice…
At last, the days are getting longer
As we’ve passed the darkest day, how will daylight hours change … gradually, linearly, suddenly? Time differences, patterns, play with cool online simulator.
The Times Square ball
On New Year’s Eve, the iconic Times Square ball will descend to mark the start of year 2020. The ball isn’t really a ball. It is a geodesic icosahedron. What does that mean and how do you transform an icosahedron into this ball?
Winter holidays – 17 activities
Hanukkah dates keep changing!
3 Hanukkah activities; the amazing Hebrew calendar, soda menorah, and potato latkes. In the calendar activity, students look at the Hebrew calendar and appreciate the incredible mathematics involved in creating a calendar that aligns both the moon’s revolution about the Earth and the Earth’s revolution about the Sun.
Three wrapping presents activities
3 activities about wrapping presents: On the diagonal, 3-act by estimation with iPhone, and judging sizes and needs by estimation with man and shopping basket.
Shipping crunch
Do huge numbers of packages shipped and huge numbers of packages delivered late mean that these two companies aren’t doing a good job? Talk numbers.
How many feet of lights should I buy for my tree?
Check out our Christmas Tree. We need to buy lights for the tree. Without calculating, guess how many feet of lights you will need. What information do you need to better estimate the number of feet of lights that you…
Thanksgiving, football, Black Friday, and giving (11 activities)
11 math activities to use before the Thanksgiving break. Football, Turkey baking, Consumer spending, Macy’s Parade, mashed potato recipe doubling, and more …
Black Friday deals
When shopping next Friday, students will be able to add some understanding and analysis to the trip after calculating savings in dollars and percents with this timely investigation.
How should I cook my turkey?
Bake it, deep fry it or barbecue it? When do I have to wake up to begin preparations? How long will the cooking take? How much will it cost? How many can I feed?
Not enough mashed potatoes
Using his famous mashed potato recipe, Brian has asked students to change decimals to fractions, to calculate ingredient measures for various-sized Thanksgiving gatherings, to explain their thinking in calculating these figures and to judge how many servings could be created…
Veterans Day
On Veterans Day we honor the men and women that have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. As of the the 2010 Census, there are 18.8 million living veterans. We found these maps that show where veterans…
Weird happenings at the end of daylight saving time
Strange happenings when one neighborhood observes daylight saving time and one neighborhood doesn’t. Do you get confused? Does UTC notation help?