Category: Ratio and Proportion

What is an atmospheric river (AR)?

Atmospheric Rivers! How are they ranked? Students become familiar with this weather phenomena and learn how they are measured. To more fully understand their power, students compare the strength of an AR to the momentum of a Mack truck using rate conversions.

Daylight savings time

Will you wake up and go to sleep earlier or later on that Sunday?
What kind of chart or picture could you draw to help you compare before and after daylight savings time?
Will your Sunday seem longer or shorter?
Is daylight savings time still useful?

Iditarod 2023 – The Last Great Race on Earth

The Iditarod Dogsled Race will begin this year on Saturday, March 4th in Anchorage, Alaska. It is often called The Last Great Race on Earth because it is so long and grueling. Students do some rate, distance, and hardship comparisons to decide if…

Valentine’s Day (11 activities)

Have a heart Canstruction – Students use reasoning and approximation to analyze the number of cans of food contained in this one giant heart.  Consider starting out the activity by showing students the picture of the heart and doing a see…

Turkey-Syrian Earthquake + Richter scale

James St. John - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/52672742354/

On February 6th, Turkey and Syria were hit with a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake. What does a 7.8 magnitude earthquake imply? What’s a seismometer?  What is the amplitude of a seismograph and what does it mean? Use our Richter scale activity to introduce your students to logarithmic Richter magnitudes.

Sweetheart candies

How many dollars worth of sweetheart candies used to be sold each Valentine’s season? How much is one candy worth? After Valentine’s Day their price is reduced. How much are they worth then?

Ground Hog day

How often does Punxsutawney Phil get it right? Relative frequency! A cute animal will make your students smile as they calculate the relative frequency of Phil’s correct past predictions.

Powerball, Mega Millions, and probability

Recently the Mega millions’ jackpot was won in Maine at 1.35 billion dollars.  Last year, someone won 2.04 billion dollars in Powerball.   Students examine compound probability and decide whether playing Powerball or Mega millions is worth it.

Median age of country populations

The median age of countries is used to predict the future needs of each country. What are the ramifications of a predominately young population or a predominantly older population,  Why do scientists use the median measurement to study this?

MLK and efforts towards racial justice

Timelines for the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr.  – Students create one of two timelines about Martin Luther King Jr’s life or the efforts in America to create a more fair racial balance in the U.S.  …