Bird’s eye of activities – sortable

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It’s almost summer now

How much water should you drink? How much pee is in this pool? How has the presence of lyme disease changed? Which is the best drink deal at the fair? ...
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4.MD.C, 4.OA.B, 4th, 5.MD, 5.OA.B, 5th, 6.G.A, 6.NS.B, 6.RP.A, 6.SP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.G.B, 7.NS.3, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.F, 8th, HS, HSA-CED, HSA.REI.C.6, HSA.REI.D, HSF.BF, HSM, MP1, MP4

Giant beach towel

Check out this beach towel! What do you wonder? What would you like to know? ...
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3-act task, 5th, 6.G.A, 6th, 7.EE.B, 7.G.B, 7th, 8th, area, beach, estimation, HS, MP5, summer

Souvenirs and concessions

This activity is an introduction to systems of equations with easy, motivating problems that deal with the cost of stadium purchases for food and souvenirs. These can be done by ...
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8.EE.8, 8th, HS, HSA.CED.3, HSA.REI.6, linear equations, logic, reasoning, systems of equations

Memorial Day 2023

Who are we honoring? How did the holiday come about? Isn't Memorial Day usually on May 30th? Students learn a little about the history of the holiday, analyze the possibilities and ...
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5.OA, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8th, calendar patterns, Data and Probability, patterns, percent

Patterns in the binomial expansion, Pascal

Realizing that (X+Y)n can be expanded with the help of Pascal's Triangle offers some pretty and interesting math play. We love to bring a little fun and beauty into our ...
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7th, 8.EE.C, 8th, binomial expansion, Data and Probability, HS, HSA.APR.C.5, modular arithmetic, MP7, Pascal's Triangle, probability

Triple Crown hopefuls at the Preakness

Saturday, May 20th, will be the running of the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race in Baltimore, Maryland. The Preakness is the second major race for 3-year old thoroughbreds to run ...
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6.SP.B.5, 6th, 7.SP.C, 7th, 8.SP.C., 8th, Data and Probability, empirical probability, horse racing, HS, HSS.MD.A, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, ratio

Mother’s Day ideas (14 activities)

Updated! How much do we spend on Mother's Day - Use the Mother's Day event to engage your students in approximating, reasoning, and investigating as students estimate how much is ...
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4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS, Mother's day

Effects of new MLB rules

Students use our recent data to graph, analyze and hypothesize about the affect of the new MLB rule changes ...
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5.G, 5.MD, 5th, 6.G, 6.MD, 6.SP, 6th, 7.SP, 7th

Guacamole for Cinco de Mayo

This activity involves recipe analysis, pricing, and comparison. Students gather the ingredients for a famous recipe and analyze how much it would cost to make it at home versus buying ...
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5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, Cinco de Mayo, Guacamole, HS, measurement, price reasoning, unit price

New bust of King Charles … in chocolate

Saturday, King Charles will be crowned as the King of the United Kingdom. Artists at the Mars Wrigley company made a gorgeous chocolate bust of the King wearing his military ...
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5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, chocolate sculpture, coronation, HS, King Charles, MP1, MP2

Wheel of Theodorus

Bring a little art into your math class as you begin to use the Pythagorean theorem and your students first meet irrational numbers ...
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7th, 8.EE.2, 8.G.7, 8.NS.1, 8.NS.2, 8th, HS, HSA.REI.B.4, HSN.RN.B.3, irrational numbers, math art, MP5, Pythagorean Theorem, square roots, visualizing irrational numbers

The HAT tessellation

An Einstein aperiodic tile has just been discovered. Find out what that means and why it is significant. Plus - play with the tiles. Do you want to tile your ...
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4.G, 4.MD, 4th, 5.G, 5th, 6.G, 6th, 7.G, 7th, 8.G, 8th, aperiodic, HS, HSG, periodic, tessellation, tiling

Earth Day actions for our planet

We have 16 activities that you could use for Earth Day! Saturday, April 22nd is Earth Day. Help your students become activists for our planet? We have 16 activities that support recycling, ...
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3.MD, 4.MD.3, 5.MD.5, 5.NBT, 5.NF, 5th, 6.EE, 6.G, 6.NS.3, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.G, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.EE, 8.F, 8.SP, 8th, climate change, Earth day, HS, HS.C, HS.G, HS.TF, HSA, HSA.REI.C.6, HSF, HSG.SRT, HSN, HSS.B, HSS.ID.C.7, MP1, MP2, MP4, MP5, MP6, MP8

Tax time, Patriots Day, Boston Marathon

The middle of April is a busy and interesting time. We have 6 timely activities to try in your classes ...
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5.MD.1, 5.NBT.B, 5th, 6.EE, 6.NS.3, 6.RP, 6.SP.3, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP, 7th, 8.EE.B, 8.F, 8.SP, 8th, HS, HSA, HSF-IF, HSF-LE, HSM, HSS-ID, MP1, MP3, MP4, MP5, MP8

Time to make your prom clothes … with Duck Tape

Admire the possibilities of Duck Tape attire and calculate the cost of some of the outfits in time and tape ...
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5.NBT, 5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6.RP, 6th, 7th, 8th, Duck Tape, duct tape, fashion, HS, MP1, MP2, prom clothes, time and tape calculations

Spring and Easter ideas – 6 activities

Dyeing eggs with food coloring - Students use the chart on the back of a food dye package to compare the strangely different recipes listed for coloring a cake, icing, ...
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3rd, 4.NF, 4.OA, 4th, 5.NF, 5.OA, 5th, 6.RP.3, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.EE.3, 7.RP, 7.RP.3, 7.RP.A, 7.SP.1, 7.SP.2, 7th, 8.F, 8th, HS, HS.M, HSA-CED, HSA-REI, HSF-IF, HSF.BF, MP1, MP2, MP7, MP8

Passover starts on Wednesday

Two activities involving fraction halving, doubling, and tripling operations with recipes for Passover. Students end up creating a huge matzo ball ...
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5.NF, 5th, 6.NS, 6th, 7.EE, 7.NS, 7th, Fractions, macaroons, matzo balls, MP7, MP8, multiplication of fractions, Passover

Challenges for April Fools Day

This day is known for pranks and puzzles. Try one of these 4 activities on April Fools Day. Ask students to analyze where I made my mistake ...
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4.OA, 4th, 5.G, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8.EE, 8.SP, 8th, 9th, April Fool's Day, HS, reasoning, slant, slope

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 ...
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5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP, 7th, 8.EE, 8.F, 8th, conversions, HS, HS.A, HS.A-REI, HS.N-VM, HS.NQ, weather

How hard it is to pick the perfect bracket?

If you try to predict how the games will play out by filling out a bracket, what are your chances of picking every game? How does the change from 64 to ...
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6.RP.3d, 6th, 7.SP.8, 7th, 8.EE.3, 8.EE.4, 8th, Data and Probability, exponent, exponential growth, HS, HSF-LE.A.2, HSS-CP.B.9, large numbers, march madness, probability, scientific notation

March Equinox – big deal? … and 5 more Spring activities

Brand new! What's with the March Equinox? Does it really affect our lives? Is it just some astronomical occurrence? Students calculate the daylight hours at the March Equinox by time ...
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3.MD, 3rd, 4.MD, 4th, 5.G, 5.MD, 5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6.SP, 6th, 7.SP, 7th, day length, time subtraction

March Madness – Does seeding really matter?

Engage your students in percents as they get excited about March Madness. Is getting a higher seed really an advantage? Use 30 years of data to help determine for which seeds ...
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6.RP.3, 6th, 7.RP, 7.RP.3, 7th, bar graph, Data and Probability, estimation, march madness, percent, sports

How hard is it to find a 4 leaf clover? (3 Saint Patrick’s Day activities)

We have 3 Saint Patrick's Day activities for your math class. How hard is it to find 4-leafed clovers, the nutritional values of a Shamrock Shake, and measuring parts per ...
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3.G.A.2, 3.MD.C, 3rd, 4.MD.A, 4th, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8.EE.A, 8th, HS, HSG-MG.A, HSN, MP2, MP4, MP6

Just some March Madness math

This is the first of several activities about March Madness. Figuring percents, bar graphs, trends, big numbers, and probability ...
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3.MD, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.EE, 8.SP, 8th, HS, march madness, March Madness rules, MP2, MP4, MP6

Pi Day 2023 – 3/14

We have 9 great activities for Pi Day! ...
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5th, 6th, 7.G.4, 7th, 8.NS.1, accuracy, circle, circumference, Data and Probability, diameter, G-C.2, hat size, HS, long division, measurement, pi, radius

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 ...
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4.MD, 5.G, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, daylight savings time, DST, function, HS, MP1, MP2, MP4, Number Sense, predicting relative position, relative to, slide, translation

Two 12s or one 18?

Which should we order and why? Two 12-inch pizzas or one 18-inch pizza? Which will give you more pizza? More crust? Which is the better deal? ...
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5th, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.G.4, 7.RP.3, 7th, 8th, area, circle circumference, circles, doughnut area, HS, HSG, pizza

Square or Round – which pizza should I buy?

Warm up for π day with this updated activity! If that slice from Sbarro is from an 18-inch pizza cut into eight pieces, which deal is better when comparing area ...
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4.MD.3, 4th, 5th, 6.G.1, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.G.4, 7th, conflict, price per square inch, unit price

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 ...
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5.NBT, 5.NF.B, 5th, 6.NS, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, Data and Probability, HS, Iditarod, Last great race on earth, MP1, MP2, planning, rate

Population Pyramids – What can you surmise?

The distribution of a population's age and gender data can tell you a lot about a society's history, current situation, and future. What do you see happening here? The activity: ...
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6th, 7th, 8th, HS, HSS-ID, HSS.IC, MP2, MP3

Mardi Gras and Presidents’ Day

How much are US presidents paid? Step graph. Fair? Mardi Gras, meaning, parades, beads, value, cost, reuse, environment ...
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5th, 6.EE, 6.RP, 6.SP.4, 6.SP.5, 6th, 7.EE.4, 7.RP, 7.RP.3, 7th, 8.F.4, 8.F.5, 8th, CCSS: 5.NF, HS, HSA-REI, HSF.IF.4

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 ...
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3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS, Valentine's Day

Turkey-Syrian Earthquake + Richter scale

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

8.F.4, 8.F.5, 8th, current events, Data and Probability, earthquakes, HS, HSF-LE.A.2, HSF-LE.B.5, HSF.LE.A.1, HSF.LE.A.4, logarithmic scale, Richter scale

Chocolate heart-shaped raspberry cake

For Valentine's Day, bake a cake. Students calculate base area or volume of cakes made from 2 cake pan sizes and observe how the volume of the cake changes with ...
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6th, 7.EE.B, 7.G.B.4, 7.G.B.6, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8.G.C.9, 8th, base area, circle area, HS, HSA.CED.A.1, HSG-MG.A.1, HSN.Q.A, square area, Volume, volume increase

Super Bowl Activities (10 activities)

We have 10 great super bowl activities for your math classes ...
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5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

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 ...
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6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, critical thinking, N-Q, problem solving

Typical Super Bowl scores

In this activity students study historical Super Bowl data to reflect on average (mean, median, and mode), losing scores, winning scores, and range of scores. They are asked to judge which of ...
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6.SP.2, 6.SP.5, 6th, 7.SP.4, 7th, 8th, Data, HS, mean, median, mode, NFL, predict scores, S-ID.2, Super Bowl

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 ...
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6th, 7.SP.5, 7.SP.6., 7.SP.7, 7th, 8th, frequency, Groundhog Day, HS, prediction, Punxsutawney Phil, relative frequency

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 ...
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7.SP, 7th, 8th, compound probability, Data and Probability, HS, lottery, Mega Millions, powerball, S-CP

Throwing Up 2023

It's hard to shovel new snow when you have to get your shovel-full over previous snow banks. You have to throw the snow practically straight up. Predict the arc of ...
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7th, 8.F.5, 8th, estimation, graph, HSA, HSA-REI, HSA.CED.2, HSF, HSG.MG.3, parabolas, parabolic motion, weather

Lunar New Year 2023

A combination of 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches, the year's symbol creates a sequence of year names that eventually repeat. Students explore the least common multiple of these ...
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5th, 6.NS.4, 6th, 7.SP.8, 7th, 8th, calendar math, Chinese New Year, HS, LCM, least common multiple, patterns, S-CP

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 ...
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6.SP, 6th, 7.SP, 7th, 8th, central tendency, demographics, HS, HS.modeling, HSS-ID, HSS.IC, median, median ages, MP2, MP3, population trends, world population

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 ...
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3.MD, 3.NF.1, 4.MD, 5.MD, 5th, 6.G, 6.RP, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.G, 7.NS.3, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, Civil Rights, Fractions, HS, Jr., Martin Luther King, MLK, national monument visitors, percents, timeline, who do we honor

Big bucks 2023

Huge sports contracts! We often hear about big player contracts. Who makes the most per year? Per game? What sports? ...
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6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.RP.2, 7th, 8.EE.5, 8th, average, Data and Probability, proportion, ratio, slope, sports, sports contracts, Unit rate

Earth’s perihelion with the Sun

Today, Wednesday, January 4th, 2023, Earth will be as close as it gets to the Sun during its orbit. Shouldn't that make this the warmest time of the year? In ...
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5th, 6.NS.1, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.NS.2, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, estimation, HS, HSA.CED.1, HSN-Q, ratio, Unit rate

Is 2023 a special number?

What do you notice about 2023? What is a Harshad number? Does 2023 meet the criteria? Big deal? Rare? Often? ...
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3.OA, 3rd, 4.OA, 4th, 5.OA, 5th, 6.NS, 6th, 7.NS, 7th, 8.NS, 8th, Harshad, MP1, MP2

The Times Square Ball

What does truncation mean? How is the Times Square Ball related to an icosahedron? Let students learn about the crystals and the LEDs that create this beautiful construction ...
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6th, 7.G.A.3, 7.G.B, 7th, 8.G, 8th, HS, HSG.GMD.B.4

Beautiful mathematics

Color, measure, design, Sierpinski, spirals, Pythagorean triples, hexadecimal color codes, fractals, string design, modular math, Pascal's triangle, Fibonacci, polyhedra, build an eclipse ... Enjoy! ...
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Before the holidays (16 activities)

We have tons (well, 16) of activities to bring to your class in this last week before the holiday break. Movies, science, art, cooking, economics, weather and the logic of ...
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2.NBT, 2.OA, 2nd, 3.MD, 3.NBT.2, 3.OA, 3rd, 4.NBT, 4.OA.3, 4th, 5.G, 5.MD.C, 5.NBT, 5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6.G, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.G, 7.NS, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.EE.7, 8.F, 8.G, 8.SP, 8th, HS, HSA, HSF, HSG, HSS, MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, MP5, MP6, MP8

How many feet of lights should I buy for my tree?

In this 3-act task, your class guesses how many feet of lights you will need to light your tree. Then gather data from groups and find means or medians. Then ...
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3-act task, 6th, 7th, 8th, circumference, conic surface area, estimation, HS, HSG-MG.A.1, MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4

Winter Solstice 2022

How is the amount of darkness now related to your location on Earth? Understanding the Winter Solstice. 7.G.3, HSG.C, HSG.GMD.4, HSG.MG.1 ...
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6th, 7.G.3, 7th, 8th, central angle, dark out, Data and Probability, HS, HSG-MG.1, HSG.C, HSG.GMD.4, latitude, winter solstice

Three Hanukkah activities

Three great activities to play and learn about Hanukkah. Soda displays, Hebrew calendar, and relating two recipes for their healthiness ...
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3.MD.5, 3.MD.6, 3.MD.7, 3rd, 4.NBT.5, 4th, 5.NBT, 5.NBT.5, 5.OA, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7.SP.5, 7.SP.7a, 7th, 8.SP, 8th, MP6, MP8, S-IC

Do I have enough wrapping paper?

In this problem based activity students first guess and then try to calculate whether they will have enough paper to wrap this present without taping pieces of wrapping paper together. I ...
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3-act task, 6.EE.A, 6.G.1, 6.G.4, 6.G.A, 6th, 7.EE.B, 7.G.6, 7.G.B, 7th, 8th, estimation, HS, HSG.MG.A.3, measuring wrapping paper need, MP5, nets, surface area

Wind chill

Students use the National Weather Service's chart to look for patterns, make predictions, decide how many ways the wind-chill could be -22 degrees F, and compare the formula's outcome with ...
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5.OA.3, 5th, 6.EE.1, 6.EE.2, 6th, 7.EE.3, 7.EE.4, 7th, 8.EE.7, 8th, Data and Probability, HS, HSA.REI.B.3, HSF.LE.A.1, HSF.LE.A.4, interpolation, MP4, patterns, reading charts, weather, wind chill

The Algebra of Magic Squares

Students examine Magic Squares for how they could help with math computation practice and having fun ...
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3.NBT, 3.NF, 3.OA, 3rd, 4.NBT, 4.NF, 4.OA, 4th, 5.NBT, 5.NF, 5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6.NS, 6th, 7.EE, 7.NS, 7th, 8.EE, 8.F, 8.NS, HS, magic squares, MP2, MP4, puzzles

Major announcement !

YummyMath will retire on January 1st, 2024 ...
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3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

Whole lot of cookies

Jennifer Fairbanks from Hopkinton, MA sent us this picture of the cookies that she baked in 4 hours using 13 eggs and 5 cups of sugar. Do you see some ...
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3.MD, 3.NBT, 3.NF, 3.OA, 3rd, 4.NBT, 4.NF, 4.OA, 4th, 5.MS, 5.NBT, 5.NF, 5.OA, 5th, 6.RP, MP3

Buy, buy, buy and ship (8 ideas)

Here comes Black Friday, Small business Saturday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. It's a crazy time of year. Use all of that shopping to educate your students about good deals ...
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3.G, 3rd, 4.NF.B, 4th, 5.NBT, 5.NBT.7, 5.NF, 5th, 6.RP, 6.RP.3, 6.RP.A, 6RP.3, 6th, 7.EE.2, 7.EE.3, 7.G, 7.RP.3, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, decay, HS, HSA-CED, HSF, HSF-IF.C.8b, HSF.LE.A.1c, MP4, percent of a percent, percents, sales

Thanksgiving, shopping, football and giving

How should I cook my turkey? - Students judge timing, cost, tastiness, and quantity necessary as they plan for the feast. 4.MD.1, 5.NBT.7, 4.MD2, 6.RP.3, 6.NS.3, 7.NS.3 Great video on a deep ...
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5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

World Cup 2022 – Qatar (2 activities)

The World Cup of Soccer begins November 20, 2022. We have two different activities involving the logic of setting up a fair draw and the number of matches that each ...
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4.NBT.4, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7.G.1, 7.SP, 7.SP.8, 7th, 8th, HS, HSS.MD, MP1, MP3

Lots of Cranberries

In this activity, students learn about how cranberries are grown and harvested; estimate their size and quantities; and see what they can deduce from published statistics ...
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5.MD, 5th, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.G.B, 7th, 8.G, 8th, circle area, cranberries, cylinder volume, estimation, using ratio to compare quantities

Total lunar eclipse

On the morning of November 8, 2022, many of us will be able to see the last full lunar eclipse until March 2025. Luckily, many of us will be able ...
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4.MD, 4th, 5.MD, 5th, 6.G, 6th, 7.G, 7th, 8.G, 8th, HS, HSG, light refraction, MP1, MP4, reading graphics, shadows, time zones

How big could this mid-term election be?

Will the November 8th election bring record number of voters to the polls? Students get a chance to understand what the usual percentage of voters is, look for trends and ...
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5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, election math, HSS-ID.A, MP4, percent electorate, voter turnout

I need help raking my leaves

In this activity students see the inverse relationship between number of workers and time to complete the whole job. They graph hyperbolas and consider how long the extreme condition of ...
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5.G.1, 5.G.2, 5th, 6.EE.9, 6th, 7th, 8.F5, 8th, graph, HS, HSA.CED.2, HSA.REI.10, HSF.IF.4, HSF.IF.5, HSF.IF.7, hyperbolic, inverse relationship, MP.7, MP8, nonlinear, work

Halloween activities

14 Activities How well can you predict your candy haul? - Students consider how to determine their best predictions of their candy haul. The math ideas of measurement error and ...
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4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

The size of chocolates

In time for Halloween, students assume that all of our pieces of chocolate are about the same thickness and proceed to approximate their volumes by comparing only their surface areas. ...
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3.MD.5, 3.MD.6, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6.G.1, 6th, 7.G.4, 7.G.6, 7th, chocolate candy, estimation, food, mean radius estimation, Volume

Inflation and the cost of gasoline

In 1980, a gallon of gas costs $1.22. Today's prices are a lot higher. Is that because the price has gone up or because in 1980 you could buy a ...
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5.G.1, 5.G.2, 5.NBT.7, 5th, 6.NS.3, 6th, 7th, Current value pricing, Data and Probability, decimal multipication, Excel charts, gas, graph, graphing, inflation rate, MP.4, MP3, MP5

Participation in Halloween activities

Students analyze the ratios and percents of population, participation, and money spent in honor of October 31st. This activity takes kids through finding parts of wholes as well as ratio, ...
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5.NF, 5th, 6.NS, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, costumes, Data and Probability, Fractions, Halloween, percents, population, proportions, ratios

Giant Pumpkins 2022

Sts use proportions to calculate the quantities of pumpkin puree and the number of pumpkin pies that could be made from one of these giant pumpkins ...
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6th, 7.RP.1, 7.RP.3, 7th, Halloween, MP1, MP7, proportion, pumpkin pie recipe, ratio

Indigenous Peoples or Columbus Day

Sts learn a little history, question what they have learned earlier, and calculate how far off Columbus was from East India and his understanding of the actual circumference of the ...
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5.G, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.G, 7.NS, 7.RP, 7th, 8.G.B, 8th, geography, HS, HSG-SRT.C.8, latitude, longitude, MP1, MP2, , Pythagorean Theorem, ratio, slides, translations, trigonometry

Are hurricanes getting stronger and more frequent?

Updated! In this updated hurricane activity, we've ask students to examine the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale and consider what other elements besides this ranking may contribute to the devastation that ...
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6.SP.3, 6.SP.4, 6.SP.5, 6th, 7h, 8th, data analysis, estimation, exponential growth, HS, patterns, ratio, S-ID.1, weather

Do teams that spend a lot win a lot?

In this activity students compare team wins with team salaries in the four major North American sports ... the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL. Students use data from recent seasons ...
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5.G.1, 5.G.2, 6.SP.2, 6.SP.5, 6th, 7th, 8.SP.1, 8.SP.2, 8.SP.3, 8th, baseball, basketball, Business, correlation, football, hockey, HS, HSS-ID.B.6, HSS-ID.C.8, HSS-ID.C.9, HSS.ID.6, line of best fit, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, S-ID.6, Scatter Plot

Little Amal

With refugees trying to survive hardships by traveling away from their homes, the story of Little Amal is powerful and touching. There is lots of math in creating an 11 ...
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5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, HS, immigration, MP4, refugee

Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones

This week Hurricane Fiona caused major damage to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean, This is the season for increased cyclonic activity around the globe. How are hurricanes, typhoons, ...
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7th, 8.F, 8th, ACE, cyclones, duration, HS, HSA-CED, HSS-ID.A, hurricanes, intensity, MP2, MP4, typhoons

How much caffeine are you consuming?

We asked students to examine the sources of caffeine in their diets and calculate the number of servings that they actually consume ...
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6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, HS, HSA-REI

How many gumballs are there?

Get your students thinking, estimating, and calculating ...
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6th, 7th, 8.G.9, 8th, estimation, HS, HSG-MG.1, HSG.GMD.3, HSG.MG.2, Volume

Macy’s Star Rewards Points

Wow! Check out this deal at Macy's. For $25 I can join Macy's Star Rewards program. I get 10% back in rewards for every dollar I spend. Its pretty cool that ...
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7.EE.3, 7.EE.4, 7th, 8.F.4, 8th, equations, function, HS, HSA-CED.A.2, HSA.CED.A.1, HSF-LE.A.2, linear

Willy Makeit or Betty Wont

Finally! I see a bathroom sign! Wait ... it is in kilometers? How far is that? Should I run? ...
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4.MD.1, 4th, 5.MD.1, 5th, 6.RP.3, 6th, estimation, metric conversion, units

What is Artemis 1 and when will it launch?

In this activity, students try to decipher several graphics that explain the flight path of the Artemis mission and make comparisons about what has been accomplished before and what is ...
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5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Artemis, HS, HSG, HSM, MP4, NASA, Orion, space flight

Labor Day 2022

What is this holiday about? Are we celebrating the start of school? New cars? The end of summer? In this short activity, students learn about the intended meaning of Labor ...
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5.OA, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, data analysis, Data and Probability, long division, MP.1, MP.2, MP.7, MP8, patterns, remainder, yearly patterns

Someone ate my cake

In this fraction operation and representation activity, students are asked to decide how much of my cake was eaten. Using fraction multiplication (or angle measure if that is where you ...
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3.G.2, 3.NF.1, 3rd, 4.MD.5, 4.MD.6, 4.NF.3, 4.NF.4, 4th, 5.NF.4, 5th, angle measure, Data and Probability, fraction operations, fraction representation, Fractions

Will sending you back to school this year cost a fortune?

In this activity students decide what equipment and supplies are necessary, estimate how much that will all cost, confer with classmates to refine their lists, and then research to find ...
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4.NBT.3, 4.OA.A, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7.EE.B, 7th, 8th, conferencing, Data and Probability, estimation, HS, HSA, HSF, MP5, research

But it didn’t sell?

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span> A&W offered a bigger, tastier burger but it didn't succeed in grabbing customers away from the hugely popular McDonald's ...
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3.NF.A, 3rd, 4.NF.A, 4th, 5th, 6th, Fractions

Hexadecimal coloring

Probably most of us have heard of and even used hexadecimal color codes. Don't you wonder why their number descriptions really make sense? In this activity we first ask students ...
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5.NBT, 5th, 6.NS.C, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8.SP.A, 8th, bases, coloring codes, hexadecimal, HS, HSF, HSS, HSS-ID, light, patterns, place value, Venn Diagram

How much pee is in this pool?

A Canadian chemist, Xing-Fang Li, has found a marker for urine that chlorine doesn't disguise. In this activity, students calculate volume of several pools, change that cubic foot volume to gallons ...
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4.MD.C, 4th, 5.MD, 5th, 6.G.A, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.G.B, 7.RP.A, 7th, Data and Probability, G.G.C, ratios of volume, unit ratio

Where should I drop my puck

Act 1 - Give students time to view the game board above or give them our one-page activity. The above picture is larger when you click on it. Ask students ...
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6.SP.B, 6th, 7.SP.C.7, 7th, 8th, Bernoulli, HS, HSA.APR, HSS, Normal distribution, Pascal’s Triangle

The James Webb space telescope and the Hubble

There have been outstanding images coming to NASA from the James Webb Telescope. Take some time to compare the Webb to the Hubble telescope that has been sending images to ...
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5th, 6.G, 6.RP, 6th, 7.G, 7.RP, 7th, 8.EE, 8.G, 8th, HS, HSF.TF, light spectrum, relative distances

Some fun summer activities

These are an assortment of spacial puzzles, artistic math coloring and understanding, order of operations play, and a seemingly magic math game ...
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3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, art, geometry, HS

Sunday, July 17^th, is National Ice Cream Day

In this activity, we've created two small tasks to challenge your students. If you know how much ice cream is eaten every year, how much is the "average" American eating? ...
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Sunday, July 17<sup>th</sup>, is National Ice Cream Day

4.MD, 4th, 5.MD, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7th, analysis, approximation, conversions, HSM, ice cream

Should I buy a gasoline, hybrid, or electric car

Should you buy a hybrid or an electric car to save money and the planet? Students create equations for finding the break-even points of these vehicles by mileage and years ...
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6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.EE.C, 8.SP, 8th, climate change, finding equations, graphing equations to find solution, HS, HSA, HSN, HSS.B, systems

4th of July

Hot dog eating; Flag art; Fireworks on your calculator; Creating a 5-pointed star with one cut; and a possible new, 52-star flag ...
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3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

Mallie’s latest Big Burger

Students learn about the initial weight of the giant meat patty and calculate the final weight of the patty after it is cooked. They decide what percent lean this meat ...
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5.NBT.7, 5.NF.6, 5th, 6.NS.1, 6.RP.1, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7th, Data and Probability, proportion, ratio, ratio tables

Father’s Day, Juneteenth, and The Longest Day (summer solstice)

We have two Father's Day activities, a Juneteenth activity, and a revised (and shortened) Longest Day/Summer Solstice activity ...
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4.NF.4, 4th, 5.MD, 5.NF.7, 5th, 6.EE, 6.NS.1, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.NS, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.EE, 8.F, 8th, HS, HS.F, HSA-REI, HSA.APR, HSM, MP1, MP7, MP8

Gauss and our star of stars

How many stars are in this image and how did you count them? ...
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3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, associative property, commutative property, Gauss, patterns

How old are you?

We usually give our ages in years, but that isn't very precise is it? In this activity students find their age in days, hours and minutes. First students take two ...
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4.MD.1, 4.MD.2, 4th, 5.MD.1, 5th, 6.RP.3, 6th, conversion, Data and Probability, HSN.Q.A.1, measurement, MP1, MP7, proportion, ratio, time

Why isn’t the World Cup happening now?

The World Cup Finals is only played every 4 years but isn't it always in June? The World Cup Finals 2022 will be played in Qatar from November 21 until ...
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6.RP.A, 6th, 7.EE, 7.NS.A, 7th, 8th, arithmetic mean, conversions, HS, HSN, range, World Cup, World Cup Soccer

NBA Finals 2022

A little sports history and data analysis through the context of NBA Finals math! In this activity students consider scatter plots, circle graphs, bar graphs, Venn Diagrams and the concept ...
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6.SP.3, 6.SP.5, 6th, 7.SP.4, 7th, 8.SP.1, 8th, circle graph, data analysis, Data and Probability, NBA

Taking two discounts off (2 activities)

Students check out if getting 50% off and then a 20% discount will give them 70% off. Why does that happen? ...
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6RP.3, 6th, 7.RP.3, 7th, 8th, 8th HS, Data and Probability, discount, HS, HSF-IF.C.8b, HSF.LE.A.1c, percent, percent of a percent, sale

The odds of horse race betting

Rich Strike surprised everyone at the Kentucky Derby horse race in early May by moving from 18th place at the half-way mark (out of 20 horses) to winning the race. Churchill ...
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5th, 6.RPA, 6.SP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RPA, 7.SPC, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, horse race odds, HS, HSA-REI, HSS.MD

When will they collide?

Show the video to your class. Give students time to complain and talk about seeing this commercial. Then take guesses from students about the actual time it would take to ...
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8.EE.7, 8th, equations, HS, HSA.CED.A.1, HSA.REI.B.3, time rate distance

Happy Friday the 13th!

Don't worry, 13 is a Happy number! Students learn a new function and test whether a number is Happy or Sad. The activity: Friday-the-13th.pdf CCSS: 5.OA, 6.EE, 8.F, MP1, MP7, ...
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5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6th, 7th, 8.F, 8th, function, HS, MP1, MP7, MP8

Shooting for Three

The NBA court has a 3-point line that separates how many points a player will earn for his team by making a basket from outside of that line. Teams have ...
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7.G.1, 7.SP.5, 7.SP.8, 7th, 8.G, 8th, distance, HS, HSS-MD.A.2, HSS-MD.B.5, HSS-MD.B.7, NBA

What time should I wake up?

Surprise Mother's Day breakfast in bed! I think she would like orange juice, scrambled eggs, biscuits, and hot coffee. I’ll add some flowers from outside and fruit to make it ...
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3.MD, 3.OA, 3rd 4th, 4.MD, 4.OA, 5th, 6th, diagraming, MP5, Operations with time

Comedian

What do you think this activity might be about? What do you wonder? How much would you pay for this piece of art? How much profit is involved in this ...
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6th, 7.EE, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, banana on wall, definition of art, HS, MP5, percent change, profit

Who has the greatest Men’s March Madness program?

The Kansas Jayhawks just won the finals of this year's March Madness tournament. Which NCAA teams have had the best basketball programs over the years. Students decide which stats count ...
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6.RP.1, 6.RP.3, 6.SP.5, 6th, 7.RP.3, 7th, 8th, comparisons, mean, mode, MP2, MP3, percents, ratio

How big of a crepe can you make?

At Costco you can buy this huge tub of nutella. It contains nearly 7 pounds of chocolaty-hazelnut spread. We use nutella to make banana/nutella crepes. How long will that tub ...
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5th, 6.G, 6.RP, 6th, 7.G.B, 7th, 8.G.C, 8th, 9th, circle area, circles, diameter, HSG, nutella, proportions, ratios

Mental math tricks – part 2

36 x 25 = 900 480 x 25 =12,000 924 x 2.5 = 2,310 Can you see any tricks for doing these calculations in your head? The ...
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4.NBT.B, 5.NBT, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS, MP6, MP7, MP8

April Fool’s Day fun

Try one of these 4 activities on April Fools Day. Where did that extra dollar go? Mystical Mathematical Mind Reader; perplexing missing square in the triangle; and Robert Kaplinsky's foil ...
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4.OA, 4th, 5.G, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8.EE, 8.SP, 8th, 9th, April Fool's Day, HS, reasoning, slant, slope

Refugees from Ukraine

Civilian Ukrainians are fleeing the war zone in order to remain safe and find food and housing. How do these numbers compare with other tragic evacuations. While interpreting graphics and ...
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4.NBT, 5.NBT, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS, HSF, interpreting graphics, reading graphics, Ukraine

What is my best gasoline option?

Should I pay the membership fee and get BJ's gasoline? Should I just buy the cheaper gas at Sheetze? Students figure out the best deals with a membership fee, a ...
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6.EE, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8, 8th, creating equations, EE, evaluating equations, HS, HSA-REI, HSA/CED, solving equations

When will WORDLE run out of words?

Have you played WORDLE yet? Why do you suppose that this game is so popular? When will there be no new 5-letter words to try? ...
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4.NBT, 5.NBT, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, HS, HSN, WORDLE

Shrinkflation

Inflation in the cost of living, last year (2021) was estimated to be about a 7%. If "shrinkflation" is happening at the same time as general inflation, is the unit ...
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6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, HSF, HSM, MP2

Mardi Gras, 2023

In New Orleans revelers throw and collect purple, green, and gold beads. Students get a chance to examine the monetary and environmental cost of this bead exuberance with our unit ...
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5.NF, 5th, 6.EE, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, climate change, Data and Probability, environment, percent, proportion, ratio, Unit rate

Crazy Twos (Two to the…s)

Let your students practice manipulating exponents. Multiplication, division, roots, powers of powers. This powerful activity asks them to do some impressive mathematics ... in their heads ...
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7th, 8.EE, 8th, exponent laws, HS, HSA, HSF, like magic, mental math, operations with exponents, powers of 2

February 22, 2022

Why do you suppose we are posting this date as a topic for YummyMath? What do you think is so special about this date? Does this happen often? When might ...
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3.OA, 3rd, 4.OA, 4th, 5.NBT, 5.OA, 5th, 6th

Winter Olympic Activities (7 activities)

Curling - Friction, score-keeping, trajectory and weirdness are the main concepts in this activity. Curling is not a well-understood sport but the science and strategy are easily understood and enjoyed ...
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4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

The LUGE

This is one of the fastest Olympic sports. Lugers, on tiny sleds, zoom down a solid ice track at fantastic speeds, hold their bodies in an aerodynamically optimized position while ...
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6.EE, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, HS, HSF, luge, Olympics, rate

Olympic Schedule

The Winter Olympics begins this week in Beijing. Wikipedia had this schedule of events. We think that there is a lot of information missing and apparent in this graphic. What ...
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3.MD, 3rd, 4.MD, 4th, 5.MD, 5th, 6.MD, 6.SP, 6th, 7.MD, 7.SP, 7th, 8.F, 8.SP, 8th, HS, HSF, HSS-ID, Olympics, reading graphics

Cold NFL games

There have been some pretty cold football games. How do you suppose the frigid temperatures affect the success or failure of the teams that are involved? Do teams from colder ...
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5th, 6.NS.A, 6th, 7.NS.A, 7th, 8.NS, 8th, HSN-Q, integer operations, NFL, wind chill

Lighting the 2022 Olympic Torch

This activity introduces students to the power of a parabolic mirror in focusing the Sun's rays to a single, hot, point ... the focus of the parabola ...
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4.G.1, 4.G.3, 5th, 6th, 7.G.2, 7th, 8th, angles, circle, focus, geometry, HS, model, Olympics, parabola

Spider-Man continues

How much did it cost to make? How much will it gross? Is the Spider-Man phenomena a guarantee for success? How would you compare all of the Spider-Man movies? ...
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4.NBT.5, 4.NBT.6, 4.OA.2, 4.OA.3, 4th, 5.NBT.5, 5.NBT.6, 5th, 6.NS.2, 6th, 7.NS.3, 7th, 8th, conflict, dollars spent to dollars earned, HS, inflation, MP3, net profit, unit pricing

Mystical Mathematical Mind Reader

The GHOST WHISPERER now has a replacement!!!! John Tranter of Transum Mathematics has created the Mythical Mathematical Mind Reader and we've updated our activity to accompany the fun ...
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4.OA.4, 4th, 5.OA.1, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, algebraic analysis, Data and Probability, HS, HSA-CED.A.2, MP1, MP3, MP4, MP7, MP8, reasoning, valid arguments, why does it work?

Super Bowl Numerals

Introduce Roman numerals to your class. In this activity students learn the rules for evaluating Roman numerals, decipher copyright dates, see how Roman numerals are used today, and do some ...
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5.NBT, 5th, 6.NS, 6th, 7.NS, 7th, 8th, Roman numerals

Bowl by the hour or the game?

Students consider the posted pricing of this bowling alley. What must they consider when choosing how to pay? What do you expect will be the best deal? How do you ...
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5.NBT, 5.NF, 5th, 6.NS, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, bowling, HS, HSA-REI, HSA/CED, HSM, HSN, MP1, MP3, MP5

Home team advantage?

Ask students whether they think a game played at home gives their team an advantage. If so, how much of an advantage? Enjoy the discussion first, then show them our ...
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6.RP.1, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.SP.4, 7th, bar graph, data analysis, NFL, proportion, ratio

Activities for the Holiday break

Students work with the geodesic icosahedron of the Time's Square Ball by slicing an icosahedron. How are properties valued according to their distance from GO in the game of Monopoly? ...
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5.G, 5th, 6.SP.3, 6.SP.5, 6th, 8.F.4, 8.SP, 8th, graph, HS, line of best fit, mean, S-ID, Scatter Plot

What’s interesting about this number?

What is interesting about the number, 12 22 21 ... and why did we put it on YummyMath today? ...
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4.G.A, 4.OA, 4th, 5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6.NS, 6th, 7.EE, 7.NS, 7th, 8th, HS, MP1, MP2, MP4, MP7, MP8, pallindrome, patterns, symmetry

Will one roll be enough?

Students can use the man or the basket as a reference as they try to approximate the size of these gifts and how much wrapping paper will actually be needed ...
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5th, 6.EE, 6.G.A, 6th, 7.EE, 7.G, 7.NS, 7.RP, 7th, MP1, MP3, MP4

Holiday shipping

These two companies carry a lot of our packages. What can you tell about them by the numbers? Does delivering a little percent late really equal to not many packages ...
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5.NBT, 5.NBT.7, 5th, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.EE, 7.EE.3, 7th, FedEx, holiday, MP4, networks, on time delivery, percents, ratios, shipping, UPS

What can you tell about a snowflake?

As a snowflake falls from the sky, its crystal grows according to the humidity and temperatures of the air that it passes through. In this activity, students interpret a graphic ...
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6.G.A, 6th, 7.G, 7th, 8.G, 8th, graphics, HS, HSF, HSG.CO, MP1, visual representations

Wrapping presents on the diagonal

In this activity students determine if this method for minimizing wrapping paper is actually more efficient then the traditional method. For a hands on learning experiment, have students actually wrap ...
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5th, 6th, 7.G.6, 7th, 8.G.7, 8th, Christmas, climate change, geometry, Holidays, HS, HSG-SRT.C.8, HSG.MG.A.3, MP.4, MP3, nets, pollution, Pythagorean Theorem

Hanukkah is almost here! – updated

Updated 2022! Hanukkah begins on Sunday, December 18th this year. Why is the date always different? Students look at the Hebrew calendar and appreciate the incredible mathematics involved in creating ...
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5.NBT, 5.OA, 5th, 6.SP, 6th, 7th, 8.SP, 8th, Data and Probability, hanukkah, Hebrew calendar, HS, long division, lunar calendar, patterns, remainder, S-IC, synodic month

2 New Macy’s Parade balloons

Students figure out the dimensions of these two new balloons using Macy's hints and judging from the handlers' sizes ...
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5.MD, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6.SP, 6th, 7.G.A, 7.G.B, 7.RP, 7th, 8.G, 8th, HS, Macy's Parade

Shopping season already!

We used to see holiday sales right after Thanksgiving but, surprisingly, holiday shopping has already begun. Sales are advertised everywhere. Students will be able to add some understanding and analysis ...
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5th, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.EE.2, 7.EE.3, 7th, 8th, percent, ratio

Veterans Day 2021

Here are two very different maps about where Veterans live in the U.S. and which states have the largest density of Veterans citizens. What do these two maps make you ...
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5.MD, 5th, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.SP, 8th, HS, Veterans day

End of Daylight Savings time confusion

In this activity students try to figure out how time settings will change as they move from place to place and what variables are involved in the daylight savings time ...
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4.MD, 5th, 6.NS, 6th, 7th, 8th, daylight savings time, HS, MP1, MP2, MP3, MP7, UTC time

Collecting the most candy

Use your student’s Halloween enthusiasm to do a study on volumes. We’ve created an activity that asks students to calculate the volume of candy containers that are silly and intriguing ...
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5.MD.5, 5th, 6th, 7.G.6, 7th, 8.G.9, 8th, cone, Halloween, HS, HSG.GMD.3, prism, sphere, Volume

I should have invested!

Students use yearly percent increase data to decide which stock: Apple, Disney or Amazon, they should have invested in way back in 2015. What was the net gain of these ...
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7.RP.3, 7th, 8th, annual yearly return, arithmetic mean, conflict, gains, geometric mean, HS, HSF-LE.A.2, HSF-LE.B.5, HSN.RN.A.2, percent increase, percentages

Which sale would you rather use?

In this short activity, students decide if these two sales are the same. If not, which is better? How would you explain this to someone? ...
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6.RP, 6th, 7.RP.3, 7th, 8th, discounts, HS, HSA-CED, HSF, percents, sales

Federal debt and deficit – What are they?

What's the big deal with our national debt? Do we actually borrow money to cover our debt? If we do, imagine the interest charges? Help your students (and their families) ...
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6.NS, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8.F, 8th, debt, deficit, expenses, HS, HSF-IF, MP4, MP5, MP8, percent, revenue, stacked bar graph

Chuck E. Cheese needed to shred

Chucky E. Cheese needed to shred 7 billion tickets at a cost of 2.3 million dollars. Was this the real cost of shredding them? ...
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5.NBT, 5.NF, 5th, 6.NS, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8.NS, 8th, HS, HSN, large numbers, MP4, reasoning

Watson saves

Students use the Pythagorean Theorem with Ben Watson's incredible tackle to figure out how far he must have run. Truly phenomenal play! ...
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7th, 8.G.B, 8th, G-SRT.8, HS, NFL, Pythagorean Theorem

Fall Equinox 2021

Updated for 2021! Tuesday, September 22, 2021 at 19:21 UTC (which is the same as 3:21 am EST), will be the Autumnal Equinox. It is the time of year when the ...
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5.G.A.2, 5th, 6th, 7.G.A.3, 7th, 8.SP, 8th, data analysis, HS, HSF.IF.B, HSG-MG.A.1, MP3, MP4, using formulas

Death Valley, CA – How hot was it?

Take a guess at what the Fahrenheit reading on this sign must have been. How did you make that guess? Use the Fahrenheit conversion formula to calculate the missing number ...
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6.EE, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, Celsius, Fahrenheit, HS, HSA, HSN-Q, MP4, temperature conversion

Monarch’s are flying south again

In mid-August and early September, the Monarch butterflies begin their annual migration south to more moderate climates to hibernate and overwinter. It is an incredibly long migration and fascinating to ...
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3.MD, 4th, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, climate change, conservation, HS, HSN, MP4, ratios, reading charts

Viral Growth – Talk like a Pirate Day

Sunday, September 19th is talk like a pirate day. Bring some humor and marketing understanding into your class with this activity about a silly holiday that has had viral growth ...
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7th, 8.F.3, 8.F.5, 8th, HS, HSF.IF.C, HSF.IF.C.7, viral growth

Steepness and fall hiking

Combine colorful and cool fall hiking with a little mathematics about percent grade change. What is a steep grade? Why is it in percent? How does grade change relate to ...
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7.EE.3, 7th, 8.EE.5, 8.EE.6, 8.G.7, 8.G.8, 8th, HS, HSF-IF.B.6, HSG-MG.A.1, MP1, MP2, MP6, Pythagorean Theorem, slope

Just ONE hot dog

A newly released nutritional and environmentally sustainable study shows that eating just one hot dog can take 36 minutes off your total healthy lifespan. How many would you have to ...
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4.MD, 4th, 5.MD, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, estimation, HS, HSN, rate conversions, reasonableness, Unit rate

Back to school activities

Who's going back to school? - Students calculate the historical changes in U.S. population percentages of people who are going back to school and try to formulate reasons for these variations. 6.EE, ...
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4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Data and Probability, HS

Haiti’s earthquake and the Richter scale

On August 14th, Haiti was hit with a powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake. What does a 7.2 magnitude earthquake imply? What's a seismometer. What is the amplitude of a seismograph and ...
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8.F.4, 8.F.5, 8th, current events, Data and Probability, earthquakes, HS, HSF-LE.A.2, HSF-LE.B.5, HSF.LE.A.1, HSF.LE.A.4, logarithmic scale, Richter scale

That’s a big tomato!

These Aussi tomatoes (the tomato on the left of all of the tomatoes) are huge. How much do you guess one weighs? Can you figure it out? ...
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6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8.G.C, 8th, Data and Probability, HS, HSG, HSG.GMD, HSG.MG, ratios

Let’s learn to gerrymander

In this activity student try to redistrict our pretend state in order to preserve the overall state's leanings in its new districting plan. Then students redistrict the same state in ...
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5th, 6.RPA, 6th, 7.RPA, 7th, 8th, geometry of balance, HS, MP1, MP2, MP4, MP7, redistricting

How many athletes brought home no medal?

Probably most of the athletes that went to Tokyo didn't win a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal. We couldn't find any numbers about these people. Can you figure it out ...
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5th, 6th, 7.SP.C, 7th, 8th, diagrams, HS, HSM, logic, modeling, MP.4, MP1, MP3, MP5, Venn Diagram

The new R-naught number

Now we're plagued with the Delta variant of the coronavirus. What was the original virus' R-naught number and what has it become? ...
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5th, 6.EE, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8.EE, 8.F, 8th, exponential growth, HS, HSF-IF, HSF-LE, MP2, MP4, MP7, MP8, Virus spread

The drag in swimming – 5 Olympics activities

To win in Olympic swimming, contestants have to be incredibly fit and have marvelous endurance and technique. Do they also need to consider the science of their motions and their ...
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7.EE.B, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, aero/hydro dynamics, density, drag, equivalent expressions, HS, HSA/CED.A4, MP.4, MP1, MP7, Proportionality

Need to rent some chaise lounges

Here's the rental sign. How much will 6 lounges and 2 umbrellas cost? ...
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4.MD.A, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8.EE.C, 8th, Euro to dollar, HS, HSA-CED, HSA-REI, solving systems

Olympic Skateboarding + more

We are very excited to see skateboarding as an event in the Tokyo Olympics. Skateboarding is athletic, artistic and difficult to master. Why has it taken so long to become ...
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5th, 6.SP.A, 6.SP.B, 6th, 7th, 8th, eliminating extremes, HS, mean, MP1, Olympics, scoring olympics, skateboarding

Ranked Choice Voting in NYC

New York City is still tallying its election results for a new Mayor. This year they tried Ranked Choice Voting. What does that mean? How does that work? What are ...
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6th, 7th, 8th, flow chart, HS, logic, MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, MP8

Betsy Ross’s 5-pointed star

Folding analysis to make Betsy Ross's 5-pointed star ...
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4th of July, 5th, 6th, 7.G.B, 7th, 8.G, 8th, american flag, HS, HSG.CO, pentagram

How much is a trillion dollars?

U.S. Congress is now debating how much money to approve on spending for infrastructure. The numbers are between 1 and 3 trillion dollars. I can't even fathom that amount of ...
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5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, MP1, proportional

Penny Wars anew

Students judge from apparent diameters and penny heights, which jar has the most money. Mrs. Mercado had 3 pictures of scales with two jars on each balance. That is another ...
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3-act task, 8.G.9, 8th, cylinder, HS, HSG.GMD.3, measurement, Volume

What is Juneteenth?

You can appreciate why this is such a great celebration when you look at the stages and some of the events and dates of America moving towards freedom from slavery ...
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4.MD, 5.MD, 5th, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, abolishionism, HS, HSM, juneteenth, MP1, slavery, timeline

Do caffeinated drinks have similar amounts of jolt?

We found this interesting caffeine infographic at visual.ly. Wonderings? How many McDonalds coffees do I need to get the same amount of caffeine that I would get in a Starbucks coffee? ...
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7th, 8.G.9, 8th, circle, cylinder, G.GMD.3, G.MG.1, HS, HSG-MG.A.1, measurement, metric, proportion, scale, simliar figures, Volume

Payday loans – What are they?

What is a payday loan? How is it different from a bank loan or debt on a credit card? Is this a good idea? ...
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6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, credit card debt, debts, HS, loans, MP1, MP2, MP4, payday loan, personal loan

Monopoly and summer games

In the board game, Monopoly, does a property’s distance from GO correlate to its rent when you land on it? Using Brian’s spread sheet (list of properties, distance from GO, ...
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5.G, 5th, 6.SP.3, 6.SP.5, 6th, 8.F.4, 8.SP, 8th, graph, HS, line of best fit, mean, S-ID, Scatter Plot

Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held each July 4th since 1972. What do you wonder about this event? What questions do you have from looking at all ...
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5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, HS, HSA, HSF, HSN, HSS-ID, MP1, MP2. MP3

Tree for Springtime

Here in the Northeast, flowers are blooming and trees are leafing out. We thought the creation of a tree that grows before your eyes might be akin to what is ...
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4.OA, 4th, 5.OA, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8.F, 8th, fractals, HS, HSF-IF, MP7, MP8, patterns, programming, Python, recursive drawing

Can I get your order right?

Updated! You can order a ton of combos at Chipotle. They advertise that there are 65,000 ways to order their meals. Do you think that is correct? ...
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7.SP.5, 7.SP.6., 7.SP.7, 7.SP.8, 7th, choices, combinations, HS, HSA.CED.A, HSS-CP.B.9, HSS.CP.B, permutations, probability

AQI – Air Quality Index

The AQI is a measurement of how much particulate matter, dangerous ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide there is in the world's atmosphere at any one time and ...
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5.MD, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, AQI, average monthly air quality, climate change, concentration of pollutants, HS, HSS-ID, mathematical modeling, parts per million, scale

How much did the tooth fairy give you when you lost a tooth?

What was the going tooth rate in your house? Do you think that, on average, you were paid well or were you disappointed? Was your first tooth lost especially remunerative? ...
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4th, 5.G, 5.NBT, 5.OA, 5th, 6.NS, 6th, find total value, interpret chart, look for patterns

It’s tick time again … and Lyme disease

Spring is the start of tick encounters. Help students study the prevalence of Lyme disease in the US; in their own state; and methods for preventing it. What are your ...
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5.MD, 5th, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, Excel, graphing, Growth, hypothesizing, odds

Does an NFL player’s draft order mean a lot for the player?

Students interpret the graph relating draft pick number and contract value. They consider how much being selected earlier or later, either by a few picks or rounds effects a player's ...
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6.EE.9, 6th, 7th, 8.F.3, 8th, chart reading, correlation, data analysis, HS, HSF.LE.A.1, NFL draft

Shoprite’s solar energy goals on the African continent

Shoprite is the largest supermarket chain in Africa. The company is presently engaged in increasing their use of solar power to harness the abundant natural resource of solar potential on ...
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4.MD, 4th, 5.MD, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, climate, conversions, geography, percents, solar energy

Will our U.S. flag change yet again?

How many stripes are in our present flag pictured above? (The bottom right flag that has been in use since 1960.) How many stars? What do the numbers of stars ...
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3.OA, 3rd, 4.OA, 4th, 5th, 6th, associative property, patterns

Man paid in 500 pounds of greasy pennies!

In this 3-act activity, students learn about the story, watch a PowerPoint presentation about the issue, and try to calculate the amount of money in this pile. Copper pennies, zinc ...
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5.MD.A, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, coinage metal, pennies

Peeps

This activity is a investigation intended to get students and teachers to loosen up a little and appreciate how just considering a situation might lead you to a very reasonable ...
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6th, 7.SP.1, 7.SP.2, 7th, 8th, Easter, estimate, HS, MP1, MP2, MP3, random sample

How many scoops do I need?

In this 3-act activity, students need to invent a different way to measure the powdered chocolate than what the instructions dictate. How many 1/4th teaspoonsfuls of powder = 2 teaspoons? ...
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3.NF, 3rd, 4.MD, 4.NF, 4th, 5th, measurement, MP1, MP7

Dunkin’s Go2s

Simultaneous equations with a Dunkin Donuts' sandwich deal. Do you have enough information to solve it? ...
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6.EE, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, HS, HSA, reasoning, simultaneous equations

8 cold and snowy activities

How much snow is that? - How many inches of snow produced that pile? How much snow in volume is on top of the car? How much could that snow weigh? Approximation, ...
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5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, cold weather, HS, snow

John Urschel, retired Baltimore Raven and Black mathematician

In this activity, students can learn about this mathematician and retired pro football player as they read to create a timeline of his life and accomplishments. They compare his milestone ...
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3.MD, 3.NF, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Creating a timeline, HS, John Urschel, puzzles

At least the days are getting longer

What's your guess? How fast are the number of daylight hours changing each day? Are the changes dramatic or subtle? Students make guesses; compute how long, on average, the change in ...
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4.MD, 5.MD, 5th, 6.EE, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.F, 8.SP, 8th, data analysis, patterns

How should I spend my rewards?

For every dollar that you spend, you accumulate points. You can cash them in for savings on groceries, apply them to your gasoline purchases, or even use them to give ...
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5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, analyze problem, MP1, MP2, try several situations

Lots of pieces

Brian has a lot of puzzles. His family must love working on them. What do you wonder about his puzzles? What do you notice? Make an educated guess, about how ...
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2.NBT, 2.OA, 2nd, 3.MD, 3rd, 4th, 5.NBT, 5th, 6.NS, 6th, associative property, commutative property, estimation, grouping

Crazy basketball score

Wow! Look at that score! There were some scoreboard malfunctions in this December 15, 2020, pre-season game. What might have been the final score if this game progressed at this ...
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3.MD, 3rd, 4.MD, 4th, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, basketball rules, MP1, MP3, proportional reasoning

Inauguration Date

The date of the Presidential Inauguration this year can be written in an interesting way. What do you notice? What do you wonder? Do you think that this happens often ...
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4.G.A, 4.OA, 4th, 5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8th, HS, MP1, MP2, MP4, MP7, MP8, pallindrome, patterns, symmetry

How much snow is that?

Start this activity with: What do you notice? What do you wonder? How many inches of snow produced that pile? How much snow in volume is on top of the car? How ...
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5.MD.C, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.EE.A, 7.EE.B, 7.G, 7.RP.A, 7th, Data and Probability, estimation, snow-water equivalence (SWE), unit weight, weather

Will 2021 be a “prime” year?

Will this be a prime year? We sure hope so. What do you have to do to check it out? ...
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4.OA.B.4, 4th, 5.NF.B.5.a, 5th, 6.NS.B, 6th, 7th, 8th, composite numbers, divisibility rules, factoring, HS, largest possible factors

Winter solstice

Updated for 2021! Students appreciate how their latitude effects the darkness of their late afternoon location as they study the earth's tilt and the logic of daylight hours. Is latitude ...
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6th, 7.G.3, 7th, 8th, central angle, Data and Probability, HS, HSG-MG.1, HSG.C, HSG.GMD.4, latitude

December 21, 2020 – Great conjunction

Right now, just after sunset, in the southwest sky, you can check out the planets of Jupiter and Saturn as they get closer and closer to each other. They are ...
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4.MD, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7.G, 7th, 8.F.B, 8th, apparent diameter, astronomy, central angle, circles, HS, HSF.IF.B, HSG.C, MP3, MP6, rate of change

Holiday soda displays

The holidays are coming! We found these timely soda displays made up entirely of 12-pack of Coca-Cola products. What questions do you have? Clicking on either image will show them ...
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3.MD.5, 3.MD.6, 3.MD.7, 3rd, 4.NBT.5, 4th, 5.NBT.5, 5th, 6th, 7.SP.5, 7.SP.7, 7th, 8th, area, Christmas, Data and Probability, estimation, Hanukah, Holidays, HS, problem solving, whole numbers

The new largest Lego set ever – The Roman Colosseum

Note: This is a remake of our 2014 and 2017 activities "How Much Does a Lego Cost?". How much could the Roman Colosseum Lego set cost ? Student first make ...
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6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6.SP.5, 6th, 7.RP.2, 7.SP.1, 7.SP.2, 7th, Legos, mean, modeling, proportion, random sample

Black Friday

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 ...
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6.RP.3, 6th, 7.EE.2, 7.EE.3, 7th, 8th, Data and Probability, holiday shopping, percent, problem solving, ratio, sale prices

Not enough mashed potatoes

Updated activity for Covid 19 appropriate Thanksgivings. Students change decimals to fractions, calculate ingredient measures for various-sized Thanksgiving servings, explain their thinking in calculating these figures, and judge how many ...
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5.NF.6, 5th, 6.RP.1, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.RP.1, 7th, Data and Probability, operations with fractions, proportion, ratio, Ratio Table

Lots of Cranberries

In this timely activity, students learn about how cranberries are grown and harvested; estimate their size and quantities; and see what they can deduce from published statistics ...
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5.MD, 5th, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.G.B, 7th, 8.G, 8th, circle area, cranberries, cylinder volume, estimation, using ratio to compare quantities

Canstruction

Just before Thanksgiving there are competitions all over the world to celebrate cool design, tricky engineering, and to donate a whole lot of food. How many cans does it take ...
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3-act task, 4.MD.3, 4th, 5.MD.5, 5th, 6.EE.1, 6th, 7.G.6, 7th, 8th, area, HS, HSF.LE.2, MP2, MP3, MP7, pattern, series, square numbers, summation

Ravensburger huge puzzle

Students surmise what the difficulty of a jig saw puzzle entails and use rate calculations to estimate finishing times. They try to confirm whether doubling the number of pieces really ...
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4.MD.A, 4.OA, 4th, 5.OA, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, E.EE.A, feet to inches, rate, square area, square root

5 Election activities

Is the Electoral College vote similar to the Popular vote? The winner of the Presidential Popular vote (November 3, 2020) is not always the same as the winner of the ...
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6th, 7th, 8th, election math, HS

Vampire Bats

Ooooo. Scary! This is a slightly didactic activity on vampire bats. We've given lots of interesting metric and customary unit facts and asked students to relate those sizes to more familiar ...
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2.MD, 2nd, 3rd, 4.MD.A, 4.NF.C, 4th, 5.MD.A, 5th, customary conversions, Halloween, HSM, HSN, measurement, Vampire bats

Candy deals

We found big mixed bags of candy at really good prices ... we think. Students are asked to decide which would be the best deal and the worst deal on candy ...
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5th, 6.NS.2, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7th, Halloween, ratio, Unit rate

Is the Electoral College fair?

After showing the video consider asking your students what the grouping of students must have been for "colored pencils" to win the class electoral college? Is there more than one ...
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6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, analyzing bias, bias in congressional districting, Data and Probability, electoral college, HS, majority, percents, popular vote

Is the Electoral College vote similar to the Popular vote?

The winner of the Presidential Popular vote (November 3, 2020) is not always the same as the winner of the Electoral College vote (January 6, 2021). In this activity students ...
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6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, Data and Probability, HS, HSF, HSS-ID.A

Electoral College vs. the popular vote

Click the map to create your own at 270toWin.com Let your students see how votes really count with our activity on the Electoral College. Can someone win the popular vote ...
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5th, 6.EE, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, cartography, census, Data and Probability, election, electoral college, HS, HSG-MG.A, MP4

Monster cake

First, students need to find the surface area that the M&Ms cover in order to approximate how many M&Ms she needs to finish her cake. When Brian tried to make ...
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4th, 5.NF, 5th, 6.G.4, 6.RP, 6th, 7.G.6, 7.RP, 7th, circle area, estimation, Fractions, measurement, percent, surface area, Volume

How much chocolate is left?

Fraction operations might be more interesting when it involves chocolate. Students reason and calculate what is left of these chocolate bars. The bars are the same size but are molded ...
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4.NF, 4th, 5.NF, 5th, 6.NS, 6th, MP1, MP3

2 Hiking Activities

Appalachian Trail Needs - Calculating the needs and rates involved in enduring this 2,168 mile trek. Steepness and Fall Hiking - Use a little mathematics about percent grade change in ...
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6.RP.1, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.EE.3, 7.RP.1, 7th, 8.EE.5, 8.EE.6, 8.G.7, 8.G.8, 8th, calories, Data and Probability, HS, HSF-IF.B.6, HSG-MG.A.1, miles per hour, MP1, MP2, MP6, Pythagorean Theorem, rate, slope, Unit rate

Can you show that the Pythagorean Theorem works?

Use this activity to help your students work through the meaning of the Pythagorean theorem. Pythagorean theorem experiences are often skill and drill work with contrived right triangle problems. In ...
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6.G, 6th, 7.G, 7th, 8.G.6, 8th, HS, HSG, measurement, Pythagorean Theorem, visual representation

Extreme weather 2020

Use the open number line and our lists of temperature extremes to make signed number operations and absolute value sensible. Students compare record high and low temps (integers) and use ...
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USPS needs help!

Students learn how the Postal Service is funded and try to decide how the USPS could earn more or spend less in their operation. They finally get to think about ...
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4.MD, 4.NBT, 4.OA, 5.MD, 5.NBT, 5.OA, 5th, 6.NS, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, HS, trends, unit ratios, USPS

Ramen noodle heist

In 2018, the trailer of a truck filled with Ramen noodles was stolen from a parking lot in Georgia. The trailer contents were valued at $98,000. What do you wonder ...
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4.MD, 4.OA, 4th, 5.MD.C, 5.NBT, 5th, 6.G.A, 6.NS, 6th, 7.G.B, 7th, estimation, MP2, MP5, Volume

Do you want to be an NBA virtual fan?

For health concerns, professional sports now have no actual live fans. To help generate the excitement and semblance of fans, some teams use cardboard cutouts of people. Some use Zoom ...
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3.MD, 3.OA, 3rd, 4.MD, 4.OA, 4th, 5th, 6th, MP2, MP3, MP4, NBA, virtual fans

How big is this hornet really?

Giant hornets have now migrated to North America. In this activity students take the hornet's measurements in millimeters and try to draw the hornet, life-sized, on centimeter graph paper. They ...
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4.MD, 4th, 5.MD, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.G.1, 7th, measurement conversion, MP5

It might be a good year to see the Perseid meteor shower

Catching a productive meteor shower can be a stunning experience. On the evenings and mornings of August 11th, 12th and 13th there could be a very good show. A last ...
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5.MD, 5.NF, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8th, apparent magnitude, data analysis, HS, perseids, recognize trends, Unit rate

Largest s’more ever!

What is reasonable.? How many marshmallows are in this recipe? How many people could this cookie feed? How many marshmallows could you eat? ...
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4.G, 4th, 5.G, 5th, 6.G, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th

What does the data show?

When you look at the new case numbers of the Coronavirus in the U.S. and compare that with various world and national events and our present scientific understandings, what do ...
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5.OA.B.3, 5th, 6.SP, 6th, 7.SP, 7th, 8.F.B, 8.SP.A, 8th, HS, HSM, MP1, MP2, MP4

How much water should you be drinking?

Student develop and use formulas for calculating their water needs ...
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4.OA.B, 5.OA.B, 5th, 6.NS.B, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7th, 8.F.A, 8th, HS, HSA-CED, HSF.BF, HSM

How fast will my new puppy mature?

There is a new dog aging formula that depends on methyl markers that adhere to the DNA molecules of living things. Now we know that dogs don't age as we ...
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5.NF, 5.OA, 6.EE, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8.FB, 8th, DNA, dogs, HS, HSF-IF, HSF.BF, methyl markers, natural logarithms, new aging formula

Does the new “Most Stuf” Oreo have an exorbitant amount of stuf?

How much more "stufed" are they compared to Triple Double Oreos, Double Stuf Oreos or even Original Oreos. Does this look yummy to you or gross? Why are they filled ...
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5.OA, 5th, 6.EE, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, calories, carbohydrates, fats, HS, HSA-CED, HSA-REI, MP2, MP4, nutrition, relative measures, systems of equations, weight

String design, ellipses, and orbital mechanics

Artistic way to encourage understanding of a conic section. Participants physically build an ellipse by choosing two foci and sketching the figure through a loop of string. While stitching an ...
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7th, 8th, aphelion, Conic sections, eccentricity, ellipse, HS, HSG.GPE, orbits, perihelion, Pythagorean Theorem

Coronavirus trends

Johns Hopkins University of Medicine has a team that maintains current maps and data about the Coronavirus. They record changes and show trends of the virus activity throughout the World ...
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6.RP.A, 6.SP.B, 7.RP.A, 7.SP.A, 7th, 8.SP.A, 8th, HS, HSMD, HSS.IC, MP2, MP3, MP4, MP7, percents, population density

Summer Solstice, the longest day

Sunday, June 21st, 2022 (Revised and updated) Sunrise on summer solstice at Stonehenge On Sunday, June 21st, at 5:13 am EDT, the Earth's North Pole will be tilted as far ...
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6.EE, 6th, 7.EE, 7.NS, 7.SP, 7th, 8.EE, 8.F, 8th, data analysis, Earth's rotation, estimation, graph, HS, HSA-REI, HSA.APR, polynomial trend line

National Donut Day

Two activities to help celebrate National Donut Day How many donuts is that = huge box of donuts to approximate. How have donuts changed = torus volume measurements, formula intuition, ...
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3-act task, 4.MD.3, 4.NBT.5, 4.OA.3, 4th, 5.MD.3, 5.MD.5, 5th, 6.G.1, 6.G.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.G.1, 7.G.6, 7th, 8.G.C.9, 8th, donuts, estimation, HS, HSA.APR.D.6, HSA.SSE.A.1, HSA.SSE.A.2, HSA.SSE.B.3, HSG-MG.A.1, HSG.GMD.B.4, MP1, MP2, MP3, MP6, MP7, reasoning, Torus, Volume

I bought toilet paper online

Students use the pictures in this activity to approximate the size of this 16 roll package of bamboo toilet paper. They use comparison ratios with our Ruth Bader Ginsburg doll ...
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5.MD.C, 5th, 6.G.A, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.G, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, relative size

A socially-distanced party

I risked infecting my friends or becoming infected myself by throwing a very small socially-distanced party. I served baked appetizers, disinfectant wipes, and latex gloves. I cooked while wearing clean ...
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5.MD, 5th, 6.G, 6th, 7.G, 7th, 8.G, 8th, HS, HSF.TF, HSG, separation, , trigonometry

May 27^th launch from the U.S. again

NASA and SpaceX plan to launch humans from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, to the International Space Station for the first time since July 11, 2011. This is a more current ...
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May 27<sup>th</sup> launch from the U.S. again

5.MD, 5th, 6.G.A, 6th, 7.G, 7th, 8th, HS, launch, NASA, SpaceX

Fish tale, go figure!

I have two fish in my aquarium. Betty is my white goldfish. She often stays really close to the front wall as she swims towards her food. Stripe, my clownfish, ...
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3-act task, 3-d Pythagorean Theorem, 3-d shapes, 8.G.7, 8.G.A.4, 8th, HS, HSG-SRT.C.8, Pythagorean Theorem

Tiny vacuum with a huge reach

Wow! This vacuum can clean up to 2,800 square feet while using only one electrical outlet. How long must its cord be? ...
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6th, 7.G.B, 7th, 8.G.B, 8th, circle area, HS, HSG.C, HSG.MG, HSM, MP.1, MP.2, MP.3, MP.4

Sadly, Jorge passed away yesterday.

Jorge would have been 15 years old on May 5, 2020. We wondered how old that would have been in human years. Does that 7 times his dog years formula ...
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4.OA.5, 4th, 5.OA.3, 5th, 6.EE.9, 6th, 7.RP.2, 7th, Data and Probability, dogs, looking for patterns, Proportionality

Microns and Masks

How big is a coronavirus cell? How big is a micron? How well do these masks protect against the virus? What can you observe about the size of particles mentioned? ...
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4.MD, 4.NBT, 4th, 5.MD, 5.NBT, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7th, 8th, Coronavirus, HS, micron, nanomicron, relative sizes

Stock Market headlines – Biggest losses since 2008

Biggest losses since 2008 - The Dow is measured in points but this decline can also be measured in the percentage lost. Which way was the Dow being measured when ...
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6.RP, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, Dow Jones, HS, percentage change, relative loss

World record Snickers Bar

This World Record Snickers Bar was created in late January at the Waco, Texas Mars Wrigley Plant. What proportions would be an accurate cross sections of this monster bar? How ...
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6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.G.1, 7.RP.2, 7th, 8th, cross section, similarity

Mixing colors with food dye

It's time to dye eggs ... or make a rainbow colored cake. Proportions, saturation, hue and shade ...
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4.NF, 5.NF, 5th, 6.RP.A, 6th, 7.RP.A, 7th, Data and Probability, hue, proportions, saturation, shade

Hoarding stopped!

A Danish market found an interesting way to limit hoarding of hand sanitizer. How much are these costs in your currency? What is the unit price on these bottles? By ...
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6.RP.A, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8th, Coronavirus, HS, monetary conversion, percent increase, unit pricing

Pascal coloring and modular math

Clock math, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3,4,5,6,7... is modular math. Let your students learn about the usefulness of modular math as they color and explore Pascal's Triangle. Very pretty math! ...
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3.OA, 3rd, 4.OA, 4th, 5.OA, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, art, clock math, HS, Modular math, MP3, MP8, Pascal's Triangle, pretty math

Some of our activities that are good for at-home learning

We've got hundreds of great activities that demonstrate how math happens all around us. Let your student choose an activity that interests him/her and enjoy the discoveries ...
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3-act task, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

Is there much of a difference between 99.9% or 99.999%?

Use our present need for cleanliness to engage your students. Does it really matter whether you kill 99.9% of the bacteria or 99.999% of the germs? In this activity, we've ...
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5.NBT.3, 5.NBT.7, 5th, 6.NS.3, 6th, 7.NS.2.d, 7th, 8.NS.1, 8th, bar notation, Coronavirus, decimal, place value, repeating decimals

Which gasoline is the cheapest?

A comparison of gasoline in Greece, priced at Euros per liter, and gas in Massachusetts at dollars per gallon. Price and liquid volume conversion using unit fractions ...
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6.RP.3, 6th, 7.RP.1, 7.RP.3, 7th, 8th, conversion rates, gasoline conversion, HS, unit fractions

How many delegates does each state get to send to the Democratic Convention?

Students reason about the meaning of this formula. They evaluate the formula for South Dakota and their state of choice to understand the weight of each state's power in choosing ...
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6.EE.A, 6.EE.B, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP, 7th, 8th, delegate math, evaluating expressions, HS, HSA.SEE, percent

Gonna be a Leap Year

This year we will add the 29th of February to our year? Why do we do that? How can you tell? What if we didn't add a day every 4 ...
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5.NBT, 5th, 6.NS, 6th, 7.NS, 7th, 8th, algorithm, calendar math, Earth revolution, flow chart, HS, leap year, N-Q.3

K-Pop and BTS, how much can they earn from Youtube and Spotify?

How much could this K-pop group possibly earn on Youtube and Spotify? Unit ratio calculations. BTS ...
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3.MD, 3rd, 4.MD, 4th, 5.MD, 5th, 6.RP, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, BTS, earnings, percentages, Spotify, unit rates, Youtube

Movies and the upcoming Oscars

Compounded percent change; central tendencies; the weight of Rapunzel's 70 feet of hair; Godzilla's height by comparison; how to measure the profitability of a movie series; most appropriate graphical representations; ...
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4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

Do the best movies make the most money?

Do the "Best" movies make the most money? How could you measure the "best" movie? What information would you need to make this judgement? At most ten movies are nominated each year to ...
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7.SP.1, 7th, 8.SP.1, 8.SP.2, 8th, association, cluster, correlation, Data, outlier, random sample, S-IC.1, S-ID.5, S-ID.6, Scatter Plot

Expensive Super Bowl ads

What will a 30-second Super Bowl ad cost this year? Next year? In the future? How would you describe this rise in cost? ...
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7th, 8.F.3, 8.F.5, 8.SP.1, 8th, Data, exponential growth, F-LEX graph, HS, HSF-IF.C.8b, HSF.LE.A.1, HSS-ID.B.6a, nonlinear, Scatter Plot, Super Bowl ads

How steep is this treadmill?

In this very short activity, students get a memorable way to visualize a zero slope and an undefined slope ...
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6th, 7th, 8.EE.B, 8.SP.A, 8th, horizontal slope, HS, HSG.GPE, HSS-ID.C, MP8, vertical slope, visual of steepness

It’s Girl Scout cookie time again!

Totally new activity! Let your students talk about their favorite Girl Scout cookies as they figure out what the local GS chapter really earns from these sales. Use this old ...
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5th, 6.EE, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP, 7th, MP3, MP4

Wanna work for Uber?

Students examine the ads and decide what is and isn't said. Do the ads give enough information to make a decision? Which is the better deal? How do you know? ...
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6.RP.1, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7th, HS, rate, ratio

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 ...
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5th, 6.EE, 6.G.1, 6.G.4, 6.G.A, 6th, 7.EE, 7.G, 7.G.6, 7.NS, 7.RP, 7th, 8.G.7, 8th, Christmas, geometry, Holidays, HS, HSG-SRT.C.8, HSG.MG.A.3, MP1, MP3, MP4, MP5, nets, Pythagorean Theorem

Star Wars … the story continues

The Rise of Skywalker will open on December 20, 2019. How much did it cost to make? How much will it gross? Is the Star Wars phenomena a guarantee for success? ...
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4.NBT.5, 4.NBT.6, 4.OA.2, 4.OA.3, 4th, 5.NBT.5, 5.NBT.6, 5th, 6.NS.2, 6th, 7.NS.3, 7th, 8th, conflict, dollars spent to dollars earned, HS, inflation, MP3, net profit, unit pricing

The Forever Roll

Why would anyone need such a big roll of toilet paper? How does it compare to Charmin's other toilet paper products? If this roll lasts for one month, how big ...
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5.OA, 5th, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8.F, 8th, advertising tricks, correlation, HS, HSM, HSS.IC, rates, ratio

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 ...
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4.MD.1, 4.MD.2, 4th, 5.NBT.7, 5th, 6.NS.3, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7.NS.3, 7.RP.A, 7th, cooking, Data and Probability, pounds per person, ratios, Recipe, Thanksgiving, Turkey, unit ratio

How many Smashburgers?

There must be a million ways to craft one of these burgers. How many ways do you think that there are? ...
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7.SP.A, 7.SP.C, 7th, 8th, combinations, HS, HSS.CP.A, number of ways, permutations

Eliud Kipchoge runs marathon in 1:59:40.2

How have record marathon runs changed through the years? Will those record times keep being broken? Does the data help you predict? ...
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7.RP, 7th, 8.F, 8.SP, 8th, HS, HSM, MP1, MP4

Operation Gratitude – Halloween candy buy back

This is a great idea! Motivate kids to get rid of all of that candy for a good cause. Operation Gratitude and dentists are encouraging healthy eating, motivated giving, and ...
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5.MD.1, 5.NBT.4, 5.NBT.5, 5.NBT.6, 5.NBT.7, 5th, 6.RP.1, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6th, 7th, Data and Probability, decimal, division, Halloween, measurement, multipication, ratio

How long will it take you to trick-or-treat?

It's Halloween and this is your neighborhood. How long will it take you to trick or treat at every house in your neighborhood? Possible conversation with students: How long will ...
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3.NBT, 3.NBT.2, 3rd, 4.MD.2, 4.MD.3, 4.NBT.4, 4.NBT.5, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8.G.8, 8th, estimation, Halloween, MP.1, MP.2, MP.3, MP.7, problem solving

How Much Halloween Candy Will You Collect?

Students consider how to determine the best candy haul prediction. The math ideas of measurement error and percent error are introduced. Students then predict their own Halloween candy collections numbers ...
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7.RP.3, 7th, MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, MP6, percent

Make a costume from a sheet

I'm going to make a costume pattern to sell. People can buy my plan and make awesome, long, full, scary, ghost costumes. This scheme will be so simple. Perhaps I'll ...
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5th, 6.G.A.4, 6th, 7.G.A, 7.G.B, 7th, circles, Halloween, measurement, radius

How much should the 40-oz size cost?

We found this chalkboard menu at a coffee shop recently. The shop had prices for the 12-oz (small), 16-oz (medium) and 20-ounce (large) cappuccinos. And they will also make you ...
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7RP, 7th, 8.EE.B, 8.F.B, 8th, HS, HSF, linear graphing, linear relationships

Largest coffee, new world record

The world record for the largest cup of coffee was recently set (see picture above). In this activity students explore scale, similar figures, volume and measurement as they estimate the ...
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7th, 8.G.9, 8th, circle, cylinder, G.GMD.3, G.MG.1, HS, HSG-MG.A.1, measurement, metric, proportion, scale, simliar figures, Volume

15 NFL Math activities!

Do teams that spend a lot win a lot? - Students compare team wins with team salaries in the four major North American sports ... the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL ...
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5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, HS

When will he use up his chocolate milk account?

Brian's son buys chocolate milk every few days to go with his lunch. His school creates an invoice that they send to parents every month that show the status of ...
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6th, 7.EE.B, 7.RP.A, 7th, 8.EE, 8th, HS, HSA-CED, linear equations, rate, slope

Drill bit fractions

Act One: Drill bits are measured by the diameter of the bit in inches. The drill bits below are ordered left to right in increasing size. The numerators in the ...
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$Drill bit fractions$

3-act task, 3.NF.3, 3rd, 4.NF.1, 4.NF.2., 4th, 5.NF, 5th, 6th, 7.RP, 7th, equivalent fractions

Does it pay to get educated?

Updated! Why should students do well in school, graduate high school, or go on to college? In this activity median earnings by various education levels are explored. Students compare the ...
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5.NBT.5, 5th, 6.NS.3, 6.RP.3, 6.SP.3, 6.SP.4, 6.SP.5, 6th, 7.SP.4, 7th, 8th, bar graph, comparisons, data analysis, , MP1, MP3, Number Sense, Ratio and Proportion 4.OA.2

So just print some more money!

What's the big deal with our deficit? Do we actually borrow money to cover our debt? If we do, imagine the interest charges? Help your students (and their families) understand ...
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6.NS, 6.RP, 6th, 7.EE, 7th, 8.F, 8th, debt, deficit, expenses, HS, HSF-IF, MP4, MP5, MP8, percent, revenue, stacked bar graph

Who’s going back to school?

Updated! Students look at the past and present populations of the U.S. and the past and present population of school attendees to calculate the percentage of the population that are ...
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6.EE, 6.RP, 6.SP, 6th, 7.EE, 7.RP, 7.SP, 7th, 8th, data analysis, percent, percent increase, ratio

Stacking Jack

Act One: Check out the video slide show. What questions do you have? The Activity: Stacking Jack Suggested Question: How many different ways can I stack Jack? That is, how many ...
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3-act task, 7.SP.8, 7th, 8th, arrangement, combination, HS, HSS-CP.B.9, permutation

What’s the answer?

Math doesn't usually create a buzz on Twitter. This past week this post did just that. People argued online about whether the answer was 16 or 1 and proceeded to ...
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1 6.EE., 5.OA, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, BOMDAS, HS, HSA.SSE.A.1, order of operations, PEMDAS

Are original movies better than their sequels?

We've gathered some data on movie ratings and their sequels and asked students to analyze the data, decide on some analysis and debate (with their mathematical data) which are better ...
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6.SP.1, 6.SP.2, 6.SP.3, 6.SP.4, 6.SP.5, 6.SP.A, 6th, 7. SP.3, 7.SP.1, 7.SP.4, 7.SP.A, 7.SP.B, 7th, 8th, box whisker plot, conflict, histogram, HS, HSS-ID, HSS.CP.A, HSS.IC, HSS.IC.A.1, HSS.ID.A.1, HSS.ID.A.2, HSS.ID.A.3, HSS.ID.A.4, HSS.MD, line graph, population, random sample