If you have a set of cubes for your classroom, this would make a great group hands-on project. Its an old puzzle but the activity deserves a revisit. Below are two straight-on images of my stack of blocks. Can you…
Point of view
Tag: 4th
World Cup – How many ways?
present world cup scores How many games are played in each round of the World Cup? In the opening round each of the four teams in a group must play each other (round robin format). From then on each round…
Fibonacci coloring
Let your students simply enjoy coloring our designs or artistically play with the whole creation of Φ designs. Simply coloring our Fibonacci patterns might allow students to ponder the Fibonacci sequence (while they learn more about its beauty) and just…
How much pee is in that pool?
After chlorination, it has been hard to measure the quantity of pollutants in pool water. 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…
More eruptions on Hawai’i’s Kilauea
The Volcano Kilauea is continuing to spew molten lava and ash on the island of Hawai’i. This volcano is on the tip of the southern most Hawaiian Island. Is that significant? In this activity students note the descending ages of…
Mother’s Day is coming up
Mother’s Day by the numbers – Mother’s Day is right around the corner and this means big business for the greeting card and floral industries. Let your students practice averages, percents, and large numbers while they analyze the statistics on Mother’s…
Longest NHL overtime games in history
Game one of the 2013 Stanley Cup between the Bruins and Blackhawks went into 3 overtimes. People stayed up way too late to watch the conclusion. The teams played 112 minutes and eight seconds of game time. The game went…
Earth Day, 2018 – 12 activities
Sunday, April 22nd is Earth Day – There is so much to bring to your classroom to support recycling, conserving resources, studying climate change and protecting our planet. Have you seen more Monarch butterflies lately? – Students read charts, do a little research, and make observations…
Pizza party figuring
In this activity students decide how to divide 2 pizzas amongst 6 adults and 3 pizzas amongst 8 kids. Fractional pizza parts need to be drawn and considerations discussed about which fractions are greater. Students interpret a fraction as division…
Passover, Easter, and April Fools day – 10 Activities
April Fools Day ideas – We have two strange mathematical riddles to decipher; a “why does this work?” task using the Ghost Whisperer; and Robert Kaplinsky’s Foil Prank. Take your choice! MP.1, MP3,4.OA, 5.G, 8.EE, 8.SP Peeps – Students estimate the number of Peeps sold…
Movies and the upcoming Oscars
We have 11 activities for your Oscar week. Highest Grossing Movies – Let your students develop their own ideas about compounded percent change while they have the opportunity to speak about the upcoming Academy Awards show. Worldwide box office income is compared…
The Star Wars phenomena continues
The Last Jedi (most recent Star Wars film) will open this weekend. How much did it cost to make? How much will it gross? Is the Star Wars phenomena a guarantee for success? How would you compare these movies? We’ve…
How should I cook my turkey?
Should I oven bake it, deep fry it or barbecue and smoke it? When do I have to wake up to begin preparations? How long will the cooking take? How much will it cost? How many can I feed? Will there…
Macy’s 2017 parade
As we get ready for next week’s holiday, students can study a map of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, describe, measure and hypothesize why this route was chosen and then calculate how long each band will be marching and…
Canstruction
Act One: Take a look at the pic. What questions come to mind? Just before Thanksgiving there is an annual demonstration at the Winter Palace in the World Financial Center of New York City. Canstruction is a celebration of…