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 calendars. Enjoy!
Before the holidays (16 activities)
Tag: 5.G
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 zero people raking might take to complete the job.
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 lot more with $1.22 than you can buy today?
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 Earth.
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 to create scatter plots comparing wins and salaries for each sport
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 prank.
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? Games with dice; puzzles; probabilities; and more.
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, rent and rent with properties), students create scatter plots. They…
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? Look at historical averages and check out how you did.
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?
How long would it take to build this underground house and pool?
The building of this underground house and pool was presented by Cayote Person and his partner, Mark Lavins, on their youtube channel, “Brave Wilderness.” At BraveWilderness.com the business partners post animal and adventure films to promote education and conservation. Here…
What’s your favorite sport?
What is your favorite sport? Wait, do I mean your favorite sport to play or your favorite sport to watch? Does it matter? Are your favorite to-watch sport and your favorite to-play sport the same sport or different? How does…
Movie tickets over time
How Much Will Movie Tickets Cost in the Future? – Updated! In this investigation, Brian looks at the changes in movie ticket prices over the last 38 years. Using his scatter plot (or his data) students analyze rates of change, make predictions…
Cheesy Goldfish crackers
In this activity students do a little comparison shopping as they determine which size Goldfish product is the best deal. Students are introduced to the ratio table as a tool for determining equivalent ratios and comparing different rates. Students graph cost per ounce relationships and answer a…
The growth of Godzilla
Image from Kris Holt: http://www.policymic.com/articles/76357/the-scary-way-godzilla-has-evolved-through-the-years-in-one-chart The new Godzilla movie is out at theaters. His first appearance was in 1954 when he was created in Japan and crushed Tokyo. He appears to have grown. Do the film-makers have him growing appropriately? Lets…