Sunday evening, December 2nd, is the first night of Hanukkah this year. I think it was much later in December last year. Why isn’t it always on the same date? Students look at the Hebrew calendar and appreciate the incredible…
Giancarlo Stanton and Wayne Rooney signed big contracts in 2016, paying each of them millions. Lets take a look at some of the world’s biggest sports contracts from the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB and European Football (what Americans call soccer). We often…
In this investigation students calculate the percentage of the U.S. population (current and historically) that are enrolled in K-12 schools. They are asked to draw conclusions from these variations. Finally, they use their calculations to predict the number of enrolled…
In December soccer teams with the strongest world rankings were chosen to play in the once-every-4-years World Cup. The World Cup competition has just begun and will continue through July 15th. The team rankings are calculated in a pretty complex…
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…
Green, green river – They’re doing it again. In Chicago, the local plumbers union “dye” the Chicago River emerald green. Students learn the meaning of PPM (parts per million) and attempt to figure out how much dye is used to sufficiently…
What’s your guess? How fast are the number of daylight hours changing each day? Will the changes be dramatic or subtle? Students make guesses; compute how long, on average, the change in daylight hours should be; play with a cool…
With the start of summer and wonderful outdoor activities, it might be good to examine the growth of Lyme disease occurrences in the United States. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published maps for all of the…
Do you recognize what these are? Are you noticing students with these gadgets? Is this a forever toy or just the newest thing? Can you tell by looking at trend charts of Google searches how this phenomena will proceed? Let’s…
Green, green river – They’re doing it again. In Chicago, the local plumbers union “dye” the Chicago River emerald green. Students learn what PPM (parts per million) means and attempt to figure out how much dye is used to sufficiently color…
front row: Laurie Hernandez, MyKayla Skinner, Simone Biles, Ragan Smith back row: Ashton Locklear, Aly Raisman, Alyssa Baumann, Gabby Douglas MyKayla Skinner, Ragan Smith and Ashton Locklear were named as alternates. Gymnasts have just successfully competed in San Jose, California…
With the start of summer and wonderful outdoor activities, it might be good to examine the growth of Lyme disease occurrences in the United States. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a wonderful map that you can…
Tornadoes have devastated the Great Plains of the U.S. in the last few days. Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Arkansas and Kansas have been brutally hit with these powerful events. Involve your students in a better understanding of the ranking and severity of…
The Cricket World Cup is being played now in Australia and New Zealand. This is a complex game that seems to be played with enthusiasm and humor. In this activity students learn about the game; watch a couple of videos…
World Cup ranking – Students explore the ranking formulated from each team’s previous 4 years of play in their geographical divisions. The formula is complex and weighted. Is it fair? 5.OA, 5.NBT, 5.NF.B, 6.NS.B, 6.EE, 6.SP, 7.EE, 8.F, 8.SP, HSA World…
