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 slope?
Steepness and fall hiking
Tag: MP1
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 a way that insures that the minority party will win the next election.
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 from what we could find?
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 equipment? Could your swimsuit, swim cap and goggles be holding…
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 an Olympic sport? What events will you be able to…
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 the ramifications of this sort of voting? Do you think that this will be a fairer and more positive way of electing a Mayor? Students experiment with the technique of tallying the votes using our flow chart and make some observations and decisions about the process.
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 money. Is there a way to imagine it in proportion to something else?
What is Juneteenth?
Language just updated! 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. In this activity students read about the…
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?
Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest will return this year
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 of this historical data?
How have the records changed?
Why do you think that is?
How many hot dogs can a human possibly eat in 10 minutes?
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 approximation.
Too often students think that there is only one answer that is right and that the method for approaching that solution is also limited to the “correct” approach. Surely this fear of experimenting and guessing leads to math anxieties and the fear to reason and experiment.
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? How many 1/8th teaspoons = 2 teaspoons? General rule?
The Iditarod race will be different this year
We have two Iditarod activities for you and your classes to choose from. Appreciate the “Greatest Race on Earth”!
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 to a food kitchen. If you are going to use them for gasoline or groceries, which way gets you the best deal?
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 rate? The activity: Celtics&76ers.pdf