Students get a chance to examine the monetary and environmental cost of this bead exuberance with our unit pricing and recycling activity.
Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday
Tag: proportion
Not enough mashed potatoes
Using his famous mashed potato recipe, Brian has asked students to change decimals to fractions, to calculate ingredient measures for various-sized Thanksgiving gatherings, to explain their thinking in calculating these figures and to judge how many servings could be created…
Giant pumpkins
Let your students marvel at World Record winning giant pumpkins as they use proportions to calculate the quantities of pumpkin puree and the number of pumpkin pies that could be made from one of these giants. To introduce the task…
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 amount of coffee that this record-sized mug holds. Students also…
NHL Playoff games can sure last a long time!
Revised! We’re watching another Stanley Cup playoff now. Will there be any really long games during the playoffs? In 2013, a Stanley Cup playoff match between the Bruins and Blackhawks went into 3 overtimes. People stayed up way too late…
Big bucks
Mike Trout just signed a huge contract. He’ll be receiving $430 million dollars playing for 12 years with the Los Angeles Angels. Let’s take a look at some of the other big world sports’ contracts from the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB…
President’s Pay for Presidents’ Day
The President’s have only received a pay increase 5 times in the United States. Picture it with a step graph. Calculate the actual salary using the CPI (Consumer Price Index). Do the Presidents need a raise?
Hands of “Support”
Lorenzo Quinn, an Italian sculptor, created and temporarily installed this piece of art entitled “Support” in Venice. Quinn used his own children’s hands to design this piece. His intention was to demonstrate our need of human support to ensure the…
How much does the biggest Lego set ever cost?
Note: This is a remake of our 2014 “How Much Does a Lego Cost” activity How much could the Lego Millennium Falcon cost? Student first make a guess and then think about what information would be useful in order to…
How many times bigger?
Listen to students initial thoughts as they wrestle through what “bigger” means … length? height? wheel-base? volume?
April’s calf was born!
At about 10:00 am, April 15th, April’s calf was born. Everyone will be talking about it and smiling constantly. Here’s some fun math stuff to bring with you for Holiday gatherings. The activity: April’s-calf.pdf
New baby giraffe
Willow weighed 125 pounds at birth and was 6 feet 1 inch tall. She will grow to her adult height of around 14 feet tall in only four years! How big would you be if you grew at her rate…
Home team advantage?
Even before your students check out the graphic below, ask them 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 the graphic.
Glowing rectangles
People spend lots of time staring at their screens (glowing rectangles). Kids spend hours each day using their cell phones, computers, tablets, television and more. Use that interest to motivate your student’s analysis of screen ratios and what proportions they…
How much can my DVR record?
How many hours of HD video can my DVR strore? How about SD video? I love my DVR. I can record my shows and movies and watch them whenever I want. I know that when I record HD programs my…