Check out the handout from a presentation that contains a collection of high school algebra projects connecting a variety of mathematics to the real world. Activities range from simple probabilities to calculus. The activities...

Getting a meal, side dish, drink, and dessert can be delicious—but it can be expensive too! Practice addition and subtraction with money in a lesson that focuses on a sample menu, complete with task cards and word problems.

Bring on the lights! Using an interactive, characters try to figure out how to light a skate park by examining area and ratios to determine the number of solar panels needed to power them. Pupils design a house with a roof to hold solar...

Working in groups, the class will use what they know about whole number operations to solve a real-world problem involving a number line. They will focus on using the number line to correctly label the placement of whole numbers,...

A baseball trajectory and a parabola seem to make the best pair in real-world quadratic applications. Here is a current baseball resource with questions, discussions, and explorations regarding a quadratic function and home run...

Here is a fabulous lesson on problem solving in the mathematical world. In it, third and fourth graders get lots of great coaching on how to approach word problems, and how to best find a solution. They watch an episode of Reading...

Take young mathematicians on an exploration of the world of 3-D geometry with this seven-lesson unit. After first defining the terms perimeter, area, and volume and how they apply to the real world, students continue on...

Explore how real-world applications can be parabolic in nature and how to find quadratic functions that best fit data. A number of different examples of modeling parabolas are explored including a student scavenger hunt, the exploration...

Your young microbiologists will interpret and solve exponential equations in this real-world context task set in a hospital research scenario. Learners think in terms of the functions as well as their rates of change. 

Your algebra learners will enjoy the real-life application of the three tasks presented here. They complete a table and a graph comparing the two options presented. One option is linear, while the other is exponential. After coming up...

How can you measure the height of a tree or telephone pole with only a short measuring tape?  It's not a problem when you start by measuring your shadow and your height to create a ratio to use with taller objects. Additional...

The use of box scores from baseball games is the foundation of this math lesson. Organize your class into groups of four, and give identical box scores from a baseball game that was just played. Have them create word problems from the...

See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...

Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...

Touchdown! This is an exponentially insightful lesson that explores the growth of football games with different video game consoles. Class members discuss whether the increase of mergahertz can be described as linear or exponential....

Starting with similar triangles and dilation factors, this unit quickly and thoroughly progresses into the world of right triangle features and trigonometric relationships. Presented in easy-to-attack modules with copious application...

Your learners will be tantalized by this inquiry-based, collaborative activity as they discover how to write an equation that represents the height of an ice cream cone. Given the scenario based on the poem, "Eighteen Flavors," and...

Groups sort through NASA data provided in a graphic to create a graph using uniform units and intervals. Individuals then make connections to the increasing, decreasing, and constant intervals of the graph and relate these...

Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre.  Based on what...

A graph not only tells us who won the bike race, but also what happened during the race. Use this resource to help learners understand graphs. The commentary suggests waiting until the end of the year to introduce this topic, but why...

How much sugar is in one bottle? Pupils use double number line diagrams to determine the amount of sugar in a 1L bottle of cola. The teacher leads a discussion on ways that double number lines can be of assistance in solving a...

Pupils continue the study of ratios by creating ratios from a context. The contexts present more than two quantities, and scholars create contexts that match given ratios. 

Equivalent ratios show up on tape. Young mathematicians use tape diagrams to create equivalent ratios in the initial lesson on the topic. They learn the definition of equivalent ratios and use it to build others in the third segment of a...

Ratios may not be created equal, but they are equivalent. Pupils learn the theorem relating equivalent ratios and equal values in the eighth segment in a series of 29. Classmates use the theorem to determine whether ratios within...