Young mathematicians spin their way to a deeper number sense with this fun, collaborative activity. Using two spinners, one with the numbers 0-9 and the other with the decades 00-90, pairs of students take turns building and comparing...

Understanding the concept of equality is fundamental to the success of young mathematicians. To explore this basic idea, children compare the dots arranged in pairs of rectangles in order to determine whether or not they contain an equal...

Scholars register an account with the website then complete an interest survey. Using the results, pupils choose three of the recommended professions to compare and contrast.

Two scenarios are presented for chemistry detectives to decipher. Both require the use of an infrared spectrometer and focus on the examination of polymer materials. In the first, lumps in polyethylene bottles are analyzed. In the...

Demonstrate lift to the class that is studying aerodynamics. In the stream of air produced by a blow dryer, little physicists place a wad of tissue paper and a spherical figure to compare. Or, if you have a vacuum cleaner and beach ball,...

Get hands-on in your physical science class by having learners conduct electricity with their own hands! By placing one hand on each of two different metals, a current can be generated and measured on a microammeter. Make an experiement...

To appreciate the value of seeing and hearing a poetry performance, groups prepare readings of selected poems and then compare and critique their interpretations and videotaped versions of the same poem. Included in the resource are...

Comparing the movement of graphs geometrically when small changes are made to the parent function motivates this collaborative discussion on the transformations of functions to their various forms. Vertical and horizontal shifts due to...

What a fantastic project idea for discussing not only the history of America's expansion into the West, but for reviewing any major unit of history in your class. Pupils build stamp collections to visually represent themes of the...

What's the difference between hibernation and a good nap? Find out with an engaging life science activity that compares the hibernation habits of grizzly bears and marmots. After learners read an informational passage about each mammal,...

Tired of waiting for hot water? Groups of three determine the efficiency of an electric water-heating device. They calculate the amount of energy it takes to heat the water and the theoretical amount of energy required to heat the water....

Making money is important to teenagers. It is up to your apprentices to determine how much two wage earners make with their after school jobs. Participants work with a table, an equation, and a graph and compare the two workers to see...

Your algebra learners will discover how quickly an exponential function value grows compared to a linear function's value. Making a table of values helps in this comparison, set in the context of making a wage for raking leaves.

What are the trade-offs when looking to get the most benefit from an energy source? Small groups compare the cost-to-emission levels of several energy sources by looking at the information graphically. The groups utilize this...

Deepen the number sense of young mathematicians with this unique ordering exercise. Given a list of the numbers 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100, young learners must determine where the numbers from a second list fit in the sequence. To increase...

How can the circulatory system compare to a city map? Pupils distinguish the "roadways" and "vehicles" of the cardiovascular system, compare the anatomy and function of veins and arteries, and review different types of blood cells with...

Explore the effect of outliers through an analysis of mean, median, and standard deviation. Your classes examine and compare these measures for two groups. They must make sense of a group that has a higher mean but lower median compared...

Careful, that light bulb is hot! Compare heat and light energy using a simple light bulb. The exercise addresses energy conservation and presents actual calculations to determine the most cost-effective light bulb.

Youngsters compare the heat-holding abilities of three different cans by insulating two with different materials and measuring the temperature change of hot water over a 20-minute period. 

Modeling population growth gives learners an opportunity to experiment with real data. Comparing the growth rates in this real-life task strengthens learners' understanding that exponential functions change by equal factors over equal...

Your young bankers compare earning interest accumulated yearly and monthly to decide which method most increases their balance. Using an exponential function to model the bank balance affords the learners more practice connecting...

Your algebra learners explore the values of two types of functions in order to compare growth rates in this short cooperative task. Two types of solutions are given, using a table of values and an abstract argument.

Imagine a project that informs and entertains. Replace book reports with a bulletin board that highlights all the important elements of a novel. Readers research the author, create a timeline of events in the story, write a...