Young geometers and biologists investigate the math of nature in an activity that is just the bee's knees. Participants will study the tessellations of hexagons in a beehive, along with the natural rationale behind the specific shape....

Eleventh graders research quality of life indicators for a list of countries looking at such things as infant mortality rate, and gross domestic product. They rank the countries from best to worst regarding quality of life issues.

The scientific issue of carbon-14 dating and exponential decay gets a statistics-based treatment in this problem. The class starts with a basic investigation of carbon content, but then branches out to questions of accuracy and...

Your car decreases in value from $20,000 to $17,000. What percent of the value have you lost? Pupils answer word problems by determining the percent of change. 

Show your classes how different means can represent the same data. Individuals collect household size data and calculate the mean. Pupils learn how handling of the data influences the value of the mean. 

Many organizations put on barbecues in order to make money. In a real-world math problem, the money allotted to purchase steak and chicken at this barbecue is only one hundred dollars. It is up to your potential chefs to figure out how...

Here is a resource that demonstrates growth and the initial state of an equation. In this case, your class will be looking at baseball collections. How many baseball cards did the collector start out with, and how many were added or...

This model of the amount of anibiotics in a person's system is represented abstractly by a finite geometric series. Learners translate this real-life situation into algebraic form and then extend their knowlege by answering questions...

Focusing on this algebra lesson, learners relate quadratic equations in factored form to their solutions and their graph from a number of different aspects. In some problems, one starts with the original equation and finds the...

Sometimes people who seem to lead what would be considered an ordinary life do extraordinary things. Such was the case with Oseola McCarty, who donated a large sum of money for a university scholarship fund in her name. Oseala lived her...

Division can be seen in two ways; as splitting a whole into a certain number of pieces, or splitting it into pieces of a certain size. Help your class reach this understanding with these two simple word problems. Encourage the use of...

Your young physicists analyze the forms of four equivalent exponential expressions representing an amount of a radioactive material in a substance. They show how each expression is equivalent to the others and what aspects of the decay...

Your Algebra learners analyze and solve an exponential equation in this popular, real-life model of the cooling of a liquid.  

Young geometers become pool sharks in this analysis of the angles and lengths of a trick shot. By using angles of incidence and reflection to develop similar triangles, learners plan the exact placement of balls to make the shot....

A simple question, with a not-so-simple answer. Working with whole and mixed number measurements in inches, feet, and yards presents a problem with many possible solutions. A great activity that challenges the minds of young...

Though the website does not seem to have the mentioned video, a reding and lottery style games simulate the chances of finding intelligent life somewhere other than Earth. Without the video, this lesson is short, but it can be a useful...

A second attack at figuring out the number of leaves on a tree, this activity makes both an excellent follow-up to version 1 and a stand-alone activity. Learners practice setting parameters and deciding acceptable estimate precision, and...

How much is your toaster costing you every day? Young environmentalists calculate the monetary costs of household appliances based on their average consumption of wattage.

On your mark, get set, GO! The class sprints toward the conclusions in a race analysis activity. The staggered start of the 400-m foot race is taken apart in detail, and then learners step back and develop some overall race strategy...

Show learners the power of mathematics as they model real-life designs. Pupils graph a periodic function by comparing the degree of rotation to the height of a ferris wheel. 

Your class will be very interested in the results of this activity. How long does it take a MP3 and video game player to charge?  Sam only has an hour and the MP3 player only has 40% of its battery life left. Plus, his video player...

Swimming is more fun with quantities. The short assessment task encompasses finding the volume of a trapezoidal prism using an understanding of quantities. Individuals make a connection to the rate of which the pool is filled with a...

Students determine how much they would need to feed a family for a month. They plan meals and use Internet grocery stores to find the cost of individual food items. They brainstorm in small groups to come up with 1 weeks worth of menus.

One of the most common, everyday applications of math is dealing with money. This single problem calculating how much change Margie receives is more involved than it appears at first glance. An understanding of how fractions and decimals...