Conflict and Quadrilaterals Rather than merely asking "what patterns are there in these quadrilaterals" we'll set up an exploration of conflict and quadrilaterals.
What if you lived in Vegas but worked in San Francisco? Is it possible to save money by commuting to San Francisco from Las Vegas?
Fixing my “Think Like A Statistician” Frame I used a Depth and Complexity Frame like this with my math students. Let’s look at how we could improve this. Some problems: It asks four unrelated questions. I want to build a sequence of questions that climbs Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most of the questions are naturally answered with “yes” or “no” or a list. Questions […]
Exploring Circumference With Famous Circles Remembering the formulae for area and circumference of a circle is often a challenge for students due to their surface similarities as well as the additional confusion of radius and diameter. I like to tackle them one at a time and give students a chance to explore the origin of each formula. Let's look at circumference today by utilizing some famous circles from around the world... and beyond!
Math Game: Heaps Heaps is a lovely math-y strategy game that requires no more than paper and pencil to play.
Math Project: Furnish A Hotel Starting with an IKEA catalog, a hotel furnishing math project was born. Use this project as a tool to differentiate your math instruction and impart some practical knowledge on your students.
Fizz Buzz – A Divisibility Game Here's a quick to learn but difficult to master math game. Start with some basic divisibility rules, but then feel free to extend it to any math topic.
Math Project: Box Office Totals As a teenager, I loved monitoring the weekend's box office results. This kind of data is exciting, oozing with built in conflict. It sets up questions that require math to answer.
A Math Question That Moves Around on Bloom’s I was aiming for engagement rather than higher-level thinking.
Explore Geometry: Area and Perimeter The problem is that we dive in with formulae before students have their bearings. Let your students get their hands dirty with geometry. They've got to play with the shapes and explore. Beginning adders and subtractors work with manipulatives before they delve into abstract arithmetic. Older students are still beginning geometers. Give them a chance to touch the math and have some fun.
