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Differentiation TechniqueGet Ridiculous

Read The Overview: Get Ridiculous!

One technique for finding complexity in a topic is to look for the edge cases, the outliers, the really big or small versions.

Specific Examples of “Get Ridiculous”

Could we fit 1,000 kids on the playground? 10,000?

Could we fit 1,000 kids on the playground? 10,000?

If your students can find the area of a square then, armed with Google Earth, they can also figure out how many students you could pack into your school's playground.

Just How Much Pasta Could I Cook…

Just How Much Pasta Could I Cook…

So, just how much pasta could I cook in an Olympic-sized pool?

Academic Love Letters

Academic Love Letters

We're going to take the Academic Valentine idea from earlier, and extend it into a full blown love letter – just in time for Valentine's Day!

Studying Ambiguous Sentences

Studying Ambiguous Sentences

This type of sentence has great possibilities for classroom application because of its two different interpretations. It's a perfect tool to: demonstrate careful reading, showcase the need for editing while writing, and encourage creativity and divergent thinking.

Writing in Pi-lish

Writing in Pi-lish

Here's the perfect constraint for March! Writing with the digits of Pi.

Fill ‘er up with Clam Chowder!

Fill ‘er up with Clam Chowder!

Sure gasoline seems expensive. Until you try to fill your car up with other liquids!

Making Awful Graphs

Making Awful Graphs

Sometimes we can learn a lot by doing something the wrong way. Here are six ways your students can purposefully design awful, misleading graphs.

Thinking Like Equivalent Fractions

Thinking Like Equivalent Fractions

Go across disciplines by asking students to write a story about fraction equivalence.

Calculating the Volume of Laptops

Calculating the Volume of Laptops

So once your students can calculate volume… what do you have them do next? In this math project, kids will look up historic laptops, calculate their volumes, and note how technology has changed over time.

Math Project: Disneyland Parking Structure

Math Project: Disneyland Parking Structure

Let's develop a math project to challenge students who have demonstrated a mastery of multiplication and are ready to explore its applications. We'll count the parking spaces in the Disneyland parking structure!