A checklist used by teachers to assess high school students’ ability to cope with complex problems and open-ended tasks.
In this optics/mathematics activity, learners use two hinged mirrors to create a kaleidoscope that shows multiple images of an object. Learners discover that the number of images reflected in the mirrors depends on the angle between the mirrors. Learners also observe that when they set the hinged mirrors on top of a third mirror, they create a reflector that always sends light back in the direction from which it came. Use this activity to introduce basic principles of light and optics including angle of reflection and angle of incidence.
You can find statistics in every day life - this example explains how to calculate the chance of a member of a committee is receiving a bribe. This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications.
This task is for students to get to thinking about college and the costs that come with going to college.
This task presents a real world application of finite geometric series. The context can lead into several interesting follow-up questions and projects. Many drugs only become effective after the amount in the body builds up to a certain level. This can be modeled very well with geometric series.
Students learn about the role engineers and mathematicians play in developing the perfect bungee cord length by simulating and experimenting with bungee jumping using washers and rubber bands. Working as if they are engineers for a (hypothetical) amusement park, students are challenged to develop a show-stopping bungee jumping ride that is safe. To do this, they must find the maximum length of the bungee cord that permits jumpers (such as brave Washy!) to get as close to the ground as possible without going "splat"! This requires them to learn about force and displacement and run an experiment. Student teams collect and plot displacement data and calculate the slope, linear equation of the line of best fit and spring constant using Hooke's law. Students make hypotheses, interpret scatter plots looking for correlations, and consider possible sources of error. An activity worksheet, pre/post quizzes and a PowerPoint® presentation are included.
The project objective is to have students make a realistic 3-D model that is to scale. Student Mission: Your objective is to create a 3-D model of a building of your choice or imagination. The building must be to scale relative to an average-sized person. You make recreate a dwelling, barn or famous building OR create your dream home. Your building must be to scale and should be finished (windows, roof, shutters, steps, furniture, etc.). The outside of your building should include some surrounding features (e.g. bushes, trees, sidewalks, street, shed, etc.). Your final project should incorporate the elements listed on the rubric and be as detailed as possible. Be creative!
Reading and creating comic strips and comic books are engaging ways to promote literacy at any grade level and across content areas. The students in this video are members of a high school comic book club and have access to drawing tablets and Adobe Photoshop, so they can achieve sophisticated results. Even without such software, however, teachers can still integrate digital comics into a wide range of teaching situations.
There are a number of comic books, especially contemporary ones, that are not “school appropriate,” so you might want to guide students’ web research on comic books.
Student teams design and then create small-size models of working filter systems to simulate multi-stage wastewater treatment plants. Drawing from assorted provided materials (gravel, pebbles, sand, activated charcoal, algae, coffee filters, cloth) and staying within a (hypothetical) budget, teams create filter systems within 2-liter plastic bottles to clean the teacher-made simulated wastewater (soap, oil, sand, fertilizer, coffee grounds, beads). They aim to remove the water contaminants while reclaiming the waste material as valuable resources. They design and build the filtering systems, redesigning for improvement, and then measuring and comparing results (across teams): reclaimed quantities, water quality tests, costs, experiences and best practices. They conduct common water quality tests (such as turbidity, pH, etc., as determined by the teacher) to check the water quality before and after treatment.
This activity asks students to work in a team to develop a set of rules that can be used to program a SPAM filter for a client. The rules are based on characteristics of the subject lines of emails. Students are given samples of SPAM and non-SPAM subject lines to examine. After their rules are ready, they are given a test set of data to use and are asked to come up with a numerical measure to quantify how well their method (model) works. Each team writes a report describing how their model works and how well it performed on the test data. This activity could serve as an introduction to ideas of classification. Alternatively, the activity could be the basis for student introduction to types of statistical errors.
In this example, students are asked to obtain a credit card disclosure statement, identify the various interest rates and payment rules, and keep track of a revolving monthly balance under several payment scenarios. While modeling several months to a year of credit card statements is easily accomplished with pencil, paper, and a basic calculator, this example is also well-suited for analysis with a spreadsheet.
A checklist used by teachers to observe and record students’ critical-thinking skills while they work on activities and projects.
A checklist used by teachers to observe and record students’ ability to critically evaluate the credibility of information.
A rubric in student language used by high school students to assess their evaluation of the quality of information.
Building textual evidence through close reading of texts is a core proficiency addressed by the Common Core State Standards. This template is intended to support two or more educators in working collaboratively to create a cross-curricular lesson that supports students in honing their close reading skills, making inferences from texts, and constructing logical, evidence-based arguments. The toolkit was written for collaborative teams of ELA, Math and Social Studies or Science teachers, but can be used by other subject area configurations as well. The toolkit was developed by ISKME in collaboration with educators from 8 different states, who possessed varied subject area expertise.
This a a cross curricular unit encompassing English, History, and Math Common Core Standards to teach the Child Labor practices of 1800s U.S. with the tragedy of Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 which lead to child labor reform throughout the world and into the modern era.
This word problem requires students to create expressions to calculate gas milage for a vehicle.
With your mouse, drag data points and their error bars, and watch the best-fit polynomial curve update instantly. You choose the type of fit: linear, quadratic, cubic, or quartic. The reduced chi-square statistic shows you when the fit is good. Or you can try to find the best fit by manually adjusting fit parameters.
With your mouse, drag data points and their error bars, and watch the best-fit polynomial curve update instantly. You choose the type of fit: linear, quadratic, cubic, or quartic. The reduced chi-square statistic shows you when the fit is good. Or you can try to find the best fit by manually adjusting fit parameters.
The purpose of this task is to introduce or reinforce the concept of a function, especially in a context where the function is not given by an explicit algebraic representation. Further, the last part of the task emphasizes the significance of one variable being a function of another variable in an immediately relevant real-life context.