This task is primarily about volume and surface area, although it also gives students an early look at converting between measurements in scale models and the real objects they correspond to.

The purpose of this task is to present students with a context that can naturally be represented with an inequality and to explore the relationship between the context and the mathematical representation of that context; thus, this is an intended as an instructional task.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This problem is the fifth in a series of seven about ratios. In the first problem students define the simple ratios that exist among the three candidates. It opens an opportunity to introduce unit rates. The subsequent problems are more complex. In the second problem, students apply their understanding of ratios to combine two pools of voters to determine a new ratio. In the third problem, students apply a known ratio to a new, larger pool of voters to determine the number of votes that would be garnered.

This task gives students an opportunity to work with volumes of cylinders, spheres and cones. Notice that the insight required increases as you move across the three glasses, from a simple application of the formula for the volume of a cylinder, to a situation requiring decomposition of the volume into two pieces, to one where a height must be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem.

This problem is part of a very rich tradition of problems looking to maximize the area enclosed by a shape with fixed perimeter. Only three shapes are considered here because the problem is difficult for more irregular shapes.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This problem uses the same numbers and asks essentially the same mathematical questions as "6.NS Bake Sale," but that task requires students to apply the concepts of factors and common factors in a context.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This problem uses the same numbers and asks similar mathematical questions as "6.NS The Florist Shop," but that task requires students to apply the concepts of multiples and common multiples in a context.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This is a mathematical modeling task aimed at making a reasonable estimate for something which is too large to count accurately, the number of leaves on a tree.

This task looks at zeroes and factorization of a general polynomial. It is related to a very deep theorem in mathematics, the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, which says that a polynomial of degree d always has exactly d roots, provided complex numbers are allowed as roots and provided roots are counted with the proper "multiplicity.''

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

This problem asks the students to represent a sequence of operations using an expression and then to write and solve simple equations. The problem is posed as a game and allows the students to visualize mathematical operations. It would make sense to actually play a similar game in pairs first and then ask the students to record the operations to figure out each other's numbers.

The purpose of this task is to help students understand what is meant by a base and its corresponding height in a triangle and to be able to correctly identify all three base-height pairs.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Materials A large set of dominoes to affix to a whiteboard or place in a pocket chart, or a regular set to use on a document projector. One set of domi...

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: In the July 2013 issue of United Airlines' Hemisphere Magazine the following article appeared: Write down an equation that describes Captain Bowers' me...

The purpose of this task is to have students work on a sequence of area problems that shows the advantage of increasingly abstract strategies in preparation for developing general area formulas for parallelograms and triangles.

This is the first version of a task asking students to find the areas of triangles that have the same base and height, and is the most concrete.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Mrs. Lu has asked students in her class to find isosceles triangles whose vertices lie on a coordinate grid. For each student example below, explain wh...

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: The following clip shows the famous opening scene of the movie Raiders of the Lost Arc. At the beginning of the clip, Indiana Jones is replacing the go...

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Eric and Julianne are shoveling snow. After an hour of hard work, Eric remarks ''I bet we have shoveled more than a ton of snow.'' Explain what measure...

This high level task is an example of applying geometric methods to solve design problems and satisfy physical constraints. This task is accessible to all students. In this task, a typographic grid system serves as the background for a standard paper clip.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Aakash, Bao Ying, Chris and Donna all live on the same street as their school, which runs from east to west. Aakash lives $5 \frac{1}{2}$ blocks to the...

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Write as many equations for each picture as you can. Use the numbers 4, 1, and 5. Here are some equations for this picture. 4+1=5 \hskip4em 5 = 4+1 5-1...

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important aspects of the task and its potential use.

The purpose of the task is for students to solve a multi-step multiplication problem in a context that involves area. In addition, the numbers were chosen to determine if students have a common misconception related to multiplication.

This task is an example of applying geometric methods to solve design problems and satisfy physical constraints. This task models a satellite orbiting the earth in communication with two control stations located miles apart on earthsŐ surface.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Xiaoli was estimating the difference between two positive numbers $x$ and $y$ (where $x\gt y$). First she rounded $x$ up by a small amount. Then she ro...

This is the second version of a task asking students to find the areas of triangles that have the same base and height. This presentation is more abstract as students are not using physical models.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Find the area of each colored figure. Each grid square is 1 inch long....

The purpose of this series of tasks is to build in a natural way from accessible, concrete problems involving volume to a more abstract understanding of volume. In this iteration, we do away with the lines that delineate individual unit cubes (which makes it more abstract) and generalize from cubes to rectangular prisms.

The purpose of this task is for students to apply the concepts of mass, volume, and density in a real-world context. There are several ways one might approach the problem, e.g., by estimating the volume of a person and dividing by the volume of a cell.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Conner and Aaron are working on their homework together to find the distance between two numbers, $a$ and $b$, on a number line. Conner count the units...

This task provides an opportunity to model a concrete situation with mathematics. Once a representative picture of the situation described in the problem is drawn (the teacher may provide guidance here as necessary), the solution of the task requires an understanding of the definition of the sine function. When the task is complete, new insight is shed on the ``Seven Circles I'' problem which initiated this investigation as is noted at the end of the solution.

The purpose of this series of tasks is to build in a natural way from accessible, concrete problems involving volume to a more abstract understanding of volume. Here, we are given the volume and are asked to find the height.

The purpose of this task is to provide students with a multi-step problem involving volume and to give them a chance to discuss the difference between exact calculations and their meaning in a context.

Math in Real Life (MiRL) supports the expansion of regional networks to create an environment of innovation in math teaching and learning.  The focus on applied mathematics supports the natural interconnectedness of math to other disciplines while infusing relevance for students.  MiRL supports a limited number of networked math learning communities that focus on developing and testing applied problems in mathematics.  The networks help math teachers refine innovative teaching strategies with the guidance of regional partners and the Oregon Department of Education.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: interpret a situation and represent the constraints and variables mathematically; select appropriate mathematical methods to use; make sensible estimates and assumptions; investigate an exponentially increasing sequence; and communicate their reasoning clearly.

This lesson unit is intended to help you assess how students reason about geometry and, in particular, how well they are able to: use facts about the angle sum and exterior angles of triangles to calculate missing angles; apply angle theorems to parallel lines cut by a transversal; interpret geometrical diagrams using mathematical properties to identify similarity of triangles.

The purpose of this series of tasks is to build in a natural way from accessible, concrete problems involving volume to a more abstract understanding of volume. This problem is based on ArchimedesŐ Principle that the volume of an immersed object is equivalent to the volume of the displaced water.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Maned wolves are a threatened species that live in South America. People estimate that there are about 24,000 of them living in the wild. The dhole is ...

The purpose of this series of tasks is to build in a natural way from accessible, concrete problems involving volume to a more abstract understanding of volume. The purpose of this first task is to see the relationship between the side-lengths of a cube and its volume.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Historians estimate that there were about 7 million people on the earth in 4,000 BCE. Now there are about 7 billion! We write 7 million as 7,000,000. W...

This lesson unit is intended to help you assess how well students are able to: interpret a situation and represent the variables mathematically; select appropriate mathematical methods; interpret and evaluate the data generated; and communicate their reasoning clearly.

The purpose of this task is to directly address a common misconception held by many students who are learning to solve equations. Because a frequent strategy for solving an equation with fractions is to multiply both sides by a common denominator (so all the coefficients are integers), students often forget why this is an "allowable" move in an equation and try to apply the same strategy when they see an expression.

This lesson unit is intended to help you assess how well students are able to: Interpret a situation and represent the variables mathematically; select appropriate mathematical methods to use; explore the effects on the area of a rectangle of systematically varying the dimensions whilst keeping the perimeter constant; interpret and evaluate the data generated and identify the optimum case; and communicate their reasoning clearly.

The purpose of this task is to ask students to write expressions and to consider what it means for two expressions to be equivalent.

This task applies geometric concepts, namely properties of tangents to circles and of right triangles, in a modeling situation. The key geometric point in this task is to recognize that the line of sight from the mountain top towards the horizon is tangent to the earth. We can then use a right triangle where one leg is tangent to a circle and the other leg is the radius of the circle to investigate this situation.

This is a task from the Illustrative Mathematics website that is one part of a complete illustration of the standard to which it is aligned. Each task has at least one solution and some commentary that addresses important asects of the task and its potential use. Here are the first few lines of the commentary for this task: Mrs. Moore’s third grade class wants to go on a field trip to the science museum. * The cost of the trip is \$245. * The class can earn money by runnin...

This is a rectangle subdivision task; ideally instead of counting each square. students should break the letters into rectangles, multiply to find the areas, and add up the areas. However, students should not be discouraged from using individual counting to start if they are stuck. Often students will get tired of counting and devise the shortcut method themselves.

This problem asks the student to evaluate three numerical expressions that contain the same integers yet have differing results due to placement of parentheses.

This is the first and most basic problem in a series of seven problems, all set in the context of a classroom election. Every problem requires students to understand what ratios are and apply them in a context. The problems build in complexity and can be used to highlight the multiple ways that one can reason about a context involving ratios.

This task is intended to help model a concrete situation with geometry. Placing the seven pennies in a circular pattern is a concrete and fun experiment which leads to a genuine mathematical question: does the physical model with pennies give insight into what happens with seven circles in the plane?

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: Select appropriate mathematical methods to use for an unstructured problem; interpret a problem situation, identifying constraints and variables, and specify assumptions; work with 2- and 3-dimensional shapes to solve a problem involving capacity and surface area; and communicate their reasoning clearly.

This word problem is based estimating the height of a person over time. Note that there is a significant amount of rounding in the final answer. This is because people almost never report their heights more precisely than the closest half-inch. If we assume that the heights reported in the task stem are rounded to the nearest half-inch, then we should report the heights given in the solution at the same level of precision.

This is the second in a series of tasks that are set in the context of a classroom election. It requires students to understand what ratios are and apply them in a context. The simple version of this question just asked how many votes each gets. This has the extra step of asking for the difference between the votes.

This lesson unit is intended to help you assess how well students are able to: Perform arithmetic operations, including those involving whole-number exponents, recognizing and applying the conventional order of operations; Write and evaluate numerical expressions from diagrammatic representations and be able to identify equivalent expressions; apply the distributive and commutative properties appropriately; and use the method for finding areas of compound rectangles.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: interpret a situation and represent the variables mathematically; select appropriate mathematical methods to use; explore the effects of systematically varying the constraints; interpret and evaluate the data generated and identify the break-even point, checking it for confirmation; and communicate their reasoning clearly.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: choose appropriate mathematics to solve a non-routine problem; generate useful data by systematically controlling variables; and develop experimental and analytical models of a physical situation.

This series of word problems requires students to apply the concepts of factors and common factors in a context.

This lesson unit is intended to help sixth grade teachers assess how well students are able to: Analyze a realistic situation mathematically; construct sight lines to decide which areas of a room are visible or hidden from a camera; find and compare areas of triangles and quadrilaterals; and calculate and compare percentages and/or fractions of areas.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: form and solve linear equations involving factorizing and using the distributive law. In particular, this unit aims to help teachers identify and assist students who have difficulties in: using variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem and solving word problems leading to equations of the form px + q = r and p(x + q) = r.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: interpret a situation and represent the constraints and variables mathematically; select appropriate mathematical methods to use; explore the effects of systematically varying the constraints; interpret and evaluate the data generated and identify the optimum case, checking it for confirmation; and communicate their reasoning clearly.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to solve quadratics in one variable. In particular, the lesson will help teachers identify and help students who have the following difficulties: making sense of a real life situation and deciding on the math to apply to the problem; solving quadratic equations by taking square roots, completing the square, using the quadratic formula, and factoring; and interpreting results in the context of a real life situation.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students understand the notion of correlation. In particular this unit aims to identify and help students who have difficulty in: understanding correlation as the degree of fit between two variables; making a mathematical model of a situation; testing and improving the model; communicating their reasoning clearly; and evaluating alternative models of the situation.

The purpose of this task is for students to apply their knowledge of integers in a real-world context.

This task complements ``Seven Circles'' I, II, and III. This is a hands-on activity which students could work on at many different levels and the activity leads to many interesting questions for further investigation.

Putting Math to Work

Type of Unit: Problem Solving

Prior Knowledge

Students should be able to:

Solve problems involving all four operations with rational numbers.
Write ratios and rates.
Write and solve proportions.
Solve problems involving scale.
Write and solve equations to represent problem situations.
Create and interpret maps, graphs, and diagrams.
Use multiple representations (i.e., tables, graphs, and equations) to represent problem situations.
Calculate area and volume.
Solve problems involving linear measurement.

Lesson Flow

Students apply and integrate math concepts they have previously learned to solve mathematical and real-world problems using a variety of strategies. Students have opportunities to explore four real-world situations involving problem solving in a variety of contexts, complete a project of their choice, and work through a series of Gallery problems.

First, students utilize their spatial reasoning and visualization skills to find the least number of cubes needed to construct a structure when given the front and side views. Then, students select a project to complete as they work through this unit to refine their problem-solving skills. Students explore the relationship between flapping frequency, amplitude, and cruising speed to calculate the Strouhal number of a variety of flying and swimming animals. After that, students explore the volume of the Great Lakes, applying strategies for solving volume problems and analyzing diagrams. Next, students graphically represent a virtual journey through the locks of the Welland Canal, estimating the amount of drop through each lock and the distance traveled. Students have a day in class to work on their projects with their group.

Then, students have two days to explore Gallery problems of their choosing. Finally, students present their projects to the class.

This lesson unit is intended to help you assess how well students are able to: recognize and use common 2D representations of 3D objects and identify and use the appropriate formula for finding the circumference of a circle.

The goal of this task is to model a familiar object, an Olympic track, using geometric shapes. Calculations of perimeters of these shapes explain the staggered start of runners in a 400 meter race.

This task is appropriate for assessing student's understanding of differences of signed numbers. Because the task asks how many degrees the temperature drops, it is correct to say that "the temperature drops 61.5 degrees." However, some might think that the answer should be that the temperature is "changing -61.5" degrees. Having students write the answer in sentence form will allow teachers to interpret their response in a way that a purely numerical response would not.

The accuracy and simplicity of this experiment are amazing. A wonderful project for students, which would necessarily involve team work with a different school and most likely a school in a different state or region of the country, would be to try to repeat Eratosthenes' experiment.

This task uses geometry to find the perimeter of the track. Students may be surprised when their calculation does not give 400 meters but rather a smaller number.

For a polynomial function p, a real number r is a root of p if and only if p(x) is evenly divisible by x_r. This fact leads to one of the important properties of polynomial functions: a polynomial of degree d can have at most d roots. This is the first of a sequence of problems aiming at showing this fact.

The purpose of this task is to emphasize the use of the Remainder Theorem (a discussion of which should obviously be considered as a prerequisite for the task) as a method for determining structure in polynomial in equations, and in this particular instance, as a replacement for division of polynomials.

This task applies reflections to a regular hexagon to construct a pattern of six hexagons enclosing a seventh: the focus of the task is on using the properties of reflections to deduce this seven hexagon pattern.

The purpose of this task is meant to reinforce students' understanding of rational numbers as points on the number line and to provide them with a visual way of understanding that the sum of a number and its additive inverse (usually called its "opposite") is zero.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to identify and use geometrical knowledge to solve a problem. In particular, this unit aims to identify and help students who have difficulty in: making a mathematical model of a geometrical situation; drawing diagrams to help with solving a problem; identifying similar triangles and using their properties to solve problems; and tracking and reviewing strategic decisions when problem-solving.

This task provides the most famous construction to bisect a given angle. It applies when the angle is not 180 degrees.

This task applies reflections to a regular octagon to construct a pattern of four octagons enclosing a quadrilateral: the focus of the task is on using the properties of reflections to deduce that the quadrilateral is actually a square.

This task provides an opportunity for students to apply triangle congruence theorems in an explicit, interesting context.

The purpose of this task is to help solidify students' understanding of signed numbers as points on a number line and to understand the geometric interpretation of adding and subtracting signed numbers.

This is an instructional task meant to generate a conversation around the meaning of negative integer exponents. While it may be unfamiliar to some students, it is good for them to learn the convention that negative time is simply any time before t=0.

This task assesses a student's ability to use the addition rule to compute a probability and to interpret a probability in context.

This lesson unit is intended to help teachers assess how well students are able to: make sense of a real life situation and decide what math to apply to the problem; understand and calculate the conditional probability of an event A, given an event B, and interpret the answer in terms of a model; represent events as a subset of a sample space using tables, tree diagrams, and Venn diagrams; and interpret the results and communicate their reasoning clearly.

This rich task is an excellent example of geometric concepts in a modeling situation and is accessible to all students. In this task, students will provide a sketch of a paper ice cream cone wrapper, use the sketch to develop a formula for the surface area of the wrapper, and estimate the maximum number of wrappers that could be cut from a rectangular piece of paper.

The famous story of Archimedes running through the streets of Syracuse (in Sicily during the third century bc) shouting ''Eureka!!!'' (I have found it) reportedly occurred after he solved this problem. The problem combines the ideas of ratio and proportion within the context of density of matter.

This task aims at explaining why four regular octagons can be placed around a central square, applying student knowledge of triangles and sums of angles in both triangles and more general polygons.

This task requires students to work with very large and small values expressed both in scientific notation and in decimal notation (standard form). In addition, students need to convert units of mass.

The purpose of this task is to provide students with a concrete experience they can relate to fraction multiplication. Perhaps more importantly, the task also purposefully relates length and locations of points on a number line, a common trouble spot for students. This task is meant for instruction and would be a useful as part of an introductory unit on fraction multiplication.

The intention of this task is to provide extra depth to the standard A-APR.2 it is principally designed for instructional purposes only. The students may use graphing technology: the focus, however, should be on what happens to the function g when x=0 and the calculator may or may not be of help here (depending on how sophisticated it is!).

This task continues ``Zeroes and factorization of a quadratic polynomial I.'' The argument here generalizes, as shown in ``Zeroes and factorization of a general polynomial'' to show that a polynomial of degree d can have at most d roots. This task is intended for instructional purposes to help students see more clearly the link between factorization of polynomials and zeroes of polynomial functions.

The solutions unit consists of the following: General points for discussion relating to the teaching of the mathematical content in the activities. Step-by-step mathematical solutions to the activities. Annotations to the solutions to assist teachers in their understanding the maths as well as teaching issues relating to the mathematical content represented in the activities. Suggestions of links to alternative activities for the teaching of the mathematical content represented in the activities.

The goal of this task is to give students experience applying and reasoning about reflections of geometric figures using their growing understanding of the properties of rigid motions. In the case of reflecting a rectangle over a diagonal, the reflected image is still a rectangle and it shares two vertices with the original rectangle.