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Really old
Really old

Tom Lehrer is a singer, songwriter, satirist, pianist and mathematician who has written some wonderful songs. In 1959 he wrote a song called “New Math”. At that time,...

Number Sense Math and Social Studies Grades 5–HS
California wildfire
California wildfire

Wildfires are burning in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Yosemite National Park. In this activity we ask students to examine various maps of this California region, calculate distances...

Number Sense Geometry Grades 4–7
Bits, bytes, and nibbles
Bits, bytes, and nibbles

Clicking on the image will show it larger. I'm not very good at understanding how large my device capacities are and how big the files that I want...

Algebra Number Sense Grades 4–HS
Methane math
Methane math

Updated! Carbon dioxide and methane are our two most prevalent human-contributed greenhouse gases. This holstein cow is one of many huge contributors to our methane production. Let students...

Algebra Number Sense Grades 5–HS
My teacher says this stream is parabolic.  Is he correct?
My teacher says this stream is parabolic. Is he correct?

Instead of asking students to just believe what you've said, why not ask them to verify your assertions? Students plot the points of the stream, perhaps map them...

Algebra Number Sense Grades 7–HS
Father's Day blueberry surprise
Father's Day blueberry surprise

Father's Day is coming up, and there is still time to have a tiny fraction review in the guise of celebrating Father's Day. This is a short activity...

Number Sense Math and Food Grades 3–6
Ladder figuring
Ladder figuring

Brian can't even go to his town's spring festival without seeing math. Let your class approximate the height or length of this ladder by using the relative size...

Algebra Number Sense Grades 5–HS
Big gulp
Big gulp

Do you or your students love sugary drinks? What if it were against the law to order a large sugary drink where you lived? On September 13th, 2012...

Algebra Number Sense Grades 5–7
Cicada swarmaggedon
Cicada swarmaggedon

Most of the life cycle of the Magicicada Septendecim is spent underground. Then at 17 year intervals, these cicadas emerge from the ground, climb deciduous trees, molt into...

Algebra Number Sense Grades 3–6
Lifespan of a meme, the Harlem Shake
Lifespan of a meme, the Harlem Shake

Five friends who skateboard and video tape made up a strange dance one afternoon and filmed it on February 2nd (look it up on youtube!). Now the whole...

Algebra Number Sense Grades 6–HS
Cruising
Cruising

There have been a lot of cruise ship mishaps and disasters this year. While these are in the news, let your students consider how these floating cities manage...

Algebra Number Sense Grades 4–7
Voyager on the edge
Voyager on the edge

The two Voyager space probes are in the news recently as they approach the edge of our solar system. Scientist can tell that the Voyager's environments are changing....

Algebra Number Sense Grades 3–7