Should you buy a hybrid or an electric car to save money and the planet? Students create equations for finding the break-even points of these vehicles by mileage and years of ownership.  They then work with systems of equations to find the number of years or number of miles where the cost of these cars are the same. 2018 Honda Insight (Hybrid) MPG: Up to 55 city / 49 highway MSRP: From $23,725 2018 Honda Civic MPG: Up to 32 city / 42 highway MSRP: From $18,940 2018 Nissan Leaf MSRPFrom $29,990 40 kWh lithium-ion battery Clicking on any of these images will show them large ..read more

Now that gasoline prices have reached new highs, we should consider again whether to buy an electric or hybrid car to save money and the planet? Students create equations for finding the break-even points of these vehicles by mileage and years of ownership.  They then work with systems of equations to find the number of years or number of miles where the cost of these cars are the same. 2022 Honda Insight (Hybrid) MPG: Up to 55 city / 49 highway MSRP: From $25,760 2022 Honda Civic MPG: Up to 33 city / 42 highway MSRP: From $22,550 2022 Nissan Leaf MSRP From $27,400 40 kWh lit ..read more

5 possible activities! Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest - updated! - What do you wonder about this event?  What questions do you have from looking at the historical data? How have the records changed?  Why do you think that is so? How many hot dogs can a human possibly eat in 10 minutes? 6.RP, 7.RP, 7.EE, HSS/ID, HSN, HSA, HSF, MP1, MP2. MP3 Flag Art -  In this activity students measure; create whole number ratios for the official U.S. flag; decide how our artistic flags might be different from the official flag; make stars from regular pentagons, and fin ..read more

Click on this image to see it larger in a new window. It's time to treat your students to ratios, proportions, fractions and BIG BURGERS! In this activity students explore the ratio of the various ingredients in the world's largest burger (pictured above & in the video below). Students learn about the initial weight of the giant meat patty and calculate the final weight of the patty after it is cooked.  They decide what percent lean this meat must have been and consider how long it would take their family to eat the entire world-record burger. This is a delicious math activity ..read more

How much pee is in this pool? - A Canadian chemist, Xing-Fang Li, has found a marker for urine that chlorine doesn't disguise. In this activity, students calculate volume of several pools, change that cubic foot volume to gallons of pool water, and try to approximate how much urine is in each pool. 4.MD.C, 5.MD, 6.G.A, 6.RP.A, 7.RP.A, 7.G.B How much water do you have to drink? - In this activity student develop formulas for calculating their water needs, learn about the effects of too little water, and calculate what they should be consuming. 4.OA.B, 5.OA.B, 6.NS.B, 6.RP.A ..read more

We have some ideas for mathematics that honor fathers on Father's Day. Thank you Mother and Father for all of those diapers - Students compare the cost of buying disposable versus cloth diapers. They estimate how much they cost their parents in diapers and consider how much they will spend on diapers when they have a baby. There is quite a bit of scaffolding built into the activity for students who might have limited experience with linear relationships and equation writing. 6.EE.9, 7.EE.4, 8.F.2, 8.F.4, 8.EE.8, HS.F-IF.8.B, HS.F-LE.2, HS.F-LE.5, MP7, MP8 Blueberry Muffin Suprise -&nbs ..read more

Clicking on this image will show it larger in a new window. How many stars are in this image and how did you count them? For members we have a teaching suggestions and our solution sheet. Star-o-stars.pdf CCSS: 1.OA, 3.OA, 4.OA, 5.OA ..read more

We usually give our ages in years, but that isn't very precise is it?  In this activity students find their age in days, hours and minutes.  First students take two minutes to estimate their age in days, hours and minutes.  When they make their estimates, consider sharing and recording estimates as a class.  Even though students will slightly vary in age, their estimates should be in the same relative range. This is a great opportunity to discuss estimation and reasonability.  Follow this estimation & discussion with actual calculations.  Students can use any ..read more

"Al Rihla" New seamless ball created by Adidas for the World Cup. Name means “the journey” in Arabic. The World Cup Finals is only played every 4 years but isn't it always in June? The World Cup Finals 2022 will be played in Qatar from November 21st until December 18th, 2022.  What's with that? The activity: WorldCup-temps.pdf CCSS: 6.RP.A, 7.EE, 7.NS.A, HSN For members we have an editable Word docx and solutions. WorldCup-temps.docx    WorldCup-temps-solutions.pdf ..read more

The Celtics will meet the Warriors this year! Teams are competing in the playoffs and the NBA Finals are right around the corner.  Let's do a little sports history and data analysis through the context of NBA Finals math!  In this activity students consider scatter plots, circle graphs, bar graphs, Venn Diagrams and the concept of mean. To start the activity check out the Infographic below.  What do you notice?  What does it make you think?  What questions do you have? How does the average age of  NBA champion teams compare to the league's average team age ..read more