ACTIVITIES AND PODCASTS

Writing and Math with Shopping Lists
Children will use a variety of mathematics and literacy skills as they create shopping lists to use at the store to buy their favorite treats. They will also develop problem-solving skills while they work to stay within a budget.
ReadWriteThink | Grades K-2

Arts Integration in Practice: Math
Discover ways to make connections between math instruction and the arts by bringing music and dance activities into the mathematics classroom.
ArtsEdge | How-to for Educators

Math + Reading = Fun!
Emily shares picture books that will have young mathematicians measuring, estimating, and figuring fractions all while reading!
ReadWriteThink | Podcast | K-5

The Great Save: Exploring Costs and Savings
this activity gets children to thinking about money and the choices involved in deciding how to spend - or save - it.
ReadWriteThink | Activity | 3-5

Visual Math
Hear how we may rely on a kind of mental map to understand relationships between numbers - whether you are solving an algebraic proof or comparing prices at the grocery store.
Science NetLinks | Podcast | 6-12

Art Algorithms
Researchers have developed mathematical algorithms to fill in holes, scratches, and creases in damaged art masterpieces.
Science NetLinks | Podcast | 6-12

Choking in Math
In a high-pressure math test, the best students won't necessarily get the top scores. 
Science NetLinks | Podcast | 6-12

Teaching Math Anxiety
Hear how female teachers may pass on their own math anxiety to the girls they teach.
Science NetLinks | Podcast | 6-12

Mobilizing Minds: Teaching Science and Math in the Age of Sputnik
In this online exhibition, students learn how fear of Soviet domination galvanized reform in science and math education during the 1950's and 60's.
History Explorer | Resource | 9-12 

LESSONS

It Counts
This lesson helps students understand and reinforce how numbers are assigned to objects and provides practice thinking about more, less, or equal values.
Science NetLinks, Grades K-2

This Little Piggybank Went To Market
Count your money and see how your savings can grow.
EconEdLink, Grades K-2

Figuring in Football
In this primary grades lesson, students identify figures on a football field. They look for both congruent and similar figures, and they consider figures that are the same but that occur in a different orientation because of translation, rotation, or reflection.
Illuminations, Grades K-2

Melodies and Math
Discover the way math and music work together as you create your own tunes using a touch-tone phone and other non-traditional musical instruments. 
ARTSEDGE, Grades K-4

Mr. Lincoln's Hat
Students create top hats out of paper following directions that use simple geometry terms. After making the hat, they measure their heights with and without the hat. 
History Explorer, Grades K-4

Ladybug Adventures
The activities in this four-part series from present a rich computer environment in which students use their knowledge of number, measurement and geometry to solve interesting problems. Planning, visualizing, estimating, measuring, testing and revising are all components of the ladybug activities and the activities help students build ideas about navigation and location, and use these ideas to solve problems.
Illuminations, Grades K-2

What's Left?
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit, triangular flash cards and dice games help students practice addition facts. Students modify their "Addition Chart" to record the facts they know at the immediate-recall.
Illuminations, Grades K-2

Counting Crows
This lesson blends math and art with literature using Aesop's fable, "The Crow and the Pitcher." The class will discuss the fable and its meaning. Each student will design their own puppet and act out the fable using pebbles and water in containers. Students will also make predictions and then compare them to actual results.
ARTSEDGE, Grades K-4

Draw a Math Story: From the Concrete to the Symbolic
In this lesson, students identify key mathematical vocabulary heard in read-alouds of math-oriented stories and then work at drawing representations of the concepts presented.
ReadWriteThink, Grades K-2

Giant Story Problems: Reading Comprehension through Math Problem-Solving
Working as a class, students read a story problem and answer a series of questions designed to bring out the essential points of the problem. Students then draw a picture on chart paper showing the details of the story problem. They write both an equation and a sentence to represent the problem.
ReadWriteThink, Grades 1-2

Geometric Solids and Their Properties
In these five interactive geometry investigations, students explore geometric solids and their properties. Students analyze characteristics and properties of three-dimensional shapes, develop mathematical arguments about geometric relationships, construct various geometric solids using an interactive tool, and explore and create nets for them. Within each lesson, students use visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to solve problems.
Illuminations, Grades 3-5

Math and Measuring the Star-Spangled Banner (for K-2)
Math and Measuring the Star-Spangled Banner (for 3-5)
Studying the Star-Spangled Banner is a great chance to combine history and math! In this classroom activity, students apply historical information to math problems to gain an understanding of the flag’s size.
Smithsonian's History Explorer

Solving the Math Curse: Reading and Writing Math Word Problems
This lesson uses the four modalities of reading (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) on a math word problem to bridge the gap between reading and math.
ReadWriteThink, Grades 3-5

Talking, Writing, and Reasoning: Making Thinking Visible with Math Journals
By talking, writing, and reasoning in math journals, students shift the emphasis of their work from finding the “right” answer to a metacognitive exploration of how their problem-solving works in ways that encourage them to apply, extend, and adapt their strategies to new situations.
ReadWriteThink, Grades 3-5

QARs + Tables = Successful Comprehension of Math Word Problems
In this lesson, students apply the question-answer relationship (QAR) strategy to word problems that refer to data displayed in a table. By following the QAR framework, students can determine whether mathematical calculations are required to formulate a correct response.
ReadWriteThink, Grades 3-5

Meauring Cloud Coverage
In this lesson, students review what clouds are and then use fractions to describe cloud coverage.
Science NetLinks, Grades 3-5

Bag the Beans
Working with maipulatives (beans), students create and solve problems, some of which have more than one correct answer.
Science NetLinks, Grades 3-5

History on Stage Pop-Up Lesson
As students build their own pop-up book in support of a social studies lesson, they are introduced to a variety of mechanisms and develop an understanding of mechanical movement and envision objects three-dimensionally.

History Explorer, Grades 5-8

Finding Satisfactory Solutions
Students act as mathematicians while deciding where to locate ice cream stands in a town so that no one has to travel too far to buy a treat. 

Science NetLinks, Grades 6-8

Baseball Stats
Students use baseball to explore data sets and statistics.
Science NetLinks, Grades 6-8

Sorting Polygons
Students identify and classify polygons according to various attributes. They then sort the polygons in Venn Diagrams, according to these attributes.
Illuminations, Grades 6-8

Mathematics and Football
The ideas in these activities focus on connections between mathematics and football by using the Super Bowl. Students are asked to look at the Super Bowl not just as "the big game" but as an opportunity to apply mathematics to some interesting problems. The activities involve number sense, geometry, measurement, statistics, estimations, and problem solving.
Illuminations, Grades 6-8

Football Finances
In this activity, students analyze pictures of football stands to make estimates related to the attendance at the Super Bowl. The students will realize that estimates must, at times, be made with little background information and that a range of answers might be correct. Students also make estimates about the television audience.
Illuminations, Grades 6-8

Big Math and Fries
Here’s a lesson that is almost as hard to resist as an order of fries! This lesson is designed to enlighten students about how to calculate percent of calories from fat, carbohydrates, and protein. The calculations are made to determine if a person can follow the Zone Diet with only McDonald's food items.
Illuminations, Grades 6-8

Least Squares Regression
A nine-lesson Unit Plan that builds skills for interpreting the slope and y-intercept of linear equations. The lessons provide students with a real-life context in which to relate both concepts and give students the opportunity to view data in tabular, graphic, and algebraic form.
Illuminations, Grades 9-12

Amazing Fibonacci
Students use the Fibonacci sequence of numbers to study the math concepts of pattern, recursion, Pi, and the Golden Ratio as they analyze the structure of music
ArtsEdge, Grades 9-12

Patterns Across Cultures: The Fibonacci Sequence in Visual Art
Teacheres are guided to use videos, lectures, and images to show students where and how the Fibonacci Sequence occurs in nature and its role in the visual arts.
ArtsEdge, Grades 9-12

Mathematical Proofs
Students explore the nature of mathematical proofs and mathematical inquiry as a basis for addressing the topics of logic and evidence in a variety of content areas.
Science NetLinks, Grades 9-12

INTERACTIVES

Ten Frame
Great for young kids! This student interactive from Illuminations presents four games that help students develop counting and addition skills. Each of the games uses a frame of ten, which can be a helpful way to learn basic number facts.
Illuminations, Grades K- 2

How Many Under the Shell?
After Okta hides some bubbles under a shell, he then either adds more bubbles or takes some away. Students have to determine how many bubbles are left under the shell.
Illuminations, Grades K-2

Concentration
Play by yourself or against a friend to form pairs. Match numbers, shapes, fractions, or multiplication facts to equivalent representations. Practice facts by using the clear pane mode or play the game with the windows closed for a greater challenge.
Illuminations, Grades K-5

Primary Krypto
Combine five number cards using the four arithmetic operations (+, –, ×, ÷) to arrive at a "target" number. This online version of Primary Krypto uses the numbers 1–10 only.
Illuminations, Grades K-8

Geometric Solids
This tool allows you to learn about various geometric solids and their properties. You can manipulate and color each shape to explore the number of faces, edges, and vertices, and you can also use this tool to investigate the following question: For any polyhedron, what is the relationship between the number of faces, vertices, and edges?
Illuminations, Grades K-12

Number Cruncher
This interactive challenges students to consider mathematical equations to get from one number to another in a math maze.
Science NetLinks, Grades 3-5

Marble Mania
Using this interactive, students explore randomness and probability of marbles pulled out of a "bag."
Science NetLinks, Grades 3-5

Deep Sea Dual
Okta challenges you to a duel! He wants to play you in a game where the first person to choose cards with a specified sum wins. You can choose how many cards, what types of numbers, and Okta's level of strategy.
Illuminations, Grades 3-8

Isometric Drawing Tool
Use this interactive tool to create dynamic drawings on isometric dot paper. Draw figures using edges, faces, or cubes. You can shift, rotate, color, decompose, and view in 2‑D or 3‑D.
Illuminations, Grades 3-12

Tower of Hanoi
Solve the Tower of Hanoi puzzle by moving all of the disks from one peg to another using the smallest number of moves. Compete against a friend to see who can solve the puzzle in the shortest time or with the fewest number of moves.
Illuminations, Grades 6-12

Powers of Ten
This interactive tool helps students understand and compare the size of things in our world and our universe.
Science NetLinks, Grades 9-12

Calculation Nation
Challenge others. Challenge yourself. Become a citizen of Calculation Nation! Play online math strategy games to learn about fractions, factors, multiples, symmetry and more, as well as practice important skills like basic multiplication and calculating area. This is THE site for online math games!
Illuminations, All Grades

Dynamic Paper
If you are teaching math, you have to try this applet! With Dynamic Paper, you can create customized activity sheets for your classroom - Nets of 3-D shapes, tessellations, coordinate graphs, and more - all based on your input. You can then print and or save as a PDF activity sheet or jpg for the Web.
Illuminations, Educator Tool

View all 108 interactives from Illuminations! 
Grades K-12