Lesson Plans Selected by
Nora Ulloa
Lesson Plan 1
The Island of Discarded Calculators
Description: This site encourages students to get to know calculators by providing a scenario which requires them to avoid the use of certain keys. The beginning of the activity is very wordy - scroll down to get to the problems. This is a great exploratory activity, there are multiple "correct answers." It would also be a great activity for pairing students up to work collaboratively and having students share their reasoning.
Lesson Plan 2
Tessellations and Tilings
Description: This is a lesson that uses paper and pencil, ClarisWorks, HyperCard, HyperStudio, Manipulatives, PC Paintbrush, LogoWriter, Straightedge and Compass, and Pattern Blocks as options for
studying tessellations. Topics include reflection, vertex, translation, rotation, and symmetry.
Lesson Plan 3
The Cereal Box Problem
Description: This is a lesson grounded in the real world which can be used to teach many different math topics including value, money and probability. The lesson is very complete and includes teacher's notes, an online simulation and other references. It is a great activity to do with small groups and comparing total results. The premise of the problem is, "Suppose there was one of six prizes inside your favorite box of cereal ... How many boxes of cereal would you expect to have to buy, to get all six prizes?"
Lesson Plan 4
Medians of Triangles
Description: This is another lesson which uses Geometer's Sketchpad to help students discover information about the properties of triangles. It is formatted as a series of problems which the students walk through by creating their own sketches to answer questions. It is very interactive and requires students to apply their prior knowledge.
Lesson Plan 5
Isoceles Triangle Conjectures
Description: I have been looking for ways to teach geometry while making better use of technology. I was thrilled with this site. It is probably intended for middle school students but elementary students can also explore and with teacher guidance and prepartaion learn at their own level. The activity is not formatted as a lesson, but is set up as a tutorial for students to work at their own pace to advance their own mathematical thinking.