Scientific Notation Puzzle

I recently discovered Tarsia Puzzles and they are my new favorite go-to activity for practicing math problems. In this lesson, I used them to practice Scientific Notation. This puzzle has problems with negative and positive exponents - several have the same coefficient so students really have to think about the function of the exponent. The students had to correctly work out 30 problems to piece the puzzle together and they had way more fun practicing this way than a worksheet. I overheard some great discussions about the rules and misconceptions (which they can self-identify when they don't find the answer they are looking for).

Here is the link to my Scientific Notation puzzle in TpT.

Laws of Exponents Puzzle

I recently discovered Tarsia Puzzles and they are my new favorite go-to activity for practicing math problems. In this lesson, I used them to practicing power to a power, product rule, and quotient rule for exponents. The students had to correctly work out 30 problems to piece the puzzle together and they had way more fun practicing this way than a worksheet. I overheard some great discussions about the rules and misconceptions (which they can self-identify when they don't find the answer they are looking for).

Here is the link to my TpT store, where for $3, you can buy the Laws of Exponents puzzle.

Learn your multiplication facts

Multiplication facts are one of the most essential tools students need to go forward in math. I am always shocked by how many don't know them - even now in dealing with high schoolers. They used to simply turn to their calculator, but with the changes in common core, students can no longer rely on that tool. Even though understanding when and how to use mathematical tools correctly is one of the mathematical practices, the Algebra EOC has a no-calculator section. Included in this part of the test are questions about operations on polynomials, solving quadratics by factoring, and simplifying radicals - all these skills depend on students knowing their multiplication tables. I created this Tarsia puzzle for a conference presentation for elementary school teachers, but it is actually fun for my high school students too. I use it when I have students who need to fill a few extra minutes or to have a race and see which group can put the puzzle together first. Maybe someday I will have students who have times tables on automatic recall. Until then, practice makes perfect. Pick up a copy to use in your classroom at my TpT store here

Scatter plots sort

Today I tried this fun sorting activity for scatter plots: http://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/scatter-plots-correlation.html?showComment=1395967903398&m=1 (PDF available for free)

When students have a graph to look at, they can easily see the correlation, but it's difficult when they only have the scenarios. We did a few examples together first and I helped them with the language. We talked about temperature vs sales of hot chocolate, ice cream, and ID badges (negative, positive, and no relationship). I made sure to model for them how to talk through these problems. There was some discussion about a few of them- the skaterboarders had a lot to say about the skating one. One student argued the jacket one was no relationship because students at our school wear jackets regardless of the weather to cover their uniforms. I love when students challenge answers and justify their ideas with reasoning - My students always amaze me!

Here is one students' ideas.

Then students used their phones to take pictures of their answers so they could easily compare them to their peers.

Gumball Competition

This is a fun way I found to create some healthy competition between my classes. We are working on Island 10 in Carnegie Mathia. Every time someone finishes a section, they get to add a gumball to their class's machine. The winner will get - GUM! I am also going to color code for sections. Right now they are all red for Section 1. Then they will get a blue one for Section 2. The kids love it so far!

Exponent Dominoes

I thought my introduction to exponents lesson would be a breeze, but students had a difficult time when parentheses and negative signs were involved. I saw lots of students with the same misconceptions, so I knew I needed an activity to help them differentiate between the two. I created Exponent Dominoes. The students loved this hands on activity. It led to great discussions like which of these match:

Before this activity, they could not see a difference between these expressions. They had to really understand what the parentheses mean to be able to correctly match the pairs. And they knew when they made a mistake because the end did not connect back to the beginning. Then they had to discuss where their mistake could be. Here is another one that really got to thinking. First a lot of them tried this:

One group tried this, but then decided since the two expressions were not equal that would not work. Nice try though - I may have to add a problem like that for next time.

 Ah yes, that's a match.

 My favorite part about this activity was it took only one piece of paper per group (I actually printed them on cardstock), and it led to very active engagement and great discussions. They all know the difference now between expressions inside parentheses and outside. Now on to Laws of Exponents ...
Here is the link to my Exponent Dominoes. Give it a try!