Welcome Amplify Science educators!
Coming soon!
Amplify Desmos Math for California
Hello! We’re building a brand-new TK–12 core mathematics curriculum for California called Amplify Desmos Math.
We’re seeking your help to ensure we deliver on the promise of the new California Mathematics Framework and meet the needs of your entire community. Are you interested in sharing your thoughts?
Available now
As a math teacher, you work every day to celebrate student brilliance, build deep conceptual understanding, and create the conditions for every student to be successful.
We’re here to help.
Desmos Classroom
Desmos Classroom is a free lessons-building platform that features lessons, lesson-building tools, sharing features, and more.
Built by math educators, the Desmos Classroom platform allows teachers to create interactive lessons with authentic problems and opportunities to increase student discourse and engagement. Plus, the platform includes more than 200 free lessons created by Desmos curriculum specialists and math educators across the nation.
Desmos Math 6–A1
Creating your own lessons can be powerful, and also time-consuming. Desmos Math 6–A1 does the heavy lifting for you.
The Desmos Math 6–A1 curriculum provides a full-year of ready-made standards-based lessons that help students develop conceptual understanding while giving you visibility into all their thinking. Plus, every lesson is fully customizable, giving you the freedom to make each lesson your own.
Coming soon
Amplify Desmos Math is a brand-new TK–12 core mathematics curriculum for California.
Powered by Desmos Classroom technology, our lessons make engaging, visual, and collaborative learning moments possible while providing teachers with real-time insights into student thinking.
Unlike other programs, Amplify Desmos Math strikes the right balance between conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Plus, it does it in a way that builds positive math identities, inspires math language development and rich discourse, and makes every student feel brilliant.
The program delivers what math educators want and need: standards-aligned print and digital lessons that capture students’ interest every day; the right mix of informal and more substantive formative and summative assessments; differentiation support; additional practice sets; and Spanish language supports.
The program delivers what school and district leaders want and need: a coherent core program based on the industry-
leading IM K–12 Math
TM by Illustrative Mathematics®; a comprehensive suite of usage and performance reports that gives educators a better sense of which students might be at risk of falling behind; and a team from Amplify.
Math Matters Events
What’s next in math education? Join our series of intimate talks featuring experts like Sunil Singh, Phil Daro, and Fawn Nguyen to learn more about where math education is heading. Who knows, we might even throw in a margarita or martini mixology lesson too!
Interested in participating? Sign up for alerts to get first dibs on these limited attendance sessions.
Math Educator Roundtables
Share your voice! Our educator roundtables have one goal: to learn what you need and want in your next math curriculum. Whether you’re an administrator or a teacher, or have two years of experience or 20, we want to hear from you!
Interested in participating? Sign up for alerts about upcoming dates and locations for these limited attendance sessions.
Math Field Trials
Help us put our program to the test. Become a Field Trial classroom and provide invaluable feedback that will directly impact the development of Amplify Math. You might be an amazing field trial teacher if:
- You love math.
- You know young people are capable of just about anything.
- You understand that giving candid feedback can help the next generation of students redefine what amazing looks like.
Interested in participating? Sign up to be considered as one of our field trial classrooms.
Our research
Amplify Science
Amplify Science is rooted in the Lawrence Hall of Science’s Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize model of learning. Gold standard research shows that this pedagogical approach works, and our early efficacy research about Amplify Science is promising, too. Amplify Science meets the criteria for Tier III-Promising Evidence as an education intervention under ESSA.
Efficacy
Independent studies find that Amplify Science has significant positive impact on science learning and literacy outcomes.
Field trials
District success stories
Research base
Explore more of our research.
Learn more about the research behind our programs.
Welcome to the Interactive Classroom trial!
Boost Close Reading Trial Support Site
We’re thrilled you’ve decided to give our Boost Close Reading a try! We’re confident you’re going to love how Boost Close Reading engages your middle school readers and helps them strengthen their close reading skills.
This site contains all the resources you’ll need to learn more about the program and to get started using it to support remote learning or classroom instruction.
Resources to support your use of the program
What is Boost Close Reading?
Boost Close Reading is a digital reading program that provides middle school students with rich instruction and practice around the critical work of close reading.
No matter the setting or core curriculum in place, Boost Close Reading offers a personalized, differentiated experience that helps students learn how to deeply analyze complex informational and literary texts, in just 45 minutes of independent practice a week.
How do I get started with Boost Close Reading?
Good news! Boost Close Reading has already been enabled within your Amplify account. To get started with the program, you’ve got only two steps left: adjusting your students’ support levels (Core or Extra Support) and setting up your student devices. The video below will walk you through how to complete both steps.
What else can you tell me about Boost Close Reading?
Unlike other reading supplementals which rely solely on assessment questions and feedback, Boost Close Reading seamlessly weaves digital instruction with assessment within an immersive story where the analysis of text is a critical element in the plot. What’s more, with optional scaffolding designed specifically for EL students and struggling readers, every student can experience the same story from beginning to end.
Where to get support
Getting started webinar
Everything you need to get started with the program is provided above. However, if you prefer learning through webinars, we have those too! A pre-recorded, on-demand webinar is available anytime at the link below. Live webinar dates are currently being scheduled. Check back for days and times!
Intercom chat
Our Intercom feature gives you the ability to chat with customer support, technical support, and pedagogical support teams in real time directly from the digital platform. This ensures that issues that arise in the classroom can be addressed as quickly as possible. Support teams can be reached from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday.
Our customer support, technical support, and pedagogical support teams can be reached by email at help@amplify.com from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday.
We are middle school.
Amplify ELA was designed to respond to the distinct opportunities and challenges faced by middle school students and teachers. It was conceived to support middle school students at this critical developmental moment.
The program helps teachers ensure that skills are taught, standards are covered, and the test is prepped—and it does this work in the background so that teachers can spend their time bringing text to life and providing each student the right instruction at the right time. Request a sample to take a closer look.
Overview
Amplify ELA is a blended curriculum designed for middle school students and teachers. It provides:
- An engaging digital program with comprehensive print materials, including Teacher Editions, Student Editions, and Writing Journals for grades 6–8.
- A year’s worth of instruction for each grade.
- Complex, content-rich literary and informational texts.
- Differentiation that supports all students with reading complex texts, and an interactive eReader with an array of multimedia tools.
- Embedded assessments that allow for uninterrupted instructional time.
- The Amplify Library—a digital collection of more than 650 full-length texts.
Why Amplify?
We designed every Amplify ELA lesson to help teachers teach the essential skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, in a classroom where students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
We use six proven pedagogical approaches to help teachers build a literate community in every middle school classroom:
1. Critical and collaborative engagement
With Amplify ELA, students engage with learning because they engage with each other. Amplify ELA fosters a classroom community that thrives on a wide range of student observations. The lessons immerse students in interactive close reading activities and cognitively challenging work, and keep them engaged through a variety of collaborative activities.
2. Integrated approach to target all standards
Every lesson requires students to work across multiple learning objectives—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—while focusing on one primary standard. Result: students work with complex texts that demand working across standards, while receiving instruction focused on building a specific skill.
3. Text at the center
Amplify puts complex text at the center of every lesson and activity to develop the critical capacities and build the vocabulary, knowledge, and skills students need to succeed in middle school, high school, and beyond. Great texts spark curiosity, reveal layered meanings, reflect a diversity of perspectives and identities, and cultivate meaningful conversation and reflection.
4. Multimodal and strategic technology
Activities harness multiple learning modes, using media tools, digital apps, and a variety of visual and physical experiences to strategically support and enhance student learning.
5. High expectations and strong supports
Strong supports built in at all levels give every student a chance to meet the highest possible expectations. Struggling readers, students ready for advanced work, English language learners: all can take on the challenge of rigorous work while data delivery and digital tools allow teachers to ensure progress.
6. Timely feedback and actionable data
Formative assessment measures and targeted feedback tools are embedded in every lesson. Result: teachers can make timely decisions about instructional strategy and provide the guidance students need to thrive as readers and writers.
What teachers say
Blended model
Amplify ELA’s new blended curriculum can be used in classrooms with limited access to devices, allowing teachers to make choices about when their students use devices without compromising learning or full standards coverage.
Amplify ELA’s blended approach keeps a strong connection between print and digital by having the teacher project uniquely digital moments as students work in their print Student Editions and Writing Journals. This approach works when Wi-Fi or devices are unavailable for both brief or extended periods of time.
Resources
Try Amplify ELA
Ready to take a closer look at Amplify ELA? No problem. Just complete the form to get immediate access to:
- Digital: trial that includes two units per grade level
- Print: preview of Teacher Edition
Webinar: Desmos Math 6–A1 Office Hours (Free Trial Users)
Amplify Science Success Story
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
Firsthand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Program Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Oregon students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Publisher presentation
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Full coverage of the Oregon Science Standards
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the Oregon Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.
The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of Oregon’s standards. Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oregon Science Standards.
- The standard being addressed with the activities.
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit.
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studied the nervous system.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies ocean currents.
Recommended placement: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit, Lesson 2.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits
About this activity: In this activity, students read two short articles, one about current research on genes and proteins, and one about a scientist who is studying how the environment can affect our traits.
Recommended placement: Traits and Reproduction unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Who Becomes a Space Scientist?
About this activity: In this activity, Students read a short article about a scientist who studies space.
Recommended placement: Geology on Mars unit, Lesson 3.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Who Becomes a Space Scientist?” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies how plants’ roots get water.
Recommended placement: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Bringing Back the Buffalo
About this activity: In this activity, students change one competing population to try to decrease the other in the Sim, and read a short article about a scientist who studies buffalo.
Recommended placement: Populations and Resources unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Bringing Back the Buffalo” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Rereading “A Continental Puzzle”
About this activity: In this activity, students reread “A Continental Puzzle” and think about how patterns were helpful to Wegener’s work.
Recommended placement: Plate Motion unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Direct students back to “A Continental Puzzle” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students re-read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies variation of traits in monkey populations.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Extinctions and Human Impacts
About this activity: The purpose of this lesson is for students to see how increases in human population and consumption of natural resources can negatively impact Earth’s systems.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 4.5
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Extinctions and Human Impacts” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Steno and the Shark
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about Nicolas Steno, a scientist from the 1600s whose studies of fossilized sharks’ teeth embedded in rock layers laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stratigraphy.
Recommended placement: Evolutionary History unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Steno and the Shark” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Scale in the Solar System
About this activity: In this activity, students read and annotate the articles “Scale in the Solar System” and “The Solar System Is Huge.”
Recommended placement: Earth, Moon, and Sun unit, Lesson 1.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Scale in the Solar System” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.or68sci@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Science5OR
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.or68sci@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Science5OR
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Oregon standards correlation for grades 6–8
- QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades 6-8
- QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
- Oregon Science IMET for grades 6-8 (Excel download)
- Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
- Research behind Amplify Science
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8
Welcome to Amplify Science K–5!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Detroit students won’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they will take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They will do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of four to five students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Student Books | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. | Teacher and student |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, and downloadable PDFs of all print materials in Spanish. | Teacher |
Resources to support your review
- Michigan Next Generation Science Standards Correlation K-8
- DEIA in Amplify Science
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Detroit students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.dps68sci@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dps68sci
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Science articles | Student |
| Video Transcripts | Student |
| Digital simulation translation keys | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. | Teacher |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Digital student experience license This license gives students access to the student resources in Spanish, including instructional text, articles, and assessments. Teachers can control student access to Spanish-language content through the digital Teacher’s Guide. | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, downloadable PDFs of all print resources, and video transcripts and closed captioning in Spanish. | Teacher |
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
What’s New for Amplify Science 6–8!
Denver Public Schools (DPS), check out what’s new from Amplify Science 6-8! The first part of this site will take you through the updates that have been made to Amplify Science. The second will be a refresher of Amplify Science for any new users in DPS. With Amplify Science, DPS students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. With culturally sustaining pedagogy, Amplify Science strives to make sure every student feels included in the science classroom.
Update: The Digital Experience
The digital experience allows students to engage with digital lessons and provides teachers with everything they need in one place—ready-to-use slides-based lessons, seamlessly integrated teacher prompts and guidance, robust PD resources, and more. It’s now easier and more engaging than ever to plan lessons, present digital content, and review student work. To learn more, click here.
Update: The PD Library
All professional development (PD) content is consolidated into the PD Library, a one-stop hub for all your self-paced PD needs. As a result, the “Professional Learning Resources” tile will no longer be available on the main Amplify Science Program Hub page. The rest of the non-PD content in the Program Hub will remain as is, including the on-demand resources.
Update: Educator & Student Home expansion
Educator and Student Home landing pages will now be available for all Amplify Science users. This Home page provides a central location to access all Amplify programs in one place and a customized stream based on your activity.
Your Amplify Science grades 6–8 students will no longer access My Work for assignments, scores, and teacher feedback. Instead, they’ll find it all on Student Home, the page they already land on when logging in to Amplify Science.
Keep in mind: Amplify Science middle school teachers will continue to have access to Classwork.
Update: Caregiver Hub
Throughout the school year, teachers can share the Amplify Science Caregiver Hub with students’ families. This site provides curriculum details, an overview of what caregivers can expect throughout the school year, and resources they can use with students at home.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
DPS Scope and Sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher’s Guide!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.dps68sci@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dps68sci
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Science articles | Student |
| Video Transcripts | Student |
| Digital simulation translation keys | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. | Teacher |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Digital student experience license This license gives students access to the student resources in Spanish, including instructional text, articles, and assessments. Teachers can control student access to Spanish-language content through the digital Teacher’s Guide. | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, downloadable PDFs of all print resources, and video transcripts and closed captioning in Spanish. | Teacher |
Resources to support your review
- DEIA in Amplify Science
- Research behind Amplify Science
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8
Contact Us
If you have any further questions as your review Amplify Science, please contact:
Monty Lammers
Senior Account Executive
719-964-4501
mlammers@amplify.com
Welcome to Amplify Science Pennsylvania
(6–8)!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Pennsylvania students shift from learning about to figuring out science, through authentic three-dimensional (3D) learning and phenomena-based exploration. In each unit, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer to investigate a real-world problem. This prepares them to become critical thinkers who can solve problems in their communities and beyond.
What is Amplify Science Pennsylvania?
Customized lessons for Pennsylvania
Amplify Science Pennsylvania (6–8) combines our nationally recognized, proven curriculum with custom lessons specifically designed to ensure that you are meeting Pennsylvania’s STEELS standards.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach, in which students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science Pennsylvania program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science Pennsylvania has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing on searching for evidence related to their investigation and on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures that students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science Pennsylvania to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science Pennsylvania. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multimodal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science Pennsylvania, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4–5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put all the materials back with ease.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science Pennsylvania print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we’ve provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher’s Guide!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science Pennsylvania, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science Pennsylvania materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials. We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable. Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of four to five students.
- Include supportive videos. Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Within each kit, we provide grade-specific lists of all materials included, which you can also find using the links below.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science Pennsylvania is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science Pennsylvania curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Science articles | Student |
| Video transcripts | Student |
| Digital simulation translation keys | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. |
Teacher |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Digital student experience license This license gives students access to the student resources in Spanish, including instructional text, articles, and assessments. Teachers can control student access to Spanish-language content through the digital Teacher’s Guide. |
Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, downloadable PDFs of all print resources, and video transcripts and closed captioning in Spanish. |
Teacher |
Resources to support your review
- Pennsylvania STEELS Standards Alignment
- Research Highlights
- Program Structure
- Phenomena
- Amplify Science & the 5E Model
- Approaches to Assessment
- Science & Literacy Integration
- Hands-on Investigations (Integrated-Specific Model)
- Hands-On Investigations (Discipline-Specific Model)
- Engineering in Amplify Science
Contact us
Support is always available. Our team is dedicated to helping you every step of the way.
Contact your dedicated Pennsylvania representative here.
Welcome to Amplify Science Pennsylvania
(K–5)!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Pennsylvania students shift from learning about to figuring out science through authentic three-dimensional (3D) learning and phenomena-based exploration. In each unit, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer to investigate a real-world problem. This prepares them to become critical thinkers who can solve problems in their communities and beyond.
What is Amplify Science Pennsylvania?
Customized lessons for Pennsylvania
Amplify Science Pennsylvania (K–5) combines our nationally recognized, proven curriculum with custom lessons specifically designed to ensure you are meeting Pennsylvania’s STEELS standards.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach in which students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science Pennsylvania program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
Firsthand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science Pennsylvania has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures that students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science Pennsylvania to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multimodal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science Pennsylvania and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science Pennsylvania (K–5) includes six unique Student Books written by educators at the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real-world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science Pennsylvania offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers and provide additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify Science Pennsylvania in a new, integrated format, in which students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features such as scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and to use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with learning management systems (LMS) such as Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science Pennsylvania print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher’s Guide!
- Teacher’s Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher’s Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, the slides are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science Pennsylvania, and is integrated into every unit. To make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science Pennsylvania materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits?
- They include more materials. We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- They’re more manageable. Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of four to five students.
- They include supportive videos. Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science Pennsylvania is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science Pennsylvania curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Student Books | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. |
Teacher and student |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, and downloadable PDFs of all print materials in Spanish. |
Teacher |
Resources to support your review
Contact us
Support is always available. Our team is dedicated to helping you every step of the way.
Contact your dedicated Pennsylvania representative.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Utah Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.msscienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.msscienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Utah K-8 High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) Review Rubric
- K-8 Standards Alignment to Utah SEEd Standards
- Research behind Amplify Science
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8
- Amplify Technical Requirements
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
Firsthand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the Utah Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.scienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.scienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Utah K-8 High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) Review Rubric
- K-8 Standards Alignment to Utah SEEd Standards
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
- Amplify Technical Requirements
Welcome, reviewers!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify ELA for grades 6–8. With Amplify ELA, we enable teachers to foster skills through texts and develop their students’ ability to build meaning through reading. Students dive into complex texts to make observations, grapple with interesting ideas, and find relevance for themselves.
Amplify ELA offers middle school teachers rich texts, opportunities to form better connections with their students through powerful differentiation and assessment tools, and step-by-step instructional guides and resources that save them time and simplify their days.
Overview
This site will allow you to experience our blended program, with access to the Amplify ELA print materials, digital curriculum, and resources to support your review. Our blended model enables teachers to design instruction based on their classroom needs and resources. Our engaging print edition highlights the many digital experiences teachers can share with students through classroom projections. Teachers can make choices about when their students use devices while providing 100-percent standards coverage and without compromising learning.
Amplify ELA’s embedded, easy-to-find features include:
- Full standards coverage. Standards are clearly labeled in each lesson overview, so teachers can save time planning and get back to what they love—teaching.
- Six levels of differentiation. Based on each student’s needs and the performance measures within Amplify ELA reports, a teacher can choose the differentiation level that’s right for everyone.
- Assessments. Teachers benefit from uninterrupted instructional time and a continuously updated picture of each student’s progress with key skills and standards.
- Powerful feedback tools. Comprehensive tools help teachers maximize both the quantity and quality of feedback.
- Robust reporting. Our reporting app offers information on student progress to help inform instructional decisions.
Digital program
The content and instruction in Amplify ELA’s digital program mirror the content provided in the print Teacher Edition and Student Edition, though the digital program offers more opportunity to engage students through the use of multimedia and a variety of learning apps. Teachers will find embedded apps to help with scoring, providing student feedback, and reporting on the digital platform, accessible whether students or working with devices or in print.
Visit learning.amplify.com/ela-trial to review Amplify ELA’s digital program.
Grade 6 print samples
6B: Mysteries & Investigations:
6F: The Titanic Collection
Grade 7 print samples
7C: Brain Science
7D: Poetry & Poe
Grade 8 print samples
8C: Science & Science Fiction
8F: The Space Race Collection
Resources
Amplify Science
A new phenomena-based science curriculum for grades K–5.
A disciplinary literacy approach to learning science
Literacy is an integral part of science. Scientists read, write, listen, and speak in order to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the natural world. They explain their findings, conduct research, connect to the work of other scientists, and communicate ideas to a variety of audiences. In the Amplify Science program, students learn to read, write, and speak as scientists do as they acquire facility with the academic language and vocabulary of science. Through the seamless integration of science and literacy instruction, students also learn that reading, writing, and talking are essential practices of science, and that all scientists use these practices to gather information, communicate claims, leverage evidence, draw conclusions from data, and share their ideas through oral and written explanations and arguments.
Situating literacy instruction in a content area like science has several benefits. First, it helps students develop ways of thinking that are characteristic to the discipline. Second, building background knowledge in a discipline also helps students access complex content in texts that can be difficult to grasp. Finally, situating literacy in a content area like science provides an authentic reason for reading, writing, and talking — to better understand the science ideas under study. Reading, like science, can be an act of inquiry when there are genuine questions to be investigated.
The following are the guiding principles for disciplinary literacy in the Amplify Science program:
- Students can acquire literacy expertise through the pursuit of science knowledge and by engaging in scientific and engineering practices.
- Attention to disciplinary literacy instruction should begin as soon as students enter school and should continue throughout the grades.
- Participation in a community is key to acquiring disciplinary expertise and literacy.
- Argumentation and explanation are the central enterprises of science and, thus, these practices are the focus of reading, writing, and speaking in science.
Reading in Amplify Science
Amplify Science provides students with well-written, grade-level appropriate informational texts alongside explicit, embedded instruction on reading in science. Throughout the program, students are apprenticed into reading like scientists – that is, reading actively, curiously, and critically, with a focus on making meaning and using the text as a source of evidence. As students read science texts in conjunction with other multimodal experiences around a topic (doing, talking, visualizing, writing), they increase their skill in accessing these complex texts, as well as their understanding of the importance of text for finding information. Reading informational text is inexorably linked to students’ investigations in each unit. Firsthand investigations provide background knowledge and context for students’ reading, and, in turn, the text provides information, evidence, and support for investigations in progress. In addition, the program includes many books and articles that introduce diverse scientists currently working in the field to highlight science and engineering as a vibrant and viable career choice for students.
Reading in Amplify Science is approached from an inquiry stance – students ask questions, make connections, evaluate information, search for evidence, and clarify difficult concepts as they read. This approach focuses on the practices and processes by which experts in a field obtain, evaluate, and communicate information, including arguments, explanations, data, and visual representations used to explain scientific concepts. Across the program, the teacher models, and students practice, reading like scientists while using reading strategies and approaches that are appropriate to the task, purpose, and grade level. Along with explicit instruction, teachers model strategic reading by thinking aloud as they read, asking questions, and linking the information in the text to their class’s investigations. Students are then provided with multiple opportunities to read and discuss ideas with peers, using the text as a resource for information and evidence. Reading and discussing texts in these ways builds students’ capacity to read strategically while simultaneously building their understanding of science content. The scaffolded reading experiences at each grade level help students learn to approach complex texts in systematic ways and will aid them as they read other science texts throughout their school careers.
TEXT DESIGN AND ACCESSIBILITY Each Amplify Science unit includes custom-written informational texts. In K–5, there are five student books (four informational books and one reference book) per unit; in grades 6–8, there are multiple student articles per unit. These informational texts are designed to support students’ understanding of science ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts, as well as to showcase the work of diverse scientists. An important goal of the Amplify Science program is to provide appropriately complex science texts for students that support, link to, and expand their firsthand science learning. To accomplish this goal, it is critical that the texts are accessible to as many students as possible. All Student Books, articles, and other student materials are reviewed for accessibility and readability using the three-dimensional model of text complexity (qualitative, quantitative, and reader-and-task considerations) set out by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA).
The qualitative dimension of text complexity focuses on the purpose, structure, language conventions, and knowledge demands of a text. Books and articles were written, reviewed, and edited by members of the Lawrence Hall of Science team of professional educators and science writers during the development of each unit. They are tailored to address concepts students are learning in the unit, and use the same language and vocabulary throughout so students encounter consistent terminology across modalities of learning (reading, writing, doing investigations, discussing).
The texts also include carefully created or selected visual representations such as diagrams, photographs, and illustrations that support and/or provide additional information. The placement of each book or article within the instructional sequence is carefully designed and classroom-tested so that the text is supportive of student content learning in a variety of ways, and provides just-in-time information, reinforcing key ideas or introducing new ones within the unit.
On the quantitative dimension, each book and article was designed and reviewed using internally developed criteria for each grade. Each book or article was analyzed against a list of commonly used words, as well as criteria for calculating the difficulty of decodable words. The number of unique hard words in each text was controlled, with the percentage of hard words varying based on the grade level. At the same time, a small set of core science vocabulary words related to the science ideas students are learning was repeatedly used across a set of books or articles because repeated encounters with words in context is one way that students learn and internalize them. In addition to our internal approach to readability, each book or article in grades 1–8 was analyzed by MetaMetrics and assigned a Lexile Measure. This allowed us to ensure that books and articles fall within recommended Lexile Measures found in the updated Text Complexity Band in Supplemental Information for Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: New Research on Text Complexity.
Reader and task considerations are related to whether a particular text is appropriate for particular students and particular tasks. The placement of books within the Amplify Science program of instruction was carefully considered as part of unit design. Books were strategically placed within the sequence of instruction to ensure they are appropriately tied to what students are learning and that students are adequately prepared to read them with appropriate support. Sometimes this means that students read a text before conducting a firsthand investigation because it serves the purpose of activating and enhancing students’ background knowledge about a topic and sparking an interest in a scientific idea. At other times, students read a book after they have had a chance to investigate and develop ideas about the phenomenon firsthand because reading will help them generate more evidence to support claims. We cannot know all the individual learning needs of every reader the program reaches; however, the design and placement of the books was also informed by survey data from field trial teachers. These teachers were asked to evaluate field trial versions of the books and accompanying lessons based on several criteria, and to comment on how well the instruction and respective text worked for different readers.
More information on reading in Amplify Science available through in-person professional learning and within the Program Guide included with purchase.
mCLASS® with DIBELS® 8th Edition is Oregon approved!
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition and mCLASS Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) helps teachers identify COVID-related learning loss and literacy needs firsthand through a quick, five-minute assessment that can be done virtually or in person. What’s more, it helps teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student.
What is mCLASS?
mCLASS® with DIBELS® 8th Edition and mCLASS RAN is an integrated, gold standard literacy system for grades K–6.
The mCLASS comprehensive system includes efficient one-minute measures, a built-in Enhanced Early Learning Measures screener, teacher-led and student-driven instruction, intervention, and robust reports for teachers and administrators.
With mCLASS, you can say goodbye to cobbling together tools and second guessing the results of other screeners.
University of Oregon
Together with the University of Oregon, we have made the DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment that you know and love more powerful and user-friendly than ever before.
As the only licensed provider of the digital DIBELS 8th Edition assessment, we make it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey.
Why mCLASS?
It’s a single solution that meets all of the state’s requirements for Early Screening of Dyslexia.
- It’s a universal early literacy screener, dyslexia screener, and a diagnostic tool in one.
- It allows for real-time assessment and instant scoring as well as offline assessment capabilities.
- It includes explicit literacy instruction and intervention strategies based on student performance.
- It’s flexible and can be implemented in a variety of scenarios, including in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments.
- It includes a variety of parent notification resources and at-home reading strategies.
- It’s continually enhanced with new features and regular updates that are made available to our entire user community.
Instant data and action
Quick and actionable reports provide detailed insight into students’ reading development across foundational literacy skills for classroom teachers and literacy specialists, principals and district leaders, and parents and guardians at home.
What’s more, mCLASS® with DIBELS® 8th Edition and mCLASS RAN gives you instant results and clear next instructional steps for each and every student.
Dyslexia screener
Early intervention is critical. That’s why we help you meet state dyslexia legislation with one single powerful tool—no additional assessment system required.
Our additional measures in vocabulary, spelling, and rapid automatic naming (RAN) address the full range of skills associated with dyslexia risk and help identify students at varying levels of risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia.
Assess anywhere
mCLASS has created a collection of resources to help you plan for a variety of assessment scenarios.
Whether your school is engaged in in-person, hybrid, or remote instruction, we know how important it is for teachers and administrators to have a full (and firsthand!) picture of every student’s literacy development.
Personalized practice
Amplify Reading is the practice and remediation companion to mCLASS. At its heart, there are three main areas that make Amplify Reading a unique and essential supplemental learning program.
- The program meets all students where they are with powerful individualized instruction and practice.
- Age-appropriate narratives create a learning experience that leaps off the screen.
- Research shows Amplify Reading improves student performance–particularly among English Learners–reducing the overall percentage of students at risk of reading difficulty.
Funding
Schools may utilize Early Literacy Grants or federal CARES Act funds to purchase assessments to meet Oregon’s screening legislation.
Resources
Get in touch
Ready to discuss how mCLASS can support your specific needs? A brief 30-minute call is all we need to determine if mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is the right fit for you.
Simply fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch.
Patric Momsen
District Manager
Jonathan Cohen
Account Executive
Immanuel Moon
Field Manager
S3-04: Using AI and ChatGPT in the science classroom
In the latest episode of the Science Connections podcast, we explore AI in education and its impact on students. Listen as I sit down with teachers Donnie Piercey and Jennifer Roberts to discuss ChatGPT and how we can use it to build science and literacy skills in K–12 classrooms while preparing students for the real world.
And don’t forget to grab your Science Connections study guide to track your learning and find additional resources!
We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!
Jennifer Roberts (00:00:00):
If a kid graduates from school without knowing that AI exists, they’re not gonna be prepared for what they face out in the world.
Eric Cross (00:00:07):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross.
Eric Cross (00:00:12):
This season of the podcast, we’re making the case for everyone’s favorite underdog, science. Recently we’ve been highlighting the magic that can come from integrating science and literacy. So if you haven’t checked out those recent episodes, definitely go back in your feed after you’re done with this one. This time around, we’re going to deep dive into what artificial intelligence means for literacy instruction, and how science can be a force for good, in responsibly exposing students to AI. To help me out, I’m joined by two extremely accomplished educators. Jen Roberts, a veteran high-school English teacher from San Diego, who among many things runs the website LitAndTech.com. And I’m also joined by fifth-grade teacher Donnie Piercey. In addition to being Kentucky’s 2021 Teacher of the Year, Donnie also has an upcoming book about bringing AI into the classroom. Whether you’ve never heard of ChatGPT or whether you’re already using it every day, I think you’ll find this a valuable discussion about the intersection of science, English, and technology. Here’s Jen and Donnie.
Eric Cross (00:01:17):
So first off, welcome to the show. It’s good to see you all. What I wanna do is kind of start off by introducing both of you. And so we’ll just go K–12. So <laugh>, Donnie.
Jennifer Roberts (00:01:30):
Donnie goes first.
Eric Cross (00:01:31):
Donnie’s gonna go first. Donnie out in Kentucky. Just a little background. What do you teach; how long you’ve been in the classroom; and what are you having fun with right now?
Donnie Piercey (00:01:38):
Yeah, so my name is Donnie Piercey. I’m a fifth-grade teacher from Kentucky. Live and teach right here in Lexington, Kentucky, right in the center of the state. I’m the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year. But I’ve been teaching elementary school for the past … I think this is year 16 or 17. It’s long enough where I’ve lost count, and I can’t even count on fingers anymore. My friends like to joke that I’ve taught long enough where now I can count down. You know, it’s like, “All right, only so many more years left.” But yeah, teach all subjects. Science definitely is one of the subjects that I don’t just try to squeeze into my day, but make sure that … it’s not even a devoted subject, but one that I definitely try to — don’t just have that set time, but also try to do some cross-curricular stuff with it. So definitely the rise of AI in these past few months, which feels like years by this point, has definitely played quite the role, in not just changing the way that I’ve been teaching science, but really all my subjects. So, excited to chat with y’all about it.
Eric Cross (00:02:47):
Nice. I’m excited that you’re here. And Jen?
Jennifer Roberts (00:02:51):
Hi, I’m Jen Roberts. I teach ninth-grade English at Point Loma High School, and that’s where I usually stop when I introduce myself. But for your sake—
Eric Cross (00:03:00):
I will keep introducing you if you stop there. <laugh>
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:04):
I am nationally board-certified in English Language Arts for early adolescence. I am the co-author of a book called Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning, from Stenhouse, with my fabulous co-author Diana Neebe. Shout out to Diana. I blog at LitAndTech.com about teaching and technology and literacy and the intersection of those things. And I’m looking forward to talking about how AI is showing up in my classroom and the fun things I’m doing with it.
Donnie Piercey (00:03:31):
And one of us is actually secretly a robot, and you have to guess which one.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:35):
Have to guess which one. Yes. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:03:37):
That would be super-meta. And you were the CUE — Computer-Using Educator — outstanding teacher or educator? Whatever. Either one. Of the year.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:45):
I was the CUE ’22 Outstanding Educator. Yes. And I’ve won a few other things as well.
Eric Cross (00:03:53):
The gaming backpack.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:54):
I’ve won a gaming backpack recently! Yes. I once won an iPad in a Twitter chat.
Eric Cross (00:03:58):
What?
Donnie Piercey (00:03:58):
What’s a gaming backpack? Hold on. We need to talk about that.
Jennifer Roberts (00:04:01):
We will talk about that. <laugh> And then, I was once a finalist for county Teacher of the Year. That’s as close as I got to Donnie. Donnie was the Kentucky Teacher of the Year. He got to go to the White House and stuff. That was exciting.
Donnie Piercey (00:04:13):
<laugh> I mean, to be fair, there’s only three million people in Kentucky, and about what, 50 million people that live in California? <Laugh> So odds are definitely stacked in my favor, I think.
Jennifer Roberts (00:04:23):
So you’re saying we’re even there? Is that, is that what you’re going for?
Donnie Piercey (00:04:25):
Yeah, evens out. Evens out.
Eric Cross (00:04:27):
So I’ve been looking forward to talking to you both for a while now, and talking about artificial intelligence. It’s like the big thing. And both of you, at different ends of the spectrum and in my life, have contributed to this. Donnie, you’ve been sharing so much great information online about how you’re using AI in elementary. Jen, you are the reason I got into education technology years ago, right when I was becoming a teacher. And so being able to talk with you both about it excites me a lot. So first off, for the listeners who may not have any experience with it — and there’s still a lot of people out there who have not been exposed to it, haven’t got their feet wet with it yet — I’m hoping we could start off maybe with an explanation of … we could do AI, ChatGPT, I know that’s the big one. But simply explaining what it is, just for the new person. And whoever wants to start off can tell us about it. Or maybe we’ll start … we’ll, let’s actually, let’s do this: Let’s continue going like K–12? So Donnie, maybe you could … what’s your pitch to the new person of, “Hey, this is what it is”?
Donnie Piercey (00:05:31):
All right. So, AI, artificial intelligence, probably the way that most people are exposed to it, at least since November when it launched, is through ChatGPT. Where if you Google it, you know it’s made by a company called OpenAI. The best way to describe what it is … when you go there for the first time, make an account, it’s free. You have like a little search window, looks like a Google search bar. And instead of searching for information, you can ask it to create stuff for you. So for example, like on Google search, you might type in a question like, “Who was the 19th president of the United States?” Where on ChatGPT, instead of just searching for information, it creates stuff for you. So you could say, you could ask it to, “Hey, write a poem about the 19th president of the United States.” Or, “Write a short little essay comparing, I don’t know, Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King Jr.” And it would do that for you. You know, that’s most people’s first exposure to AI, at least in these past few months. Instead of … you know, it’s artificial intelligence, but it’s not just chatbots. There’s lots of other AI that exist out there.
Jennifer Roberts (00:06:47):
And I think that’s the thing: that people don’t realize how much AI is already in their lives.
Donnie Piercey (00:06:51):
For sure. Yeah.
Jennifer Roberts (00:06:52):
You know, they just haven’t seen … the term that I see being used a lot now is “generative AI.” AI that can produce something. It can produce writing, it can produce art, it can produce a script, it can produce a character. But the AI that has been helping you pick what to watch next on Netflix and the AI that’s helping Google help you get where you wanna go on Google Maps faster, those are forms of artificial intelligence as well.
Donnie Piercey (00:07:21):
Yeah. I mean, even those, when you get that that message in Gmail, and instead of having to type out that response that says, “Yeah, that sounds great,” you can just click the little button that says, “Yeah, that sounds great.” I mean, that’s been in Gmail for years, but that’s artificial intelligence too.
Eric Cross (00:07:39):
Absolutely. So why is it important, do you think, for educators to, to be familiar with it? Like, why are we all so excited about it?
Jennifer Roberts (00:07:47):
So, educators need to know what kids are into, and kids are obviously into ChatGPT. And anyone who’s an educator right now has probably already had something cross their desk — or more likely their computer screen — that was written by AI and passed off as a student’s own work. And that is, of course, the great fear among teachers everywhere, that this is what kids are just gonna do these days and they won’t be able to catch it and children won’t be doing their own work and this and this. But I think the big reason teachers need to know what’s going on is because teachers need to be futurists. Our clientele will live in the future. We teach kids, kids will become adults, adults will live in the world. And so if we’re not thinking about and trying to predict on some level what’s gonna happen 5, 10, 15 years from now … we might be wrong, but what if we’re right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:08:38):
And if we’re not at least trying to think about what is their future world gonna look like, then we’re not serving our students well. I did a whole night talk on that. So I think ChatGPT is part of that. I teach seniors. I had this moment of realization I felt a few months ago. I’m like, “This is gonna be the world they graduate into. They need to know what this is before they leave me.” If I don’t teach them how to use this well, and not the way they’re using it — which is to copy and paste the teacher’s assignment and drop it into ChatGPT and take whatever it spits out and turning that in without even looking at it — if I don’t teach ’em how to use it critically, if I don’t teach them how to write effective prompts, if I don’t teach them how to use the AI as a tool, as a collaborator, then they’re gonna graduate into a world where they lose out to people who do know how to do that. And I think the advantage goes to kids who have access and knowledge of what’s in front of them and what’s available, and can use all of the tools at their disposal. Because when you’re writing in school and you write with a collaborator, that could be considered cheating. But when you do that out in the adult world, that’s considered doing a good job. <Laugh> Being a team player. <Laugh> You know, adults don’t work alone for the most part. And adults are expected to churn out beautiful, perfect content no matter how they got there. So if I’m not teaching my kids how to use this, they’re not being ready. They’re not gonna be ready to be the adults that I want them to be.
Donnie Piercey (00:10:07):
A hundred percent agree. And I also believe … as you know, I teach elementary school. I also don’t think anybody is saying that on the first day of kindergarten, you hand a kid a Chromebook and load up an AI chatbot or ChatGPT and say, Hey, this thing’s gonna do all your work for you for the next 12 years; just coast through life. You don’t have to think creatively. You don’t have to learn how to develop a paragraph or learn how to write a speech or develop an idea. Like, I don’t think anybody’s saying that, because as an elementary school teacher, there’s many days when I’m like, “Y’all, we’re just putting the Chromebooks away today and we’re just gonna go old-school. We’re just gonna maybe just jot down five quick ideas and stand up and present those ideas to the class.”
Donnie Piercey (00:10:54):
Because while AI definitely will, like you were saying, Jen, play a significant role in the lives of our students who are, not just graduating, but the 10- and 11-year-olds in my classroom this year. A significant role in their lives. It’s also really important to recognize that we’re not saying that this means that “Hey, kids don’t have to work anymore.” They still have to put forth that effort. There’s still — one of the ways that you become a good writer is by trial and error. And sometimes that trial and error comes through talking to a teacher or talking like you were saying to a peer or collaborating with a peer and saying to them, “Well, this sentence here, this paragraph here, really doesn’t make sense.” And I do believe one of the ways — especially as AI starts to become more fine-tuned and starts to be embedded more and more in tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word — is it’s almost going to be a tutor to students.
Donnie Piercey (00:11:56):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Where I could very easily see in a few years, or maybe a few months, who knows what Google or any of these other big companies has rolling out, where a student could highlight a paragraph that they wrote simply, and then say, “Hey, proofread this for me,” or “Check for coherence.” Or even just ask a simple question: “Does this paragraph make sense?” Because you can already do that. You can copy a paragraph over into a chatbot and say, “Hey, does this make sense?” You know, “Rate my idea from one to 10,” and it’ll do that for ’em.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:26):
We did that last week <laugh>.
Donnie Piercey (00:12:28):
Yeah. Right. I mean, that’s the thing. That technology exists now. It’s just not totally embedded yet. But based on what I’ve read and what I’ve seen, that’s gonna happen sooner rather than later. And it’s really, really important that we teach our students that, “No, you’re not just gonna use this, this tool to cheat, but you can use this tool to help you become a more creative student.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:50):
This is the use case in my classroom. Can I talk about that? You ready for that?
Eric Cross (00:12:53):
Please.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:54):
OK.
Eric Cross (00:12:54):
Please.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:55):
So my ninth graders are writing a comparative analysis essay, where I took them to the student art gallery and I made them pick two pieces of completely unknown student art and take notes on it, so they could go back and write this essay. And as soon as we got back to class, I said, can ChatGPT write this for you? And they all kind of froze ’cause I didn’t tell them what ChatGPT was. And they weren’t sure if they were allowed to know or not. And finally one of them kind of bravely raised his hand and said, “No.” And I said, “Why not?” And he said, “Well, the AI hasn’t seen the art. How can it write an essay about art when the art is completely original that we just went and looked at?” I said, “It’s almost like I planned it that way, isn’t it?” And they laughed nervously. And then I said, “Does that mean it can’t help us with this assignment?” And they said, “Well, no — of course it can’t help us, because it has not seen the art.” And I said, “Well. …” And I open ChatGPT, and I typed in what they were trying to do: “I need to write a comparative analysis essay comparing two pieces of student art on these reasons. And I need to choose which one did it better, basically. Can you help me with an outline?” and ChatGPT produced a lovely outline. And I looked at that with my students and we looked at it together and I said, “This is what it gave us. Would this be helpful to you?” And they’re like, “Yeah, that would be helpful to us.” So we — to be clear here, I was the only one using ChatGPT in the room. They were not actually using it. We were using it together. I copied and pasted the outline that it gave us and put it in their learning management system where they could access it so they could use the outline that the robot provided, and then they could use that to make their own writing better. So then I let them write for a little while, and, after they’d written for a little while, I said, “Does anybody wanna let me share your first paragraph with ChatGPT and see what it thinks of how you’re doing?” And a brave student raised his hand and we took his paragraph and we put it in ChatGPT, and it spit back advice. We said, “This is what I have so far for my first paragraph. Do you have any advice for me?” And we gave it the writing, and the first piece of advice it gave back was very generic, you know, “Add a hook,” you know, like kind of thing. But after that, it started to get more specific about things he was actually doing in his writing. And it started to give him some feedback. And we looked at that together as a class. And I said, “Does any of that feedback help you?” And he said, “Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m gonna go add some revisions to my paragraph.” And other students did too. They looked at the feedback he got and used that to improve their writing. And so everybody went and revised. And I said, “Look, if you take what the robot gives you and you copy and paste it, and you turn it in as your own work, it’s gonna get flagged for plagiarism. And that’s not gonna go well. But if it gives you writing advice the same way I would give you writing advice, and you decide that advice is good, and you take that advice and you incorporate it into your own writing yourself, then the robot’s making you better, but you’re still the one doing your own writing.” And the writing they turned in from that assignment was, was better. It wasn’t written by ChatGPT; it was still about the student art that they found in the gallery. But I showed them a path. Like, it can help you with an outline, it can help you with feedback. Right? These are fair ways to use it that’s gonna make you better. And they really liked that. They really liked — no one had shown them that before. The idea that you don’t just take the teacher’s prompt and give it to it … like, these are new uses to students and worked well.
Eric Cross (00:16:17):
So right now, you both just laid out these ways that you’re using it. And I do this with people that I’m trying to introduce to ChatGPT or AI. ‘Cause I get excited. Anyone could write a 500-word persuasive essay on the use of color in The Great Gatsby or The Outsiders, and they can get something back within seconds. But for a lot of educators, it might feel like the sky is falling.
Donnie Piercey (00:16:43):
Oh, understandably! Understandably. I mean, that totally makes sense.
Eric Cross (00:16:49):
What would you say to them? Donnie, go ahead.
Donnie Piercey (00:16:51):
Yeah. Well, I feel like every teacher kind of goes through the same experience when they see like a generative chatbot. I mean, all these major companies are gonna start incorporating AI, the generative AI piece. And a lot of times, when they see it for the first time, two things. First they’ll say “Oh, but I’ll know that that’s not my students’ writing.” Which, frankly, I think is a good thing, because that tells me that the teachers know their students’ writing. They’ve seen them write in person. They’ve conferenced with them one-on-one. And if a student were to turn something in to me, who I know might be a struggling writer, maybe it’s not their strength, and all of a sudden they’re turning in this10-page dissertation-worthy thesis written at a PhD level, I’m like, “All right, man, you’re nine. Can we talk about where this came from?” <laugh> But I also don’t think that at like the heart, I don’t feel like kids want to cheat. I really don’t. I feel like sometimes like kids are in a situation where they’re like, “OK, I’ve got nothing left. I gotta get this assignment done.” And when those kind of things happen, that’s when we as teachers, we have those one-on-one conversations. Even when I showed my students ChatGPT and even some of the AI image-generating stuff for the first time, and I talked to them about, “What do y’all think about this?” Because, you know, they’re under 13. In my district, ChatGPT is blocked for students. Staff, we have access to it. And that’s just because one, it’s so new, and at the same time, we need to figure out, “What’s the best way they can go about using this tool?” But when we were talking about it as a class, you know, I didn’t want to ignore the elephant in the room. So I asked them, I said, “Hey, do you feel like this is something that you all would use to. …” I mean, I used the word. I said “cheat.” And to be honest, the majority of the students in my class, they were taken aback. They’re like, “What? You think we just would cheat all the time?” Right? <Laugh> And I’m like, “Oh, well good. I’m glad to know that integrity is still alive and well.” But yeah, that’s definitely my thoughts on it, as far as not only the student integrity piece — I think that that’s the big thing that you need to just bring up with your students. Because again, I like to think that I’ve seen my students write enough that if they were going to turn something in that wasn’t their voice, or it didn’t sound like them, like I could have that conversation. And don’t be surprised, too, if in the next … I don’t know, one month to a year, there’s lots of AI detectors that exist. A lot of them are these like third-party things. You can go ahead, but I would not be surprised if in the next year or so, like you start to see those AI detectors be built into Google Docs, into Microsoft Word, into even Canva. And honestly, it’s almost like a fail-safe button for teachers, that we could say “All right, this is telling me that this is 99% probably written by AI.” So you can have that conversation with a student that way.
Jennifer Roberts (00:20:03):
I mean, if you’re worried about it, Formative, right now, will even tell you if something is copy-and-pasted into the boxes that they give you for students to write in. I find that kids who cheat are desperate, you know. Especially at the high school level. They’re panic mode. And, and usually their panic comes from, “I have no idea how to even start this assignment.” And so part of what I wanna use ChatGPT for is to lower that barrier for them. Like, you’ve got an assignment, you don’t know where to start. Tell the robot, tell ChatGPT, about the assignment and ask it for a list of steps. You know, ask it for an outline. Ask it for a time management plan. I see so much tremendous potential for this to help many of my students with IEPs who have executive functioning issues.
Donnie Piercey (00:20:49):
Oh, a hundred percent, right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:20:51):
Yes, a hundred percent. This can be their personal assistant who, you know, instead of me sitting with them one-on-one and saying, you know, “This is the task you need to do, let’s break it down into these six discrete chunks,” the artificial intelligence can do that for them. And it can do that for teachers too. <laugh>
Donnie Piercey (00:21:09):
Jen, I was just thinking about, how long until we see like the phrase artificial intelligence written onto a student’s IEP? I could see that happening very, very soon.
Jennifer Roberts (00:21:20):
Right? They should be able to use that. And then, also, of course, all of its amazing beneficials for teachers. I had to completely rewrite a unit of my curriculum. I knew what I wanted to do. I had some ideas of things I wanted to put in there. And I resorted to, I went to EducationCopilot.com and typed in my stuff that I had: You know, what standards I wanted to cover, what outcomes I was hoping for mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it generated an eight-week unit for me. And I actually told it then to go back and do it as a 12-week unit so that I’d have more stuff in there to go and cherry-pick to decide what I really wanted to do. But it gave me ideas. It gave me places to start. It saved me an hour of just brainstorming. And I don’t think that was cheating. I still got to go in and decide which ideas were valid. And I still got to … you know, I mean, I’m a teacher. Can I get accused of cheating? I don’t think that’s a thing. It’s—
Eric Cross (00:22:18):
That’s collaborating! It’s collaborating!
Donnie Piercey (00:22:20):
Collaborating! It’s a feature! It’s a feature.
Jennifer Roberts (00:22:22):
It’s Tony Stark talking to Jarvis. You know, they’re figuring it out together.
Donnie Piercey (00:22:26):
Oh, when you use the AI, Jennifer, do you call yours Jarvis? In my class we call him Jeeves. ‘Cause remember Ask Jeeves?
Jennifer Roberts (00:22:33):
I think Eric calls it Jarvis.
Eric Cross (00:22:35):
Yeah. Jarvis is gonna be the AI’s name when, when I can get that fully functioning. There are some things that you had said, I just wanna circle back on. Donnie, Jen — so what I heard was like, best intentions. The part you said about integrity and students wanting to cheat … even the mindset that we go in assuming our students, what they would want to do and assuming best intentions, really kind of frames how you look at this kind of technology. And then Jen, you kind of brought up why students cheat, and realizing that either they don’t feel equipped, or maybe it’s time management, or something else. But most people — and I believe this as an educator — most students want to learn, and they want to be able to perform and achieve. And when they cheat, it’s because they didn’t feel like they could, for whatever reason. Whether it’s it’s outside factors, whether it’s something internal, motivation, whatever it is.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:24):
Or they were very disconnected and just didn’t care.
Eric Cross (00:23:27):
Sure.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:27):
This is just busy work the teacher’s giving me, so I’m gonna give it very little of my time and energy. But I think, yeah, it can be that. But if the kid cares about it, if they wanna learn, they wanna learn, you know?
Eric Cross (00:23:40):
Right.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:40):
This is the day of the internet. Any kid can learn anything they really want to learn. And we see that all the time in our classes. The kid who has zero interest in what I’m teaching in English, but he is an expert coder, and that’s what he wants to spend his time learning. He’s like, “Can I read this C++ book as my independent reading book?” And I’m like, “You know, actually, you can. Go ahead.” <Laugh>
Eric Cross (00:24:01):
Yeah. And for both of you, saying that this makes content more accessible … and I think Donnie, or Jen, you said something about IEPs. I actually put in having it write an IEP to see what would happen. I gave it a prompt for a student’s ability level and I asked it to create a plan. And then I asked it to create a rationale. And it did! And it was good! I went through and vetted it. And right now … you know, a lot of it is funny, ’cause the conversation I’m having with different teachers is kind of like the Wikipedia one. Remember when Wikipedia first got out and everyone was like trying to discourage everybody from using it, because, well, it could be changed by anybody? And now everyone’s like, “Oh, check Wikipedia, and then steal the sources, ’cause they’re already done for you.” Like, the mindset has shifted since then. And I was talking to someone and they said, “Well. …” And I said, “We can use AI, it could be a tutor, these other things. …” And they said, “Yeah, but what happens?” And then insert apocalyptic scenario. Like, what happens if you don’t have access to wifi? And it reminded me of, for some reason, cooking classes. So in the 1700s you probably had to be able to farm to be able to generate your food. Right? Like, you had to get it from somewhere. But if you take a culinary class now, you just go to the grocery store. And someone might say, “Well, but you should know how to farm, ’cause what if there was this worldwide apocalypse and nobody could go to the grocery stores?” <Laugh> And you’re like, “Well, balance of probability though.” You know, it’s like we’ve been really been living in these iterations of life, and I think this next step for some folks … like, we don’t even realize, even like something like bank statements, right? So many folks are paperless. And there’s always a what-if scenario. What if you need it and the internet goes down. But we get so used to to to technology advancing and making our lives different. This kind of seems like that next iteration. And I wanna ask you this question: Are we looking at like the next calculator? The next internet, with this tech? Or do you think it’s too early to say?
Donnie Piercey (00:26:01):
Well, I’ve seen a lot of people compare ChatGPT to a calculator. I’ve seen that pop up on social media. There’s, “Oh well, no, this is like when the calculator was invented. Everyone was up in arms about how ‘that’s not what math students should do.’ Math should be pencil and paper, math should be this.’” However, you can give a kid a calculator and you can give ’em a word problem and they can punch in all the numbers, but they could do the wrong operation or they could put the decimal point in the wrong place, ’cause the student is still the one who’s controlling what’s on the calculator. Where with AI, all you gotta do is just copy it and then paste it into the bot and it’ll spit out whatever the question asked it for. Whether it was, you know, a 500-word rationale or proof for something in geometry, or if it’s analyzing data on a chart, it’ll do all that.
Jennifer Roberts (00:27:00):
Yes. But it’s not that magical. It’s back to what Eric did with the IEP. He put in a prompt and then he knew enough to ask for a rationale and then he knew enough about IEPs to critically read the results he got and make sure they actually worked for what he needed. He had to know all that. He was an expert using it to do an expert thing. My husband’s a computer scientist; he got ChatGPT to help him write an app, and it was a new programming language to him, and he could put in the data and he could ask for things that I would’ve never thought to ask for. But because he knows the language of computer science, he knew what to ask for. And when it gave him results that were bad, he could see that, and he could say, “Yes, but do it again, but without this,” or “make this part more efficient.” He, again, knew what to ask for. So I think the generative AI is, as a partner with humans, a powerful thing. But if the human doesn’t know what they’re doing, yeah. You’re still not gonna get great results.
Donnie Piercey (00:28:03):
<laugh> And I think that’s why I’m coming at this from the elementary school perspective, right? Because in K–5 students are still learning, like, “Hey, where does the decimal point go?” They’re still learning, you know, if you’re dividing by a two-digit number, where does the first digit go, if you go in the old long-division algorithm? And so they’re still acquiring that base-level knowledge that … I don’t know, maybe this is similar to in Jurassic Park when Jeff Goldblum says, “It didn’t take any knowledge to attain,” you know, “they stood on the shoulders of geniuses,” that whole thing. Like they had to acquire the knowledge for themselves, was his whole point. And so that’s why I don’t think it’s exactly the same as the calculator. It is definitely going to change things, in a similar way that the calculator did. But to me it’s just a whole new animal. And I don’t know if it’s going to be like the next internet, Eric — if you’re gonna get little devices that have AI built into it, like a Star Wars kind of thing, like a droid or something that follows you around — all that would be kind of cool, not gonna lie. But whether it’s something that you’ll access through the internet, something that’s built into your TV, that part I don’t know. But I do know that there’s a reason why all of these apps and all these companies are investing so much — not just energy, but time and money into it. Because they’re recognizing. “OK, this really has the potential to change things.” But if used well, and used safely, to change people’s lives for the better.
Eric Cross (00:29:41):
So I definitely hear that you both agree with the statement that if AI ChatGPT was used in the classroom, it could be a force for good. And literacy development. And I wanna shift gears a bit and then come back to the AI. So with that said — and we’re gonna get into some best practices in a minute — in Science Connections right now in this season, we’re making the case for how science can do more in classrooms and in schools. And so I’m I’m curious about what both of you think about the role in science fostering a better future when it comes to AI and education. And this season we’re really talking a lot about literacy. You know, in schools, so often it’s taught in a siloed way. And Donnie, you’re doing multi-subject. Jen, you’re single-subject: English. And we’ve really been trying to make this case for how science can actually support literacy, and these skills that students are trying to develop. So we’re going a little old-school, kind of diving into your content specialty, but maybe even pre-AI, or maybe AI has a component in this. But Don, maybe we’ll start with you. How has science been a way that has been helpful for your own literacy instruction? I know you do a lot of science, because I see your Google Earth stuff and the thing you did with the solar systems back in the day. And I think —.
Donnie Piercey (00:30:54):
Oh my gosh! You remember my <laugh> … wow.
Eric Cross (00:30:58):
That was amazing!
Donnie Piercey (00:31:00):
We haven’t done that since the pandemic. But I had my students go out, and using Google Earth, we built a scale model. Each of the students partnered up and they planned out on Google Earth a scale model of the solar system. They picked an object from around their house and we talked about like, “Don’t pick something bigger than a beach ball, or else, you know, your Neptune’s gonna end up like 10 miles away.” But you know, they just picked like a small ball, like a basketball, soccer ball, something like that. Or football, for international friends. And then we calculated the size of every other planet. And then on Google Earth, using their front lawn as where the sun was, then we went and we calculated where other planets would be, and then we actually drove to those locations and like held up the objects that would represent Neptune, Jupiter, Saturn, and all that. But it was a lot of fun.
Eric Cross (00:31:59):
And is that still accessible? ‘Cause I know you have some websites that you put resources out there.
Donnie Piercey (00:32:03):
Yeah. Yeah, I can … I wanna say on my Resources page — Resources.MrPiercey.com — I’ve got a link on there to a couple of student examples that I can share. And if not, when we get off this call, I’m gonna go on and put them on there <laugh> so people can find it. I’ll even throw on there just the assignment itself. So if you wanted to copy that and do that with your students, you could.
Eric Cross (00:32:27):
Donnie, the reason why I brought that up is because I saw that you had posted that or shared it a long time ago, and I just thought it was the coolest thing that you could totally do with middle-school students or high-school students. Jen, when I became a teacher, you said, “We’re all teachers of literacy.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:32:43):
<laugh> Yeah. I think we forgot to tell them that I was one of your professors.
Eric Cross (00:32:47):
Yes. <Jennifer laughs> One of the people who’ve definitely influenced and shaped my teaching. And that statement has never left my mind: that we’re all teachers of literacy. And I want to ask you, at the high-school level, how can science educators, or how can science — how have you seen it, or how does it, support literacy, when it’s done right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:33:09):
Like I said, I think we’re all teachers of literacy, but I think literacy is bigger than just reading and writing. I don’t think someone is literate if they can’t talk somewhat knowledgeably about what’s happening with climate change. I don’t think someone’s literate if they don’t know what’s going on in the world. And I think so much of what’s going on in the world has to do with science. We’re doing that all the time. If I could teach English just by giving kids articles about science, things to read, that would make my day. Right? We would never read another piece of fiction again. It would all be, you know, what’s happening to the ice sheet in Greenland. My students thrive on reading non-fiction. And then whenever that non-fiction touches on science is even more interesting. And whenever I can get them writing about data, particularly their own data that they collected, I think that’s building those science literacy skills as well. So I think science and English blend together very, very well. I think the literacy aspects of that are fantastic. There are more subject-specific vocabulary words, advanced vocabulary words, in science than any other discipline. And I don’t see why those shouldn’t come up in English as well. You know, my seniors will do a unit at the end of the year on the new space race. Unless I replace it with a unit about generative AI, which I’m seriously considering doing, ’cause I think they really need to learn about bias in AI algorithms and things like that. And I would like to have them read a whole bunch about that stuff. And I wanna give them the open letter that all those CEOs signed that said that AI research should slow down, and make them part of that live conversation about what’s happening in that field. So science comes into that. You know, when we read Into the Wild, we start talking about a whole bunch of scientific concepts. And when it rains in Southern California, we pull up weather maps and look at radar and talk about that and how that works.
Donnie Piercey (00:34:59):
That’s like once every 10 years, Jen? <Laugh>
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:02):
Well, actually, this year it rained a lot. It rained a lot in San Diego. Which is actually very high-interest for them. ‘Cause they wanna know, is it gonna be raining at lunchtime?
Eric Cross (00:35:12):
Jen, you said something … you have your students writing about data?
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:16):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (00:35:17):
Can you tell me more about that?
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:19):
So, this is something we’ve done with the ninth grade team for a long time now, is writing about their own data. So it started with a unit about stereotypes and stereotype threat. And they would collect data individually and then they would enter that data into a Google form and then we would give them the spreadsheet of the aggregate data from the whole ninth grade. And then we morphed that unit into one about academic honesty, and they filled out a survey at the beginning of the unit about their feelings about academic honesty and about experiences with academic honesty and cheating and homework and things like that. And then we would do the unit. We’d do all the readings in the unit. And they’d have these “aha” moments about things that were happening at other schools. And then at the end of the unit, we would give them back their own aggregate data and ask them to write about whether or not academic honesty was an issue at our school. And then to support that answer with evidence from their own dataset. So they had that spreadsheet to comb through and figure out, you know, where am I gonna stand on this? We give them the multiple-choice questions we gave them as the graphs, in Google Slides, so that they could write about them and talk about them, too. So yeah, getting kids to write about data. And the the sentence frames we gave them were sentence frames out of, They Say, I Say, from the chapter on writing about science. And <laugh> as they write this stuff, they’re like, “I feel so smart writing this way.” And I’m like, “I know, ’cause you’re writing about big important topics!” Right? And writing about their own data come to think of it is another great way to make an assignment both very personal to them, but also make it ChatGPT-proof, you know, if you’re looking for something that kids can’t just hand to the robot, the robot doesn’t have that data set.
Eric Cross (00:37:08):
Absolutely. And Donnie, at the elementary level, do you, do you make connections between science and literacy? In your class? You talked about with math, definitely with the solar system, but now, I’m curious, what are your newer projects? What have you been working on lately?
Jennifer Roberts (00:37:23):
What’s up now, Donnie?
Eric Cross (00:37:24):
Yeah, what are you doing?
Donnie Piercey (00:37:25):
Oh, man. Well, let me think. I’m just trying to think of some fun projects that we’ve done this year. Science that we can tie in Literacy and also some student creation. Just recently we had a … so I’ve wanted to expose my students to famous scientists that weren’t just white dudes from Europe. So for this year, what I did — and I actually used AI for this — I went into ChatGPT and I asked for 64 famous scientists and it listed them all off. And then I asked it, like, how many of these were white? And I think it said like 61 of them. You know, it had like Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and a couple of other … I didn’t know who they were. So I’m like, “All right, so we need to make this more diverse and make this more equitable.” ‘Cause you know, with the student population in my classroom, try to find equal representation to make sure they can see themselves in some of these scientists. So, eventually got it narrowed down to where I had about 64 scientists. Half are women, half are men from all continents except Antarctica. I assigned these scientists to my students. Some got two; some got three. And their assignment was to go and one, do some individual research on this person, find out what they were famous for, what they were most well-known for, turn it actually into a persuasive piece, where I said, “Hey, you’re gonna have one slide.” And I’ll tell you why I gave him one slide in a minute. On that one slide, you’ve gotta convince the person who sees it that this scientist is the most important scientist since the dawn of creation. I said, “You could use images, text — I don’t care if they were famous for something that you didn’t even understand what it was. It’s a persuasive piece. You’re 10. Go all out. Add gifs, do that whole thing.
Eric Cross (00:39:21):
This is awesome.
Jennifer Roberts (00:39:21):
I wanna do this project.
Donnie Piercey (00:39:23):
And if you picked up on the number 64, and I did this in March, so what we did was throughout the weeks of March Madness of the women’s and men’s NCAA tournament, whenever a game was going on, we had another round of voting. I just paired ’em up. I was gonna like seed them, like 1 to 64 — that’s just way too much work for me <laugh>. So I just kind of did random kind of thing. But all the students had to do — they just saw the slides side-by-side, and the only question they had was, “Based on what you see here, who is the most important scientist? This person or this person?” And it eventually came down to Carl Sagan going up against Marie Curie.
Eric Cross (00:40:04):
OK, that’s a good matchup.
Donnie Piercey (00:40:06):
Yeah, well, the Marie Curie slide, they just liked the radium piece. So they added like some green glowing gifs. And I said, “Guys, it doesn’t always grow glow green.” But whatever. Anyway, eventually Carl Sagan, in case you wanted to know, according to the 10-year-olds in my classroom, is the most important scientist in the history of the world. So I don’t know if I agree with that per se — I think maybe Newton or somebody else might have had something else to say about it — but fun assignment. It was a unique way to expose my students to a bunch of ideas. I remember the student that I assigned Newton, the only thing that that she knew about Isaac Newton was “Didn’t he get hit in the head with an apple?” And I said, “Well, not exactly, I think you might have read or maybe seen too many like old-school cartoons or whatever.” But she ended up doing some research. She’s like, “Oh, I’ve heard of that before! That equal and opposite reaction thing.” Didn’t know what it meant. I had another student that just got really … you know, if you’ve ever been on one of those YouTube kicks where it’s just, you go like nine levels deep onto like, “What does this theorem mean?” Student sits in back of my classroom, I walked by one day and he’s just watching something on like the fifth dimension and what it might be. And I said, “Oh, your scientist got you started on that.” So definitely was a lot of fun. Unique way to combine reading, writing, but also expose my students to some ideas. And we’re definitely gonna do it again. I’ve actually done this assignment before. I picked 64 random elements on the periodic table. But their only slide that they have to make is “What’s your element? What is it used for? And then, why is this the most important element since the dawn of creation?” <Laugh> And, you know, there’s always that student that gets hydrogen. They’re just like “Sweet!” Right? They get excited about that one. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:41:59):
Explosions.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:00):
Yeah. But then, for that kid who likes a challenge, or that student with the “gifted” label, you give them, like, einsteinium or palladium. Some of the more challenging ones. And they go all out with this. I didn’t use AI for that one, but it was kind of fun, and I figured it’d be neat to share an idea that another teacher could try.
Eric Cross (00:42:20):
Well you probably have at least two teachers right now that are gonna go and try that. And we’re both looking at you. So.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:24):
Go for it.
Eric Cross (00:42:25):
Thanks for that idea. I’m imagining my students coming in with jerseys with “neon.”
Donnie Piercey (00:42:29):
Oh yeah. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:42:30):
“Neon” on it. Just all ’80s out.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:33):
The game behind it, too, is you tell kids — again, this is just so the 10-year-olds in my class don’t get their feelings hurt — but I say, “Hey, and if your element gets knocked out, you just have to start cheering for whoever beats you in the tournament.” So by the end, you kind of got half the class cheering for one and half the class cheering for whatever.
Jennifer Roberts (00:42:53):
So the only thing I got outta that whole story that I’ve got for you is, as a child I met Carl Sagan. That’s all I got.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:02):
For real?
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:02):
For real.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:03):
So did he talk with that cadence and tone?
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:06):
Yes.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:06):
Like in real life? Wow.
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:07):
Yes. My father was one of the cinematographers on the original Cosmos. And I got to go to the set a few times.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:14):
That’s incredible!
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:15):
I did not appreciate what I was seeing as a child. But as an adult, I’m like, “That was cool. I was there.”
Donnie Piercey (00:43:20):
“You can see my shadow off in the distance.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:23):
I mean, maybe that’s part of why I’ve always had an interest in science. I’ve always had fantastic science teachers. Every science teacher I ever had was amazing.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:31):
I credit mine to Mr. Wizard. I don’t know if you ever watched Mr. Wizard and Beakman’s World?
Eric Cross (00:43:35):
I remember Mr. Wizard. Yep. Yep. I definitely remember Mr. Wizard, Beakman’s World, all those. That was on Nickelodeon back in the day. I had to get up early to watch that one. But there’s a YouTube video—
Donnie Piercey (00:43:44):
Six am!
Eric Cross (00:43:44):
<laugh> It was! It was super-early! But there was one, Don, I don’t know if you’ve seen this on YouTube, but it said “Mr. Wizard Is Mean,” and it’s just clips of when he’s—
Donnie Piercey (00:43:56):
Yelling at kids!
Eric Cross (00:43:56):
Chastising. Or being really direct. It’s just one after another.
Donnie Piercey (00:44:02):
He always asked ’em a question and if the kid, you know, didn’t answer it right, he’d be like, “Well, you’re not right, but you’re wrong.” You know, whatever. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (00:44:14):
I have to make sure I’m not subconsciously saying Mr. Wizard quotes when I’m talking in the classroom, when things are happening. But yeah, that video’s hilarious. So I just want to bring us back to AI, and ask this question: Do you think science has a special role to play when it comes to teaching kids about AI responsibly? Does science have a special role in that?
Jennifer Roberts (00:44:36):
I think the responsible piece of AI I wanna teach my students about is the part about the bias in the algorithms and the bias in the training. And I want them to understand how it works, well enough to make informed decisions about how it impacts their lives.
Donnie Piercey (00:44:56):
Hmm.
Jennifer Roberts (00:44:57):
Because I do have concerns about a tool that was trained on the internet. And the answers it gives you is the average of the internet. And do we trust the internet? And the answer from kids is always, “Well sorta, no.” <Laugh> So I want them to understand the social science behind that.
Donnie Piercey (00:45:18):
Yeah. And just along that same point, having the students recognize that just because, you know, you copy-and-paste a question in, the answer it spits out might not always be correct. So, teaching them that just like you would with a source that you find about a topic that you’re researching, you’ve gotta fact-check.
Jennifer Roberts (00:45:44):
It’s just like being a good scientist. A good scientist wouldn’t always accept a single result or the first result. You know, you would look at multiple angles. You would try things different ways. Last week I took the article my seniors were reading about victim compensation after 9-11, and in front of them, I gave ChatGPT, I said, “Are you familiar with this article by Amanda Ripley? And ChatGPT came back and said, “Oh yes, this was written in the Atlantic in 2020 and it’s about these things, blah, blah blah.” And my students looked at that and went, “That’s not the article we read.” And I said, “I know. It got it wrong. That’s amazing!” Yeah. And I was so happy that it got it wrong! ‘Cause I wanted them to see that happen.
Donnie Piercey (00:46:21):
And I guess one of the big science questions there, or one of the big science components there, is that idea of inquiry. Right? It’s almost like you have to teach students how to ask those deep questions about what AI spits out.
Eric Cross (00:46:35):
All of those tips are great. And it leads me to this last question I want to ask. New teachers that are out there — it actually doesn’t even matter; new teachers, experienced teachers, all of us are kind of new at different levels of this race. We’re all kind of starting it together. I mean, it hit mainstream. We’re all getting exposed to it. You all really dive into it. When tech comes out, I know you two really like, “OK, how can we use this to transform education and do awesome things for kids?”
Donnie Piercey (00:47:04):
Usually, when new tech comes out, “How can this make my life easier?” is usually the question. Yeah.
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:09):
“How can I save myself time with this?” Yes.
Donnie Piercey (00:47:11):
“How can this result in me watching more TV and you know, less grading,” sometimes.
Eric Cross (00:47:16):
And I start there like you, but then I end up more time that I fill with another project. And I need to learn how to stop doing that. I’m like, “Oh! I got more free time! … to go take on this other task.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:28):
Oh, all of my tech adoption is driven by “how can I work less?”
Eric Cross (00:47:32):
So you’re you’re talking to a new teacher, teacher’s getting exposed to this, they’re starting the school year or they’re just getting their feet wet with it. What advice would you give them about AI, incorporated into content or even just best practices? Where you’re at right now in your own journey, and someone’s asking you about it —what would you share with ’em? And Jen, I want to start with you.
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:53):
So, the first thing I did is I was in the middle of grading, you know, 62 essays from my seniors about Into the Wild, when ChatGPT became a thing last November. And I wanted to see what would happen. So the first thing I did was take the prompt that I had given my students and gave it to ChatGPT, ’cause I had just graded a whole bunch of those essays and my brain was very attuned to what my rubric was doing and what I was expecting as the outcome. So I could take what ChatGPT gave me as that quote unquote “essay” and evaluate it critically. And I was ready to do that. So my first advice is take something you’re already asking students to do and ask ChatGPT to do the same thing. So that as you look at the student results, you can compare that to what ChatGPTgives you. If what you’re finding is that ChatGPT can generate something that would earn a decent grade from you, you might need to change that assignment. And it doesn’t need to be a big change, but it might need a tweak or something, so that it, it does rely on the student voice, the students to do something more personal. I’m finding very helpful in my classroom is having my kids do projects where they are recording themselves on — I like Flip. So they’re writing a scene together and they’re having to record the scene together. And I’m emphasizing more of the speaking roles than the writing roles necessarily. So yes, first, take something you’re already doing, paste in to ChatGPT, see what the results are, see how that fits with what your students are doing, and then do that for every assignment you give and just sort of see what comes out of that, and see which assignments are failing and which assignments are working. ‘Cause that’s gonna give you a sense, when you do see one of those results from your students, you’ll be able to recognize it. But it’ll also help you tweak your assignments and decide, “How can I make this a little more original or a little bit more authentic for my students?” And if the robot, if the AI, can’t generate a response, what could the AI do that would be helpful to your students? Would be my next question. So can you use the AI to help them generate an outline? Can you use the AI to help them generate a list of steps to help them get started? And when you’re comfortable enough doing that by yourself, then don’t be afraid to open it in front of your class. If it’s not blocked at your school site, which I hope it’s not. Because I think the advantage goes to kids who have access to this in the long run, or at least see what it is and know what it is. Right? Because if a kid graduates from school without knowing that AI exists, they’re not gonna be prepared for what they face out in the world. So give them a chance to see you using it. Model effectively using it. I have a blog post about that. I just wrote it. LitAndTech.com. You can check that out. “Introducing 9th graders to ChatGPT.” How it went, right? There’s a chart there you can have. It’s my very first draft of this, but it seems to be very popular. So, you know, show students how it can be used as their mentor. If I can’t come read your paragraph because I have 36 kids in my classroom and I cannot stop and read everybody’s first paragraph, can you, if you want to, give your first paragraph to ChatGPT and ask for advice? And will that advice be helpful to you? So showing students how it can be used responsibly is, I think, something every teacher should be doing right now. And don’t hold back just because you’re afraid you’re gonna be teaching them what this is. They know what this is. Right?
Donnie Piercey (00:51:13):
They know what it is.
Jennifer Roberts (00:51:13):
Especially if you teach high school. They know what it is. I’ve had parents thank me for showing them how to use it responsibly. You know, this can actually be a really useful tool, but if you’re trying to make it do your work for you, it will probably fail you. If you’re trying to use it to help you do your work, it will probably be helpful. Sort of the way I’m breaking it down for them at this point. You want the great metaphor? The great metaphor is if you build a robot and send it to the top of a mountain, did you climb that mountain? No. If you build a robot and ask it to help you get to the top of the mountain, and you and the robot go together, did you climb that mountain? Yes.
Eric Cross (00:51:53):
I like that. I’m thinking through this. I’m processing that now.
Donnie Piercey (00:51:57):
Me too.
Eric Cross (00:51:59):
Yeah. I just imagine a robot holding my hand climbing Mount Everest and I’m like, “Yeah, I did it.”
Donnie Piercey (00:52:04):
If I got a robot though, like I would have to dress it like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2. Like I would just have to.
Eric Cross (00:52:10):
Of course.
Donnie Piercey (00:52:10):
Of course.
Eric Cross (00:52:13):
Donnie, same question. Advice. Teachers getting immersed into it. Tips. What would you say?
Donnie Piercey (00:52:20):
So, I would definitely agree with everything that Jen said. Just, if anything else, to familiarize yourself with it. Almost like pretend like it’s a student in your classroom and it’s answering questions, just so that way you can see what it can do. And you’re kind of training yourself, like, “Oh, well, if I ever need examples, exemplars.” If you’re in a writing piece and you don’t wanna sit there and write out four different types of student responses — you know, advanced writer, beginning writer, whatever — great way to to do that is you just—
Jennifer Roberts (00:52:48):
Oh yeah. We did that.
Donnie Piercey (00:52:48):
—copy the prompt in and give a beautifully written piece that a fifth grader would be impressed with. Boom. It’ll do it for you. In my classroom, the way that I approach it is I kinda look at AI as almost like this butler that I don’t have to pay. That if I need it to do something for me, it’s just bookmarked. I can click it. And I mean, sometimes I just talk to it like it’s a person. And it’s almost like, in the chat window, I’m just rambling at it, what I’m trying to do. And it’s almost like I’m talking to a coworker, and I’m trying to hedge out some ideas for a lesson. Simple example: For a science lesson, if you’re trying to come up with … let’s say you’re a fifth-grade — or, sorry, I teach fifth grade. Say you’re a seventh-grade science teacher. And you’re trying to teach the students in your class about Newton’s third law of motion. You know, every action [has an ] equal and opposite reaction. Look around your room. See what you have. Maybe look around and you’re like, “All right, I got a whiteboard, microscope, I’ve got magnets, a cylinder. …” And you just copy all this stuff into ChatGPT. Say, like, “Hey, I have all of these items. Cotton balls, peanut butter, whatever.” And say, “I’m trying to teach students Newton’s third law of motion. Give me some ideas of some ways I could teach it using some of these materials.” And it’ll do it! It’ll give you like five to 10 ideas!
Jennifer Roberts (00:54:15):
And then tell it what your students are into. Like, my students are really into basketball. Can you work that into this lesson?
Donnie Piercey (00:54:21):
Yeah! They’re into the Avengers! Hey, find some way to tie Spider-Man into this. You know, that was a pun that didn’t go so well. But, you know <laugh> figure out some way that you could incorporate this and it’ll do it. And Eric, like you said, it won’t be perfect. Right? But if anything else, if you’re a starting teacher and you’re trying to brainstorm ideas — try it.
Eric Cross (00:54:44):
And Donnie, as you were saying that, I was thinking — first, I imagined Spider-Man shooting cotton balls with peanut butter all over them — and then my mind went to having students have these items, like you were saying. And then they create labs, working alongside AI. To do inquiry. To create a lab about something, and then going and performing and collecting data. OK, that’s — now I wanna go do that tomorrow!
Donnie Piercey (00:55:10):
Listen, it is so easy to do. If you have an extra computer in your classroom. … We were talking about Jarvis and Iron Man and Tony Stark earlier. Make a new chat in ChatGPT. Tell it, “I want you to pretend that you are Tony Stark. Only answer questions as if you are Tony Stark.” Or “Pretend you’re Jarvis.” Whatever. “Stay in character the whole time. I’m going to have sixth grade students come up to you and ask you questions about science or forces of nature, and only answer questions like you’re Iron Man.” And guess what? You keep that station in your classroom. Students are working on a project — you know, in elementary school, a lot of times we’ll have that, “ask three before me” — you’re supposed to ask three friends before you go and bug the teacher. Well, maybe one of those “three before me” can be that little computer station, where they go up and ask Tony Stark a question, and then it answers them as Jarvis or Iron Man. I mean, we’re really just scratching the surface with all this AI stuff. And as more and more companies and more and more creatives are gonna start to realize everything that it can do, we’re gonna start to see it more and more. And hopefully we as teachers can really figure out how to use this tool to, of course, help students, but also help them be creative and explore and learn on their own.
Eric Cross (00:56:35):
That’s amazing. And just both of you are just dropping gems right now. And I wanna wrap up by saying — and I’ve said this before on earlier podcasts I’ve done — but at this phase in my life, the people that I’m the biggest fans of are teachers. And it’s true. I don’t mean that in a cliche way. When I watch celebrities and things like that, when I watch professional sports, that doesn’t fill me the way it used to when I was a kid. At this point, as a professional, I get inspired by other educators who are just doing awesome things. And when I think about educators who are doing that, you two are on that list of people that make me better. And when I get better, I can do better things for my kids. And so, one, I want to thank you for staying in the classroom and continue to support students. They’re so lucky to have you both. The second thing I wanted to say is, Jen, I wanna start with you. Where can people — and I know we said at the beginning — but where can people find the stuff that you put out? You got blogs, your social, your book.
Jennifer Roberts (00:57:28):
I got lots of social. Twitter, I’m JenRoberts1 on Twitter. And then my blog is LitAndTech.com. And then I’m on lots of the new social too, the Mastodons, the Spoutables, the Posts — those kinds of things — as just Jen Roberts, because I got in early and I got my real name without a 1. And there was some other one I’m on recently that I’ve forgotten about. But there’s lots of ’em. They’re fun. And I’m Jen Roberts. You can find me there.
Donnie Piercey (00:57:56):
And I’m SergeantPepperD on AOL, if anyone’s interested.
Eric Cross (00:58:00):
If you wanna hit Donnie up on AIM. <Laugh>
Donnie Piercey (00:58:03):
SergeantPepperD.
Jennifer Roberts (00:58:04):
You know, speaking of rock stars and people who do amazing things, I did write a blog post about using ChatGPT in the classroom, but I hear Donnie wrote a whole book.
Eric Cross (00:58:13):
Oh yeah. So, Donnie! Donnie, that’s a great segue. Thanks Jen. Donnie, how do people find out more? And can you tell us about this book you wrote, that’s coming out in the summer?
Donnie Piercey (00:58:22):
Yeah, so the book I wrote is called 50 Strategies for Integrating AI Into the Classroom. It’s published by Teacher Created Materials. They reached out to me. They had seen some of the stuff that I was doing, not just with ChatGPT, but also some image-generating AI stuff. You know, I got featured on Good Morning America, which was kind of cool. And they saw that and they said, ‘Hey, that looks really neat.” Reached out to me and asked me to write a book. And the idea behind the book, that launches this summer, it’s just 50 ideas, 50 prompts, different things that, as a classroom teacher, that you can do. So, you know, I think there’s so many AI books that are out there now. A lot of them are big ideas, which I think are important. Definitely important discussions that need to be, have around, the ethics of AI. What’s the role that AI should play in the classroom. But I just wanted to write a book, kind of like the discussion that, that Jen and I were just having, which is like, “Can we just share a whole bunch of ideas, different things that we could try with our students?” So definitely check it out. And I appreciate you giving me a shout-out too. That was cool, Eric. Thank you.
Eric Cross (00:59:35):
Of course. Definitely. And Donnie, your Twitter is again. …
Donnie Piercey (00:59:39):
Oh, @MrPiercey, M R P I E R C E Y.
Eric Cross (00:59:44):
Follow Donnie. Follow Jen. Tons of stuff on there. Both of you, thank you so much. For your time, for talking about students and how we can take care of them, science, literacy, AI. I hope we can talk about this again. I feel like even if in just six months, we might be saying different things. In a year, the landscape might completely change. And that makes it really fun. But thank you both for being on the show.
Jennifer Roberts (01:00:04):
Thank you for having us, Eric.
Donnie Piercey (01:00:05):
Thank you so much, Eric. We appreciate it, bud.
Eric Cross (01:00:10):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Jen Roberts and Donnie Piercey. Jen Roberts is a veteran English teacher at San Diego’s Point Loma High School and author of the book Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning. You can keep up with her at LitAndTech.com. And Donnie Piercey is a fifth-grade teacher from Lexington, Kentucky. He hosts the podcast Teachers Passing Notes. Stay up-to-date with him at Resources.MrPiercey.com. And let us know what you think of this episode in our Facebook discussion group, Science Connections: The Community. Make sure you don’t miss any new episodes of Science Connections by subscribing to the show, wherever you get podcasts. And as always, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more people and AI robots find the show. You can find more information on all of Amplify’s shows on our podcast hub, Amplify.com/hub. Thanks again for listening.
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Meet the guests
Jen Roberts is a Nationally Board Certified high school English teacher with 25+ years of experience teaching Social Science and English Language Arts in grades 7-12. She has had 1:1 laptops for her students since 2008 and is the co-author of Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning. A Google for Education Certified Innovator since 2011, Jen was named the CUE Outstanding Educator in 2022. Her interests include literacy instruction, standards based grading, and leveraging Google tools to make her teaching more efficient and effective.
Donnie Piercey, the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, is a fifth-grade teacher in Lexington, Kentucky. With a passion for utilizing technology to promote student inquiry, learning, and engagement, he has been teaching since 2007. In addition to being in the classroom, he runs a podcast, Teachers Passing Notes that is produced by the Peabody Award winning GZMShows, and holds several recognitions, including a National Geographic Fellowship to Antarctica in 2018. His most recent work in Artificial Intelligence has not gone unnoticed, earning him multiple appearances on Good Morning America, the Associated Press, and PBS. His upcoming book, “50 Strategies for Integrating AI in the Classroom” published by Teacher Created Materials, is written for educators looking for practical classroom approaches to using AI. All told, Donnie has been invited to keynote and present at schools in thirty-three states and on five continents.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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S1-10: Empowering the science educator: Jessica Kesler
In the final episode of the season, Eric sits down with his friend and professional development facilitator, Jessica Kesler. Jessica describes her passion for sharing free, high-quality, empathy-centered professional development for K12 educators. Jessica also shares her experience jumping into leadership positions while teaching in Philadelphia. Eric also chats with Jessica about how students often lean on teachers for more than delivering content. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Jessica Kesler (00:01):
One student at a time, isn’t gonna bring a million students through the door. But if we focus on their teachers, then they can implement it in their classroom and have this multiplicative effect that can continue on and help us to reach those millions of kids and helping them be prepared for future careers.
Eric Cross (00:19):
Welcome to science connections. I’m your host. Eric Cross. My guest today is Jessica Kessler. Jessica’s director of professional learning at TGR foundation, which is a tiger woods charity. There she creates and leads free stem, professional learning opportunities for educators across the country. Prior to working at TGR, Jessica worked as an elementary, middle and high school science teacher while fulfilling several leadership roles, including science department, chair and principal intern. In this episode, Jessica shares some of her classroom experiences while working in Philadelphia, where she was in classrooms, where her students needed her to be more than just her content. She also addresses how designing professional learning with empathy for teachers in mind creates better experiences for teachers. And now please enjoy my discussion with Jessica Kessler. So let’s, let’s start off with St. Joseph’s chemistry college to the classroom, like your origin story. What led you to ultimately get into the classroom and being successful, even just looking at, at your kinda like your resume or your CV of all of the things that you’ve done. You definitely weren’t idle, but start off with chem. Yeah. Like where did that passion come from?
Jessica Kesler (01:27):
Yeah. So when I was younger, I just had this burning passion to help people. Right. And when you’re young and you think about helping people, you think about doctors, doctors help people. Right. So I had this idea that I wanna be a surgeon. I wanna be a black surgeon. I wanna be a young girl, female Charles drew, and I just wanna go out there and do it. And so my mom is actually an alum of St Joe’s. So I spent a lot of time on campus cuz as she was getting her mini master’s degrees I will visit campus with her often. And so when I applied, I had the scholarships, had everything and I went in ready to be bio ready to be a surgeon. I took my first bio class and I was like, yes, let’s talk about the human body. And let’s get into dissections and sections. And they were like, okay, so a plant so has this. And I was like, Ooh <laugh> I was like, this is not what I was expecting at all. It just felt so detached from the trajectory that I wanted to take. And it just did not feed that passion of helping people in the immediate moment.
Eric Cross (02:31):
Did it, did it feel too abstract?
Jessica Kesler (02:33):
It felt abstract. It felt boring. Okay. And one thing I didn’t want was to be like stuck, bored. Like if I’m not being stimulated in a good way, mm-hmm <affirmative> then it’s not gonna last, but I love science. So I switched over to chemistry cuz I’m like this chemistry is exciting. I’m mixing things together. I’m producing new things. I’m doing extractions. I’m being introduced to machinery that I haven’t seen before. I’m loving it. I’m doing a math. The math is awesome. And so I switched over to chem and I started doing research in the summers and things like that. My research was around water quality in Philadelphia and looking at different natural water sources and comparing them and all those great things. But I was in a lab and the lab had no windows and I was stuck talking to this atomic absorption specter every day.
Jessica Kesler (03:24):
And I hit that, that wall again, where it was like, is this the rest of my life? Like talking to these machines and not having windows and not being able to interact with people. What is this? This can’t be life. And so I was seeking out some new opportunities that said, Hey, I need more money. First of all. So I’m like, I call the financial aid office like every week, like, Hey, what’s out today. What new scholarships do you have? I’m applying for everything. Like it was my goal to not have to pay for much of my education. And so I was talking to them and they’re like, Hey, you’re in science. There’s this awesome opportunity called a noise scholarship where they’ll pay for your last year and your master’s degree. If you go into education mm-hmm <affirmative> and I sat on it and I was like, this makes so much sense to me.
Jessica Kesler (04:12):
I was like, I’ve been literally tutoring my peers and teaching in churches and all this other kind of stuff. My whole life. It makes so much sense. How come nobody ever said this before? <Laugh> and so I applied for the noise scholarship, got in and started, you know, mm-hmm, <affirmative> doing practicums in the classroom as I went through my last year as a chemistry major and my first year for my masters and it just felt so right. And I was like, I can do this. And of course there were a lot of people who told me, no, Josh, you can’t do that. Like these kids will eat you alive. And I’m like I don’t think so. <Laugh> but, but that’s give it a go. And I stepped into the classroom and it, it just felt like, felt like it was always meant to be there.
Eric Cross (04:57):
So you were able to, you were able to make that connection between, I mean, if you’re, if you’re studying chemistry and bio and going into stem, I mean, there’s, there’s an aptitude there, but then you realize that this there’s a road that you could take that leads you into a room with no windows. And you’re just hanging out with machines all day
Jessica Kesler (05:14):
And I’m not helping people. Right. Right. And that was, my passion was like, I’m not helping people sitting in this room. I need to be a person that’s outside telling people about what happens in the room. Right. And how they can get involved and like what’s going on in here. Like that’s, that’s where I can be useful.
Eric Cross (05:28):
When you were, you were in Philly when you were teaching, what were you teaching when you were there?
Jessica Kesler (05:33):
So I started off teaching eighth grade science first job in north Philadelphia, teaching eighth grade science and just a, a funding tangent that first day a student called me a B
Eric Cross (05:44):
Trial by fire
Jessica Kesler (05:45):
Trial by fire called me out in front of like the whole floor. We were outside doing line drills and just was like, I hate you miss Kusa your B. And I was like, oh, this is it. This is it. This is where you stand your ground and you take it or you, you bail out <laugh> and you go back into the lab mm-hmm <affirmative>. And of course at the end of that, that traumatic experience between all the kids, like two months later, she wanted me to adopt her. So like everything comes full circles. Right.
Eric Cross (06:10):
That’s how it is. Right.
Jessica Kesler (06:11):
But I started teaching eighth grade science. There’s not a lot of science teachers at that level who actually have a science background. Most of them have elementary school background. So I’m the only scientist walking into the science classroom and saying, this is how science actually works. And so I ended up taking a lot of onus of science while I was there. Ended up building out the K through eight curriculum for science. I ended up doing like a science strategic plan to submit to the district. I ended up leading out our first couple stem nights and like really leading the stem department and kind of our science department. And this was as like a second, third year teacher <laugh> know, but nobody else had the science mm-hmm, <affirmative> the way that I had the science and the education. So it really opened up a door for me to be able to, to run full steam with all those things.
Eric Cross (07:04):
So MI was it primarily middle school during those, those years that you were there?
Jessica Kesler (07:07):
So there, I started with middle school and I did that purposefully because I was still young and I wanted there to be a good age gap between me and the students. And then I moved up to high school and taught high school chemistry, also taught a couple other different subjects while I was at that school. But primarily high school chemistry. Then I actually took a big leap down and I said, okay. I was going for my second master’s degree in educational leadership. And I was going for my principal cert. And I said, if I’m gonna be a principal of a school, then I need to understand all the levels of education and how they operate, cuz they operate really differently. So I said, I started in middle school, went to high school. I don’t have elementary school experience. In fact, I’d spent a day in a kindergarten classroom and I was like this never again, but I was like, I need to go back down there and I need to figure out how this system works because you know, I never know where I’m gonna land as far as principalship.
Jessica Kesler (08:01):
So I went and taught fourth grade.
Eric Cross (08:03):
How was that experience?
Jessica Kesler (08:05):
So imagine me going from teaching high school, seniors and juniors Uhhuh and like they’re self-sufficient and you know, they’re independent, they’re driving to school and all these things. And then I immediately drop down and go into fourth grade where these kids are crying every five seconds. They still have like a lot of bodily fluids, like there’s noses running and things. And like <laugh>, I was like a fish outta water. I was like, what is this? What’s going on down here. But those kids pour out so much love. And they, you, you become another parent to them. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> your high schoolers know who their parents are. They kind of are finding their place in society, but the little ones, they only know big people as parents, small people as equal. So they see you as another parent. So it taught me a lot about, you know, patience and breaking information down, even smaller. I had to figure out new and inventive ways to teach science and bring it down so far that they would be able to grab onto it and achieve it. And it was a challenge, but at the end it paid off, we were running, we were hitting like great markers for all of our PSSA goals that year. I mean, we were really knocking it out the park
Eric Cross (09:17):
And this backstory leads into how we met and adds to the picture as to why I really want to have you on, because your involvement with TGR, which is where I want to go next for the folks listening. I bet a lot of them have no idea what it’s about, just like I did. And now me learning about TGR foundation and meeting you I would love to make sure that everyone knows about it and what they offer.
Jessica Kesler (09:39):
Absolutely. So TGR foundation, a tiger woods charity was founded by tiger woods and his father with a mission to really introduced them education to students in low income minority populations and prepare them for success in their world and their future careers moving forward. And so was founded in 1996 and went through several changes in iterations since 1996. But eventually opened up its first learning lab, which is in Anaheim, California. And through the learning lab, they opened up these satellite sites. So they basically partner with schools to provide after school education and robotics and wearable electronics and things like that. And they would partner with schools to teach these courses after school, they would pay the teacher, pay for the materials and stuff like that to provide more opportunity for students in different areas. And so that’s how I was introduced to the foundation because while I was teaching high school my good friend and previous manager, Jason Porter shout out to JP Jason Porter used to lead the tiger woods foundation when it was the tiger woods foundation.
Jessica Kesler (10:52):
He used to lead the afterschool program. And when I joined that high school, he said, Jess, you got all this great content, knowledge, all this great enthusiasm, and we wanna get more women into this robotics. We wanna get them engaged in this process of, of stuff. And you will be a great role model to start bringing in more of our female students. And I was like, great, sign me up. And that’s where I started working with the TGR foundation, right after school programs, getting my students into robotics, competitions and clubs, doing different challenges and design challenges. And then after some time, a few years, they actually needed someone to come to the DC area and support the development of professional learning and partnerships here in DC, as they were continuing to expand. And really it came out of the idea that tiger gave this big mission to the organization that he wanted to reach millions of kids.
Jessica Kesler (11:48):
He said millions and everybody said, what millions, what M <laugh>. So the foundation was like, okay, well we can’t reach millions by just tackling one student at a time, right? Not one student at a time, isn’t gonna bring a million people or students through the door. But if we focus on their teachers, mm-hmm <affirmative>, then those teachers not only spend most of their day with these students and learn the basics of their skills with these students. But each one of those teachers has 30 to 150 200 students that they see every day. And that’s how we multiply this effect. So we train the teachers on all the stem competencies and the pedagogical tools and strategies to implement the stem that we’re doing in our learning labs. And then they can implement it in our classroom and have this multiplicative effect that can continue on and help us to reach those millions of kids and helping them be prepared for future careers.
Eric Cross (12:44):
And so D divide the effort, multiply the effects. Exactly. And then when I was exposed to it, this was over zoom. Now, how long has it been going on? Has it always been virtualized or did you do the, were you all doing this before? We all went online
Jessica Kesler (12:57):
Before the pandemic man, the glory days, right before pandemic, it feels like I’m talking about prehistoric times, right? Like back in the dinosaur, like era, like, I don’t know, pre we actually did these workshops in a person. So we would invite people to come to DC, invite teachers in Philadelphia to do a Philly one. We were in New Mexico. We were in Florida. We were, I mean, we were everywhere and this would be a extremely hands on engaging workshops. So not only do we focus on this is the theory and the philosophy behind the pedagogy, but we would also focus on like creating a student experience for the teacher, having the teacher flip into student mode and put on that student hat and actually go through sample lessons, model lessons and activities as the student so that they can feel it. So you can feel if, if you feel confused, your students are gonna feel confused.
Jessica Kesler (13:52):
If you feel like this is challenging, you, your students are gonna feel the challenge. If you are, don’t understand the instructions, your students will understand the instructions. So it gives us a different perspective and it puts us in their shoes. So we can better empathize with them and create more responsive lesson planning. So we flipped them into that student role for that purpose. When COVID hit, we went virtual, but virtual allowed us to reach teachers that we probably would’ve never hit. So it was kind of that blessing and disguise, right? It was like we didn’t keep people as long cuz obviously virtually you’re not, you don’t wanna stare at a screen for eight hours. So we cut it down. We revised it a little bit, but we kept the hands on philosophy and feel of it going by, you know, using materials that they could find at home really modeling what education could look like.
Jessica Kesler (14:41):
Mm-Hmm <affirmative> if you used your Z zoom room to capacity, or if you had these materials and resources or rethought your lesson plans and structures. So we went virtual and not only were we able to hit so many more thirst that first year thirsty educators ready to get, dive into it, ready for some comradery with fellow educators. But we were also able to expand our international network. We were able to get so many international educators through our global work that it was, it was beyond what we had when we were in person. So it really had this skyrocketing effect.
Eric Cross (15:20):
There’s professional learning pathways and then virtual stem studio. Is that right for professional development for like teachers who are listening, are those the two kind of main prongs?
Jessica Kesler (15:30):
Yeah. So a stem studio is basically just one, right? And a pathway is a collection. So we now offer four stem studios, four separate stem studios. The first one is on inquiry mindset. You attended that one area. And it’s really about for teachers who are changing their perspective on what the classroom should look and feel like, especially administrators too. It’s about developing that inquiry mindset. So you understand and you feel, and you practice and you learn the tools that are necessary for inquiry to happen in your classroom. We never promote overhauling your classroom. We’re just saying, add a little bit here and there and see how it impacts your students. The second one is on making inquiry, visible, making inquiry visible is all about making students thinking visible in the moment. What are tools and strategies that you use so that students can illuminate their thinking for themselves, but for you and their peers as well and how we benefit from that.
Jessica Kesler (16:28):
So not only do the students get to see their own thinking as they progress and you get to tell the story of how their minds have evolved, but you, as the teacher get to see, oh, this is where everyone is making the mistake, or this is how this misconception came about. Or this is where I need to target for my next lesson. So it makes you more responsive in the moment. And then the third and fourth one where we’re actually launching for a small group this summer, it won’t be available to the masses until maybe a year or two down the line. We have one small group that we’re just going to test it out with. The third one is about developing your inquiry environment. So thinking not just about your physical space, but thinking about your intellectual space too. So what are the things that you can embed into your physical space and develop in a student’s intellectual space that will help you create a holistic inquiry environment?
Eric Cross (17:22):
So this is this inquiry space, not just physical, but then also the intellectual environment
Jessica Kesler (17:26):
Intellectual. Exactly. And it focuses in on the design process and how we design spaces. Because as a teacher, we take a lot of background in the background onus of de creating these spaces. If you take someone out of an old habit or space and tell them, oh, we are gonna change in your minds and teach inquiry, but put them back in the same environment, they’re gonna be conflicted, right? Their bodies wanna do one thing, their minds wanna do another thing. And they don’t know how to bridge the gap between the two. So this is a really illuminating, like how do you change all the spaces? How do you design a flow in space in your classroom and in your students thinking that allows them to be productive in that inquiry environment. It’s really good stuff
Eric Cross (18:11):
Who creates these experiences for teachers.
Jessica Kesler (18:14):
We do. So me and my teammate, Holly, Dard shout out HD. Holly Dard, we really put our brains together and developed these. So it’s a really a team effort because like Jason Porter, Eric even David Tong when he was with us, really collectively thought about what it is that we wanted educators to experience. And then Holly and I do a lot of the grunt work, but then we really collectively put it all together and make it what it is. So I have a heavy hand and a lot of that. And in fact, inquiry four is all about the entrepreneurial mindset. So oftentimes educators don’t consider themselves entrepreneurs, but if you take a look at what an entrepreneur is and what they do on a regular basis, educators are entrepreneurs, but we are missing an opportunity to use our entrepreneurialship in the classroom to drive for stem competencies in inquiry based practices. And so in, in stem studio, four, we really focus in on how the educator is the entrepreneur of their classroom, but also uses entrepreneurial techniques to tackle issues in their schools, districts, and spheres of influence. So it’s really taking the educator to the next level of their teaching practice through entrepreneurship. This is some deep stuff.
Eric Cross (19:37):
It is, well, this entrepreneurial mindset is, is something that I’ve heard before. And I definitely see the link between even the term teacherpreneur beyond just selling lessons on teachers, pay teachers. <Laugh> it’s way bigger than that,
Jessica Kesler (19:52):
Where entrepreneurs actually in the classroom, not just because we do things on the side to make money. Exactly.
Eric Cross (19:57):
A lot of teachers hear that. They’re like, yeah, I got, you know, I got, got a few jobs going on. Exactly. Yeah. And, and I think one thing we, I should have said this earlier, and I’ll, I’ll say the intro, but these are all free.
Jessica Kesler (20:07):
This is largely sponsored by do OD stem as well. So we have a partnership with D O D stem and they have been driving forth the department of defenses, strategic stem plan for years. And as a part of that, they give us funding in order to provide these opportunities for educators for free. So literally educators don’t have to come with anything. And we are giving you not only the content of our, our lessons and our instruction, but we’re also going give you a chance to earn a free micro credential. So people are spending 12 plus hours with us in a workshop which sounds like a lot of time, but it’s over a series of time and days. But we wanna give you something that means something after that, we wanna give you a micro credential to add to your resume, to show your administrator, to show that you have achieved the next level in your professional learning career.
Jessica Kesler (20:59):
Right? And if you finish the pathway, which is all for, then we give you our TGR foundation certificate that says that you’ve completed so much professional learning in these areas that you are basically a warrior of inquiry that you are ready to go out and really lay inquiry out in new creative ways, not in your CLA just in your classroom, but everywhere you go in your district, in your school. And on top of that, we just offer so many other great free partnership incentives like discovery, education, experience licenses. We’re doing raffles this summer. We’re giving out free a free meal voucher so that you can get some lunch. One of these days we’re offering $50 gift cards so that people can get school supplies. So anything you do with us, and you’re like, man, I really wish I could have this so that I can do that in my classroom. We wanna break down all the barriers that prevent teachers from doing this stuff in their classroom, actively engaging in this stuff. And we give you a free copy of the books that we reference. Again, trying to break down the barriers,
Eric Cross (22:00):
What are some of the things that you’ve noticed kind of being on both sides of science teaching in the classroom, and then in training trends with teachers, things like moments that have been great or, or challenges that you’re noticing teachers experiencing, especially maybe changes in differences from a, from, you know, an outsider’s perspective. Seeing what teachers are experiencing are like, since you’ve been doing PDs for folks.
Jessica Kesler (22:22):
Yeah. So it’s actually really interesting being on both sides of the fence. You know, what I always noticed is that teachers are eager, but they’re tired. They’re wanting to learn, but they can’t take advantage of every opportunity to learn. And especially during COVID time, if you take a look at even all the professional learning that’s happening across the world right now, attendance is going down because teachers are so burnt out this hybrid space, this either we’re in person, but we’re still wearing masks and still social distancing and all this other stuff, or I’m still virtual or I’m virtual some days and I’m in person other days, it’s just wearing our teachers out. And I think we notice that as we see a large numbers of friends and family just start to retire, right? Like people are just like, I don’t know if I can adapt to another change in education.
Jessica Kesler (23:14):
Like education goes through these waves of big changes and it’s hard for everybody to adapt to, but for those who are willing to stick it out and those who are able to stick it out and, and still have that energy and enthusiasm to learn, they come in so hungry for more resources, so hungry to learn more and they still have their why at the top of their minds, as they think about why they do this it’s for the kids it’s to drive this mission is to get more kids excited about this. And they just come in so passionate. So once they come in, once we can get them to come in they stick with us for a really long time. They’re like, what else do you have? What else do you have? What else do you have? But we hear, still hear the common threads of like, do I have time for this?
Jessica Kesler (23:58):
Do I have the funding for this? Do I have the energy for this? Do, will my students understand this? And we are constantly facing that challenge of trying to address those things by, but keeping the excitement going, like we know you don’t have enough time. We’re gonna call it out from the start. I know you don’t have enough time to try to do 29 extra things. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. But my advice is always, but do one thing at a time, start with something small, asking your students a few questions rather than lecturing to them. Doesn’t take a whole lot of extra time, but it gives you so much extra insight. So let’s not work, you know, harder, let’s work smarter. Let’s embed this into our, our work together. And I always say that we’re not asking you to add to your plate. You know, it’s not Thanksgiving where you just pile, keep piling on a plate.
Jessica Kesler (24:47):
It’s it’s a time where you organize the plate. It’s allowing inquiry to restructure your plate so that everything has its place and its time mm-hmm <affirmative> do you wanna leave room so that the educator feels comfortable trying some new initiative? That’s why we encourage admin. We have librarians attend elementary school teachers, administrators, we, and we encourage it because everyone can support the classroom. And if administrators are more in touch with these new practices and tools and strategies, then they can help facilitate the learning. As the teachers are trying new things and coaching them in specific areas. So we really opened the door for some studios, for any and all who are gonna participate in that child’s education, because us all rallying around them as that three-legged stool helps to create that environment and helps support the teacher. The teachers need support, and we’re trying to do our part by providing the resources and the tools, but they need everyone else to.
Eric Cross (25:42):
We don’t always think about it as a way to support, to get support in our classrooms for ourselves. But I agree with you by, by educating vertically up the chain, you know, vice principal, principal, whoever it is, mm-hmm <affirmative> superintendent getting them on boarding and, and educating them to see what’s ex expected. We’ll open up doors and more freedoms for you because now you just have this vertical alignment of folks kind of on the same wave length. Exactly.
Jessica Kesler (26:07):
Yep. And that’s why we love districts. Anaheim union school district is actually one of our partners this year, where they have invited their teachers to participate in the whole pathway because they know how important it is that we practice these tools and strategies. And they want as many educators in the same space going through this at the same time as possible so that we can support each other through it. And so that we don’t feel like islands, oftentimes as educators, we feel like islands we’re in our classroom day in and day out. And we don’t feel like there’s anybody else who’s doing the same things we’re doing and supporting the work that we’re doing. So when we get administrators who support it, it’s magical. It can be magical.
Eric Cross (26:47):
What are some opportunities that are coming up if somebody’s listening and they, they wanna sign up for something, are there things coming up this month or next month or in the summer that they can participate in?
Jessica Kesler (26:55):
Yeah, for sure. So we’ve been doing our monthly workshops. And if you go to our website, so if you actually go to TGR foundation.org and slash stem studio you’ll actually see our summer events already posted, already live for everybody to start engaging in. And again, everything is free. So registration is open and available for everybody to participate. We are offering that first inquiry stem studio inquiry mindset twice the week of June 21st and the week of June 28th, two opportunities for educators to join us for inquiry mindset for the first one. And then also in July, we’re offering the second one making inquiry visible, and that’s the week of July 12th. So again, all free stuff, raffle prizes are available for those who register early and get in there and reserve their seat. It is limited seating. And so, yeah, a bunch of opportunities coming up this summer and guess what all you have to do is sign up and then you get all these free things coming your way. You get to look forward to all this exciting stuff. So TGR foundation.org/studio.
Eric Cross (28:01):
And if folks wanna follow you in your career, your journey.
Jessica Kesler (28:05):
Yeah. I’m on Twitter and LinkedIn, for sure. And it’s Jessica Kessler, K E S L E R one S
Eric Cross (28:12):
I wanna honor your time. And as we close, you’ve been an educator of impact in, in your own classroom. And I know you’re still teaching actively now, and you’ve also made an impact on me and other educators through your professional development. And, and the last question I’d like to end with is who’s the most memorable teacher or learning experience that you had during K eight. When you think about you, your time in school, who was a memorable teacher or a moment that kind of stands out to you and what was it that they did that made them memorable?
Jessica Kesler (28:44):
It was that one teacher who brought me my first T I, 84. You remember when a new calculators came out, I had a teacher give me one amazing, but I think in high school, there was really a turn about where I had miss Caroline and Mr. Canello math and Spanish teacher. So two opposite wings of the, the education spectrum there. But most of all, they listened. They listened to me. I felt seen with those teachers, they supported me. They listened to me, they saw my potential. And they just rallied around me and continued to support me thereafter. Even afterwards, I continued to reach out to those educators. And I think that’s what drives me to be that force for, for my students. And I remember my most memorable heart touching education experience was probably, I had a high school student get interviewed by the newspaper.
Jessica Kesler (29:38):
And they were like, oh, what’s your favorite classes? And what’s your favorite this, and what’s your favorite of that? And he was like, well, I love chemistry, which is what I was teaching. It was like, and I love my after school robotics team. I was leading and I love this and this and this. And he basically listed all the stuff that I was doing that I was teaching and that I was leading in the school. And I was like this one student, literally out of all the classes and experiences he’s experiencing is really just calling out everything that I’m doing. And I feel like it’s because he felt seen, he felt heard. He was like, this person is listening to me. And no matter what space we’re in this teacher is, is there for me. And so I try to be that wherever I go, <laugh>,
Eric Cross (30:16):
It’s amazing how making someone feel seen and, and making them feel important and heard, and, and being present for them. All of a sudden opens up their interests into the subjects that you’re teaching. Thank you for, for making time for serving our kids for serving teachers during a hard time, and for making PD one, being part of an organization that made it free and serve teachers, but also making PD fun and enthusiastic. I think that was one of the things in addition to the empathy that you led with, but also your enthusiasm and passion was something that really resonated with me. And it made our time together. Feel like something that was, was making me a better teacher for my kids. And so, thanks for making time for us tonight. Oh,
Jessica Kesler (30:53):
Bless face.
Eric Cross (30:57):
Thanks so much for joining me and Jessica today. If you have any great lessons or ways that you connect with students, please email us@stemamplifycom.wpengine.com. That’s S TM amplifycom.wpengine.com. And please remember to support the podcast by clicking subscribe, wherever you listen to podcasts, you can also hear more about the podcast in our Facebook group, science connections, the community until next time.
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Meet the guest
In the final episode of the season, Eric sits down with his friend and professional development facilitator, Jessica Kesler. Jessica describes her passion for sharing free, high-quality, empathy-centered professional development for K12 educators. Jessica also shares her experience jumping into leadership positions while teaching in Philadelphia. Eric also chats with Jessica about how students often lean on teachers for more than delivering content.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
Texas Public Reviewers: Welcome to Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR 2nd Edition!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Texas ELAR 2nd Edition and Amplify Texas SLAR 2nd Edition. This site provides the login steps and tools you need to review the programs.
After you’ve followed the steps below to log in, watch the short orientation videos to help you navigate the Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR 2nd Edition platform.
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Go to learning.amplify.com and select Log in with Amplify.
Enter the username and password:
Username: elar_slar_2e_public@tryamplify.com
Password: AmplifyNumber1
Step 2
Select TX ELAR Submission (English) or TX SLAR Submission (Spanish) under Your Programs.
Step 3
Select ELAR Second Edition or SLAR segunda edición to access the program you will be reviewing.
Step 4
Once you’re in the program, select a grade level to explore the digital curriculum.
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View these short introductory videos to help you navigate the Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR 2nd edition platform.
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Tip: Be sure you’re logged into the Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR platform (steps above) before clicking on the links in these documents.
ELAR Component Lists
Access the full list of components for Amplify Texas ELAR 2nd Edition by clicking the links below.
Texas State Reviewers: Welcome to Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR 2nd Edition!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Texas ELAR 2nd Edition and Amplify Texas SLAR Texas 2nd Edition. This site provides the login steps and tools you need to review the programs.
After you’ve followed the steps below to log in, watch the short orientation videos linked below to help you navigate the Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR 2nd Edition platform.
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Login credentials:
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Go to learning.amplify.com and select Log in with Amplify.
Enter the username and password:
Username: elar_slar_2e_reviewers@tryamplify.com
Password: AmplifyNumber1
Step 2
Select TX ELAR Submission (English) or TX SLAR Submission (Spanish) under Your Programs.
Step 3
Select ELAR Second Edition or SLAR segunda edición to access the program you will be reviewing.
Step 4
Once you’re in the program, select a grade level to explore the digital curriculum.
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S4 – 03: LIVE from NCTM with Bethany and Dan
In this episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer are LIVE with more than one hundred Math Teacher Lounge listeners at the recent National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference. Listen in as they answer the pressing question: Who is the best teacher in film or television?
Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page.
Presenter (00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen, from Math Teacher Lounge, we have Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer! <cheering>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:08):
Doesn’t go well that the door was locked. Like, I could not get in! <Laugh>
Dan Meyer (00:12):
Yeah. Gotcha. All right. We’re gonna sit a little bit. Let’s see how that works—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:16):
Hi!
Dan Meyer (00:16):
Yeah. I think we’ll stand up? Or whaddaya think, sit…?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:19):
Should we stand? Hi.
Dan Meyer (00:22):
Hello. Great to see you folks. Yeah, I can hear you.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:25):
Can you hear me? That’s—I know YOU can me. Can you hear me OK? OK! We’re here. Hello. Thank you for like, lining up and coming out and being here. Thank you!
Dan Meyer (00:35):
Means so much to me that you could be here for me, on my show, with Bethany Lockhart Johnson, my co-host. <Audience laughs>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:40):
The hour has just started.
Dan Meyer (00:42):
We’re just getting going. Yeah. If you folks have heard the podcast, you don’t know how much gets cut out. And it’s like, mostly me just having, you know, anxious nerves and saying something silly and then we cut it out and we can’t do that here today. So it should be real fun for all of us, I think. Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:55):
It’s not true. It’s mostly dancing. “Bethany, can you stop talking? Bethany?” Cause it’s mostly—
Dan Meyer (00:59):
“It’s my turn. It’s my turn! Bethany <laugh>! I haven’t been heard for a while.”
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:02):
Dan. We’re at an in-person conference.
Dan Meyer (01:05):
In-person BIG conference, I would say. I’d say a big conference. Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:08):
And have you been to the Amplify booth?
Dan Meyer (01:11):
I have! Have these people? There’s a claw machine with free socks.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:16):
Yeah. You’re saving me socks, right? That’s what you’re saying. <Laugh> I mean, it’s exciting. How has your conference been so far?
Dan Meyer (01:21):
So far it’s been a blast. I feel fed. I feel like the community’s been awesome. How are you feeling about it?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:29):
OK. Let’s talk about me for just a second.
Dan Meyer (01:31):
Yeah. Talk about you.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:31):
Last night, Dan, was the very first night that I was away from my toddler. <Audience: Aw!>
Dan Meyer (01:38):
Big commitment being here. Thank you.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:40):
I got super-emotional walking back to the hotel after dinner, and then I got in my room, <laugh> I put on pajamas, and I turned on music. I slept so good!
Dan Meyer (01:50):
Yeah. <Audience laughs> Give it up for no kids! <Audience laughs> Hey!
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:55):
I love him so much. But I slept all the way through the night. Oh, by the way, I ordered room service in the morning.
Dan Meyer (02:01):
On Amplify.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:01):
That bill’s coming. But it’s been a great conference and I’m so delighted to be here in person and to get to share energy…and hopefully that’s all we’re sharing today. Y’all got your tests, right? Yep. Sharing energy and community today. Because we know it’s been hard. Hardness. Hard.
Dan Meyer (02:25):
Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:26):
Years. Hard. And to be in person, I know conferences reinvigorate me and I go back into my educational spaces feeling revitalized with new connections and new ideas to try. So yeah, I’ve been excited to be here. And thank you all for being here.
Dan Meyer (02:40):
Yep. I don’t care if I get six different strains of Covid here. I’m just thrilled to be here. <Audience laughs> I don’t know if you’ve had the same feeling, though, Bethany, you folks…I’m a little bit confused to some degree about what we’re doing. I just wanna be really transparent. This is my sarcastic voice but I’m being sincere here. It kind of feels like we’re in a little bit of a time capsule. Like we all got in a time capsule in 2019 and, you know, you open it back up and it’s like, OK, so we’re still, you know, talking about X, Y, or Z protocol for establishing classroom routines or whatever. And I’m like, OK! Like, I loved that in 2019! But I do admit, I’m still trying to figure out a little bit like, what are we doing now? What’s our relationship to the world out there? Things are very different. I have had some great sessions that I’ve enjoyed. I’m also like, still waiting for a session to draw a little blood. Do you know what I mean? Like there’s been sessions…no? OK. You’ve been in these sessions where it’s like, “Oh, ow.” Like, and you look down and there’s and there’s blood there. It’s like, I thought I knew what we were up to. Like, I thought I knew what teaching was and how we relate to the world. I dunno, like in any Danny Martin session in 2019, “Take a Knee” was one, where I was like, “Oh, OK. Like, I’m not as hot as I think I am here. Like, I’m part of a system.” That kind of thing for me draws blood. And I haven’t been in one of those yet. Been some great sessions. I’m a little hopeful that today we draw a little blood and think about what we’re doing here, is my hope here, if that’s OK. So Bethany’s gonna moderate that impulse and she’ll be the fun one and I’ll be the blood-drawing one.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:05):
No, I don’t…that metaphor doesn’t speak to me personally. But what I will say is, I get what you’re saying about really wanting to be in that room where there’s like this synergy happening. No promises about that today other than—
Dan Meyer (04:18):
I promise. <Audience laughs> Go on.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:20):
Other than I get what you’re saying. I’ll find my own metaphor that does not involve bloodshed, but.
Dan Meyer (04:25):
Sure. There’s a lot of ways we we could go about this today. And the one that I’m excited about is, you know, we could like, you know, analyze some results from students, and talk about what went into that. Look at classroom video. Lots of possibilities. But here’s what we’re up to today. Hope you’re into it. Which is, we are here in the heart of the entertainment industry. You know, Tinseltown! Um, the Big Apple! Uh…
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:47):
No!
Dan Meyer (04:47):
Come on. What do you got here? Um…
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:51):
It was daytime at night. Like the lights were so bright.
Dan Meyer (04:54):
The City of Lights.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:55):
There was a movie premiere outside my hotel room, which I was not invited to, unfortunately. But so what are we doing today?
Dan Meyer (05:01):
So here’s what we’re doing. We are gonna settle, once and for all, a question you have not asked yourself yet, perhaps, but will want to know the answer to in a moment. Which is: Who is the best teacher in all of film or television? OK? We’re gonna do that. It’ll be fun. But I hope that in debating this a little bit with a special guest we’ll bring up in a moment, that we will start to uncover some truths about what makes good teaching. How that’s different from teaching as we see it in movies and tv. Why middle-class America wants teachers to look a certain way in movies and tv. What all that means. And it’ll be awesome. I think. I’m hopeful it’ll be awesome. So what we did here is we’ve invited eight people. Eight folks you people may have known. You’ve been in their sessions today, in this conference, perhaps. And asked them: Who’s your fave? Like, we might have our favorites, but we wanted to democratize it a bit. So asked some cool people who you folks like, who are very smart and thoughtful about teaching: Who’s your favorite teacher?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:58):
A few of whom are in this room. Thank you for your submission.
Dan Meyer (06:00):
Thank so much. Yeah. We’ll see what happens here. <laugh>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:03):
As they shrink down.
Dan Meyer (06:03):
Yeah. Might draw some blood that I don’t mean to right now. We’ll see. OK.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:06):
That metaphor, what IS that??
Dan Meyer (06:07):
Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I’m still going with it. <laugh> And you folks will be a huge part of this. THE part of this, really. So what will happen is I’ll share with you our first nominees. A few of us will make a case for our favorites, or least favorites, as the case may be sometimes. And then by applause, by acclamation, you folks will decide who wins and advances to the next round. Start with eight, move to four. You folks know math.You know where this goes. OK.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:34):
No, keep going. Keep going.
Dan Meyer (06:36):
Two, then one.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:36):
Yeah. Got it.
Dan Meyer (06:37):
Then a half of it. No?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:38):
He had to school me on the making of brackets. But we got it. Yeah.
Dan Meyer (06:41):
How brackets work.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:41):
But we got it. March Madness, what?
Dan Meyer (06:44):
Yeah, in order to do this right, we had to bring up—all the folks that you’ll see are also former Math Teacher Lounge guests, or like, just fan favorites. And we’re also bringing up a former Math Teacher Lounge guest to help us decide this and debate this in a respectful manner.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:59):
New dad.
Dan Meyer (07:00):
New dad.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:01):
You see where my brain’s still at? I miss him. <Laughs>
Dan Meyer (07:03):
Friend from San Diego. Really cool teacher.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:06):
Incredible teacher.
Dan Meyer (07:06):
Works at Desmos and Amplify. And I just want you to welcome up your friend and mine. Chris Nho!
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:11):
Chris Nho!
Dan Meyer (07:13):
Come up, Chris. Let’s go, buddy. We didn’t talk about it, but did you want to do the cornball stuff too?
Chris Nho (07:22):
Wow. Would I love to do—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:23):
And then the door could be locked! And then you have to wait and like, just—
Chris Nho (07:27):
Yeah, I’ll skip that part.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:28):
Hi. Welcome. You’re here. We’re here in person.
Chris Nho (07:30):
Very glad to be here. Thank you all for having me.
Dan Meyer (07:33):
Tell me who you are.
Chris Nho (07:34):
My name is Chris Nho. I live in San Diego. I’m a new dad. A three month old, just had. Yeah, she’s actually here at the conference with us in the hotel room. And I promise you she is not by herself. She is with…come on. I was like, “Hey, just gimme one hour. I’ll be right back. I have to do very important work.” But yeah, I think I got invited here because I have opinions and I’m willing to draw…some…blood.
Dan Meyer (08:02):
There we go! Two outta three! We’re good on the metaphor now.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:06):
We’re so glad you’re here. If you haven’t listened to the episode where Chris and Molly and some other public math folks share their ideas and ideas of how to take math out into the world, please listen, because we had a blast.
Dan Meyer (08:19):
Inspiring work. Really inspiring work. Very cool. Cool. OK. Right on. OK.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:23):
Let’s do this!
Dan Meyer (08:24):
Let’s get started here. Yeah! <Audience cheers> Yeah. And we might ask you who your favorite teacher is, who’s missing from our list of eight? We might have forgotten some people. Anyway. All right. So here’s our first two. Our first two are nominated by way of, let’s see, um, Mandy Jansen is a professor at the University of Delaware. Got some awesome talks here this week, a Shadow Con talk last night. She’ll be nominating one. And also, um, Lani Horn is a professor at Vanderbilt, also extremely cool, prolific author and speaker, just all-around great human and friend of teachers everywhere. And she’ll nominate another in this bracket, which is the Northeastern Comedy bracket, Northeastern comedy bracket.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:06):
It just worked out that way.
Dan Meyer (09:07):
Yeah. Here it is. Here is Tina Fey in Mean Girls.
Tina Fey in Mean Girls (09:12):
“OK. Everybody close your eyes. All right. I want you to raise your hand if you have ever had a girl say something bad about you behind your back. Open your eyes. Now close your eyes again. And this time I want you to raise your hand if you have ever said anything about a friend behind her back. Open up. It’s been some girl-on-girl crime here.”
Lani Horn (09:52):
I am nominating Sharon Norbury from Mean Girls as the best movie math teacher. She is an awesome teacher who is always there for her kids. She always sees the best in them. She shows that she can forgive even some pretty bad behavior, if she sees that kids are trying. She’s a strong feminist who makes sure that smart girls don’t dumb themselves down just to impress boys.
Tina Fey in Mean Girls (10:22):
“Katie, I know that having a boyfriend may seem like the most important thing in the world right now, but you don’t have to dumb yourself down to get guys to like you.”
Lani Horn (10:30):
She’s also super hard-working. She works three jobs. She’s always there for the kids. She plays piano in the talent show and takes them to Mathlete competitions. And she’s also socially aware. And when things go really badly among the girls, she does some pretty creative things to try to get them to be kinder to each other.
Dan Meyer (10:54):
OK. That’s one.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:55):
Helen Case.
Dan Meyer (10:57):
All right. Settle down. Settle down. Settle down. All right.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:59):
Piano too!
Dan Meyer (11:00):
Bethany’s already trying to bias people here. All right. Chill out. Hold on. So next one is Mandy Jansen with Jack Black from School of Rock. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
Jack Black in School of Rock (11:09):
“What was your name?”
Kid in School of Rock (11:10):
“Katie.”
Jack Black in School of Rock (11:11):
“Katie. What was that thing you were playing today? The big thing.”
Kid in School of Rock (11:14):
“Cello.”
Jack Black in School of Rock (11:15):
“OK. This is a bass guitar and it’s the exact same thing, but instead of playing like this, you tip it on the side. Chellooooo! You’ve got a bass! <Laugh> Try it on.”
Mandy Jansen (11:25):
And I’m nominating for best teacher in a film Jack Black as Dewey Finn playing Mr. Ned Schneebly in the film School of Rock. So why this portrayal? First of all, playing a longterm sub. Those are so hard to find right now. <Audience laughs> Really hard. And then he teaches using class projects. That’s brilliant. Integrated learning. And then love this. He gives students roles and tasks that are differentiated and align to the specific strengths that each student has.
Kid 2 in School of Rock (12:05):
“I can also play clarinet, you know!”
Jack Black in School of Rock (12:06):
“I’ll find something for you when we get back from lunch. I’ll assign the rest of you killer positions.”
Mandy Jansen (12:13):
And the film culminates in a performance of a collaborative song that they all wrote and performed together. And the students experience that collaboration and teamwork and creating something beautiful is much more important than winning first place. And finally, one of the songs that the character sings in the film is “Math is a Wonderful Thing.” Can’t beat that.
Dan Meyer (12:40):
All right. That’s tough. That’s tough. So here’s the deal. What we have right now is just a quick minute—so Bethany, you ranked, we all ranked our own faves here outta the list of eight. And Bethany put Jack Black in School of Rock a bit higher than Tina Fey in Mean Girls.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:54):
Missed the piano part though.
Dan Meyer (12:55):
And Chris, vice versa here. So Bethany, would you start us off and just make a quick case here for Jack Black versus Tina Fey?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:01):
OK. So here’s what I’m thinking. There’s been rumor that maybe they’re putting less than credentialed people into classrooms to fill teaching gaps. I mean, just rumor. And so here’s this guy who is a rocker. He is not a substitute. He has no teaching training. And yet he goes in there and it turns out that he has the ability to see students’ potential and to recognize their unique abilities. And like Mandy said, he really tapped into, like, he saw them and said, “No, more is possible for you than what you think is possible.” And there’s like real sub anxiety. When you walk in, you can either be like, happy there’s a sub, but I was usually really nervous. Right? And he goes in and he makes that classroom into a home.
Dan Meyer (13:53):
Wow.
Chris Nho (13:54):
Wow.
Dan Meyer (13:56):
Chris, speak on it. Tina Fey needs you. Chris.
Chris Nho (13:59):
Tina Fey. Here we go. I’m gonna argue here that—when was that movie made?
Dan Meyer (14:03):
T is for terrific. I is for Interesting.
Chris Nho (14:06):
Decades ago. And I’m gonna argue that Tina Fey was very progressive for her time. OK, let’s talk about social emotional learning. Hello. <Audience laughs> Love that. Right? Stand up if, I mean, she’s getting people to talk about their emotions. And there’s a curriculum. But let’s just pause, because that’s not what’s really happening in the classroom right now. So social emotional learning, I think she’s, she’s got that a lot. And then number two, you know, if you remember the plot of Mean Girls a little bit, she gets her name written in that Burn Book. Like she sees what they say about her. Restorative justice. Let’s go. <Audience laughs>.
Dan Meyer (14:38):
Whom amongst us. Yes.
Chris Nho (14:40):
You write Mr. Nho in the Burn Book?? Well, your grade book is gonna look like a Burn Book! OK? <Audience laughs> Tina Fey, Tina Fey, she was like, “No, you know, know what? I’m actually gonna spend more time with you. You’re gonna become a mathlete.” And Lindsay Lohan discovers—she drops the most iconic line in all of math education. “The limit does not exist.” Thank you, Tina Fey, for that. For that gift.
Dan Meyer (15:04):
Bless. Bless you. Tina Fey. Wow.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:05):
Oh, man. Wow.
Dan Meyer (15:09):
Let’s see what the people say here. I do wanna just add one quick thing about—it’s interesting to me how often in these movies—just kind of go in a little bit, zoom out just a minute—how often it’s a teacher who has no training as a teacher. <Bethany laughs> I am kind of curious why it is. Like, those are the movies that get hot, that get made. Again, these are all kind of a mirror of the taste of the moviegoing public. You know what I’m saying? Like, these, these are not movies—I wanna believe they are made for me and for us as teachers. But they are not. There’s not enough of us to justify, you know, Jack Black’s, you know, M&M budget or whatever he’s got going on in his trailer or whatever. That needs to be for everybody in middle-class America. So what is it about middle-class America that wants to see teaching as something that anybody can do? Just like, you know, just, just run up there in your van and make it happen.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:54):
Magic magically manifests.
Dan Meyer (15:56):
Yeah. Manifest. Yeah. That’s just interesting to me. I just toss that out there as some red meat. Let’s see what the people say here. All right, OK, so you’re ready. Let’s get the bracket going here. The question is Tina Fey versus Jack Black. You had a moment here. Just whisper to someone real fast who you’re going for here real quick. What are you thinking here? <Crowd murmuring> All right. Crowd’s buzzing. Crowd’s buzzing. Would you folks…? All right. Bring it back. Go ahead and make some noise for Tina Fey. <Crowd cheers> OK. OK. Make some noise for Jack Black! <Crowd cheers> Judges say Tina Fey. Tina Fey moves on. All right. All right.
Chris Nho (16:44):
Stunned. I’m stunned. I’m speechless.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:46):
Tina Fey moves on. Wow.
Dan Meyer (16:48):
This has exceeded my expectations in terms of having some fun, but also getting deep, getting deep and real about teaching. I’m into this right here. Yeah. What’s up?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:54):
That’s the goal. That’s the goal. OK. You wanted blood? Oooh, this next matchup might just be where that blood comes forth! OK. Stretch. Warm up. Dan Meyer, who’s up next?
Dan Meyer (17:11):
We’ve got the animated/animatronic round here in the Southeast. And repping the two contestants here, who do we have? We have Allison Hintz, professor, author outta Washington, as one of the two nominators. And the other nominator is one of my heroes, though we’ll find out very wrong about this nomination, Jenna Laib, who’s in the crowd, and I’m trying not to make eye contact here. <Laugh> And here are the two nominations. A couple minutes each. And then we’ll chat about it. And one of us will probably die. But we’ll see how it goes.
Allison Hintz (17:50):
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, MTL, we began learning from the Jedi Master of Teaching. With the Socratic and experiential approach. With unparalleled mindfulness, compassion, and humility. The best teacher in TV and film, Yoda is. <Audience laughs> Yoda lives the values we share as teachers and learners. He humbly comes alongside us as we construct new knowledge.
Yoda (18:29):
“You must unlearn what you have learned.”
Allison Hintz (18:32):
Yoda allows us to struggle and sees mistakes as critical to learning.
Yoda (18:39):
“The greatest teacher, failure is.”
Allison Hintz (18:43):
Yoda values curiosity and reminds us of the beauty and joy of teachers learning from children.
Yoda (18:52):
“Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.”
Allison Hintz (18:59):
MTL! Join the Resistance! Let the force flow through you in declaring, the best teacher in TV and film, Yoda is.
Dan Meyer (19:18):
Give it up for Allison Hintz! All right! <Audience applauds>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:20):
Alison! And to have that on hand too, which Is kind of perfect.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:26):
Just to be clear, the helmet is not a part of a Zoom background.
Dan Meyer (19:29):
You may evaluate the quality of the nomination based on the costumes of the nominator. That is acceptable. That’s acceptable.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:35):
That is a REAL HELMET.
Dan Meyer (19:35):
All right. The next nominator here, this one is from Jenna Laib, math coach, all-around stellar human. Here we go. This is Ms. Frizzle.
Ms. Frizzle (19:42):
“Single file, class. Our rotten field trip has only just begun.”
Jenna Laib (19:47):
And I think that the best teacher from TV or movies is Ms .Valerie Frizzle from The Magic School Bus. First and foremost, Ms. Frizzle believes in her students. She encourages them to take an active role in their learning, and also to advocate for change in their local community. For example, there’s an episode where there is a logger who’s gonna cut down a rotting log that would benefit the local ecosystem. And the students figure out a way to convince him to leave the log so that all of the animals and the plant life can benefit. She orchestrates really challenging situations for these students, and she allows them the space to ask questions and engage in problem-solving and puzzle their way out of these really, really difficult scenarios. Ms. Frizzle has unmatched pedagogy. She’s bold, she’s innovative, and she’s a major proponent of experiential learning. So these students are heading straight into a storm to learn about weather systems. <Audience laughs> These students are heading into the human body to learn about digestion and disease. They literally get baked into a cake to learn about some chemistry and reactions.
Children in The Magic School Bus (20:54):
“What’s happening?” <Audience laughs> “Why is it suddenly getting so hot?” “Maybe it’s because the floor is on fire!” <Audience laughs>
Jenna Laib (21:02):
This pedagogy is all led by her outstanding catchphrase, which is:
Ms. Frizzle (21:06):
“Take chances; make mistakes; get messy!”
Jenna Laib (21:14):
From her pedagogy to the classroom community that she creates, Ms. Frizzle is an inspiration, and that is why I think that she is the best teacher from TV or film. <Audience applauds>
Dan Meyer (21:25):
Right on! Give it up for Jenna. Give it up for Jenna. All right. I’m gonna take first pass at this. Chris knows my argument already, so I’m gonna take this here. I see some of you are feeling how I’m feeling on this one. OK, so I don’t have tons to say in favor of Yoda. I think it was all true what Allison said. I think the costume was banging. It was awesome. So there’s all that, but I have more to say against Ms. Frizzle than for Yoda.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:48):
No, no, no. Wait a second!
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:49):
Let’s let it happen. Bethany, I’ve come prepared.
Dan Meyer (21:54):
I may have made a misstep here, I realize.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:56):
I’ve come prepared.
Dan Meyer (21:56):
So I think Jenna is all correct. I think those clips spoke for themselves. I think that what they add up to, to me, is not “great teacher,” but more “someone who should be locked up.” <Audience laughs> Or at the very minimum, “someone who should be kept away from children.” <Audience laughs> Do not let that woman around children. I mean, check it out. Look, I don’t wanna throw down credentials. I’ve been to grad school, though. I know how this works. When your brain is stressed, you get these—all the cortisol happens. Your working memory shrinks up. You cannot learn when you’re stressed. And those kids, like whatever lesson Ms. Frizzle is teaching by sending them into an oven, I repeat, an oven <audience laughs>, like, they’re not gonna learn anything ’cause their brains are freaking out with stress and fear. OK?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:41):
“What’s happening??”
Dan Meyer (22:43):
“What’s happening? Am I on fire? Well…I’m learning lots, though! Sure is magical!” <Audience laughs> It’s like, “No. Get that woman out of a classroom.” That’s my opening and closing argument. Right? There’s all it is.
Chris Nho (23:01):
All right. All right. All right.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (23:02):
Chris knows.
Chris Nho (23:03):
I’ve got, I’ve got lots to say. First off, I think Dan was in charge of the editing of those video clips. So let’s let that be—you know, let the record stand. <Audience laughs>
Dan Meyer (23:11):
Where’s the lie though? Where’s the lie?
Chris Nho (23:14):
And, you know, second, I think, um—this is the guy up here saying, “I wanna see blood.” You know? And then he has a teacher who literally takes the students into a blood cell and, and you get a little scared! You get a little worried for the students, you know? So I just don’t get it, Dan. This or that. OK? I think Ms. Frizzle—so I actually went to a project-based learning school. I taught at a project-based learning school. And the best thing about it is like, your learning, it doesn’t just stay in this box of math lesson or writing lesson, history lesson. And I think with Ms. Frizzle, like you can’t help but learn things because you are getting baked in a cake. <Audience laughs> Yeah, it is a little scary. And I imagine there’s cortisol and things happening, but guess what? Probably the next episode, they go into their own brains and explore what’s happening. That kind of thing. You know?
Dan Meyer (24:07):
The kids that survived, just be clear. <Audience laughs>
Chris Nho (24:10):
Yeah. OK. Would I want Nora, my three-month-old, to be babysat by Ms. Frizzle? Maybe not. <Audience laughs> But what I have to say about Yoda is Yoda maybe wins the best tutor award. Give it up for Yoda’s Best Tutor Award.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:24):
Oh, yeah…
Chris Nho (24:25):
That ratio’s looking really nice. I could teach the heck outta Luke Skywalker. OK? But 20 little Luke Skywalkers running around. I’m not sure. OK?
Dan Meyer (24:34):
Luke did survive the training, though. <Audience laughs> So that’s awfully nice to say about it. All right, Great words from Chris here. I’m still not convinced. We’ll see how you’re convinced here. Would you whisper to someone where you’re leaning here? Frizzle or Yoda? <Audience buzzing>
Chris Nho (24:47):
I tried. I tried.
Dan Meyer (24:53):
All right. That’s enough of that. Let’s hear it folks. Give it up for Yoda. <Audience cheers> Give it up. Give it up. You. Give. It. Up.
Chris Nho (25:05):
Hey, next. Next.
Dan Meyer (25:06):
All right. All right, all right. <Mutters> Give it up for Ms. Frizzle. <Audience cheers louder> I dunno, it’s pretty close. Call a tie. Maybe Yoda? Yoda by nose? <Audience laughs> All right. All right. Let’s…let me see who’s it. Let’s get the people advancing here. I’ll keep on moving here.
Chris Nho (25:26):
As you’re doing that. Um, Dan ranked Ms. Frizzle last in his personal ranking. And I ranked Ms. Frizzle very high, so we knew this one would be spicy,
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (25:36):
<laugh> Spicy it was. Are you having a good time so far? <Audience cheers> So while we love seeing these images and we love seeing these video clips, at the core, what are these things about how teachers are portrayed? And how accurate is that to our real lives? I mean, besides the cake part, right? That my chemistry class did often feel like I was on fire. I was so stressed in it. Um, we’re ready?
Dan Meyer (26:05):
Yep. Great. We’re ready, we’re up here. So the next two nominees are coming to you folks from Tracy Zager, who is the editor of my book, forthcoming in 2027 at the earliest and 2032 at the latest. And also your very own Zak Champagne from Florida, here in the room. Hey, Zak. Zak, let’s see who the nominations are. I’m gonna skip past that, didn’t work out so well for me. Here it is. This is Marshall Kane from the TV show Community.
Michael K. Williams in Community (26:32):
“You two complete your case to the class and let them decide your grades.”
Joel McHale in Community (26:37):
“Professor, thank you.”
Michael K. Williams in Community (26:40):
“It’s not a favor, Mr. Winger. Man’s gotta have a code.”
Joel McHale in Community (26:44):
“Awesome.”
Zak Champagne (26:46):
This is a pitch for an underdog. This teacher didn’t stand on desks or encourage his students to follow their musical passions. In fact, this teacher was seen only in a few episodes of my favorite TV show of all time, Community, Community has set at Greendale Community College in Colorado. And in season three, we get to meet Dr. Marshall Kane, a biology professor whose story is an inspiration to anyone who just takes the time to look and listen. Dr. Marshall Kane slowly earned his PhD while in prison, serving a sentence of 25 to life. In his classroom, he inspires students to love biology, question why LEGO has become so complicated, and randomly pairs his students for group projects to ensure no one feels left out. His greatest performance comes when a group of students believe their yam project was intentionally sabotaged. Dr. Kane took this as an opportunity for some trans-disciplinary real-world learning. So yes, at community college, he felt that a middle-school mock trial was the best way to determine who killed the yam. So let’s all pick the underdog and vote for Dr. Marshall Kane. After all, man’s gotta have a code. <Audience goes “oh!” and applauds>
Dan Meyer (27:53):
Thank you, Zak.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:54):
I have a code.
Dan Meyer (27:56):
Next up is Tracy Zager, nominating an unusual nomination, not a single person, but an ensemble performance. A bunch of people from a movie called Searching for Bobby Fisher. Here we go.
Rapid-fire movie dialogue (28:11):
“What’s that?” “Schleimann attack.” “Schleimann attack? Where’d you learn that from, a book?” “No, my teacher taught me.” “Aw, your teacher. Well, forget it. Play like you used to, from the gut. Get your pawns rolling on the queen’s side.”
Tracy Zager (28:26):
Hey, Math Teacher Lounge. This is Tracy Zager. I’m excited to share my nominee for the best movie teacher. But I have to admit that when I first got the email, I thought, oh, who am I gonna nominate? Because most movies about teachers are highly problematic. They usually have like a saviorism thing, usually white saviors. And I just felt like I couldn’t suggest any of those. So rather than nominate a movie about a single teacher, I wanted to nominate a movie that taught me something about teaching. And that movie is a deep cut. It’s Searching for Bobby Fischer. It’s a movie about a chess prodigy. And what I love about it is that all of the different adults in the movie are in teacher roles in some way. And the student, Josh, the chess player, is a fully realized character, not an empty pail, who pulls from the strengths of each one of those adults while also dealing with their flaws and humanity. And there’s just beautiful synergy in the way he gets the best out of everybody, but also has to overcome some of the barriers that they put in front of him. So I feel like it’s a much more authentic and humbling, but also inspiring, movie about the power of teaching. So if you haven’t ever seen it, check it out. And I can’t wait to see who the other nominees are. Thanks so much.
Dan Meyer (29:53):
Right on. Thank you, Tracy. Wherever you are. <Applause> We’ll move a little quicker here. I’m curious, Bethany, you put Marshall Kane pretty high. I put Bobby Fischer pretty high. What do you have to say about Marshall Kane for us here?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (30:04):
Well, I just wanna say two things. One is that, like Zak said, he has this code of conduct that he brings in. And he stays true to it no matter what happens. If you saw him in in Community, you know that he held himself up to such high esteem, but not just himself, his students as well. And he took accountability when he felt he had done wrong, even though, well, that’s controversy. But first—oh, the other thing, rest in peace, Michael K. Williams. Oh my gosh. The actor who plays Marshall K. And the thing that I wanna say most of all about it is that he brings his whole self to the classroom. He was in prison for decades. He brings his whole self and says, “This is who I was. This is who I am today. And this is how we can work together as a community.”
Dan Meyer (30:58):
That’s big. I love your comments about code of conduct too. It makes me wish that Ms. Frizzle had a code of conduct also.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:05):
I knew that was coming back!
Chris Nho (31:06):
Two slides ago, Dan. That was two slides ago.
Dan Meyer (31:08):
Can’t let it go. So yeah, I love what you said there. I have no strong beef here either way. Bobby Fischer’s a movie I have loved dearly and can’t be objective about it. I love that the kid in that movie, more than any other movie here, the kid teaches the adults so much through his innocence and how he challenges them and how they’re treating him. Dig all that so much. Will not, will not begrudge anyone any vote either way here. I do begrudge many of you your vote in previous rounds. <Audience laughs> So let’s just, let’s hear. We’re not gonna ask you folks at all to chitchat. We’re gonna move on this one. So would you folks make some noise here for Marshall Kane in Community? OK. OK. And would you make some noise here for Bobby Fischer, the kid in Bobby Fischer, the ensemble? <Audience cheers, applauds>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:56):
Marshall Kane.
Dan Meyer (31:57):
Marshall Kane takes it. All right. Good job, Marshall Kane! All right. Zak’s feeling good. Moving on to the final four here, Zak, right on. OK. Our last—the Northwest Division here is also the large urban district division here. We have a couple different teachers in sets of large urban schools. They’re nominated, they’re advanced by a couple people here. One is past president of NCTM, Robert Berry. And another is Fawn Nguyen, Southern California phenom. Great teacher and friend of lots of us. Um, let’s see who they nominated here. First from Robert Berry, let’s see, who is it here? Janine Teagues from Abbott Elementary.
Abbott Elementary dialogue (32:37):
“Hey, you know what? I’m probably probably gonna be Kenny’s second-grade teacher. Why don’t you just let him get a head start with me today?” “That’d be great.” “Yeah? OK. Hey, Kenny, would you like to be in my group today?” “Not really.” “That’s the spirit.”
Robert Berry (32:54):
My nomination is gonna be Quinta Brunson, the Emmy Award-winning Quinta Brunson from Abbott Elementary. Janine Teagues is the character. She exemplifies care not only from an affect way, but she also exemplifies care in the things that she does for her students. While the scenes in the show are entertaining, they do represent the challenges that teachers experience when they’re trying to meet the needs of her students. So she goes, goes all out for her students and finding resources. She accesses other people to get resources for her students. But the care shows up in the way that she is mindful of their needs. And so, for me, when I think about teachers and teaching, sometimes we can talk about pedagogy, but sometimes we also can talk about those kind of intangibles that makes a teacher a great teacher. It is apparent from her students that she cares about them, she supports them, and she goes all out 100% for her students. Janine Teagues, Quinta Brunson is, I think, is my choice of the best teacher on television because of the realism and the representation that she brings to this character of what teaching is about. <Applause>
Dan Meyer (34:28):
Right on. Right on. OK. OK. Next up, we’ve got, Fawn Nguyen is nominating Erin Gruwell from Freedom Writers. Here we go.
Hilary Swank in Freedom Writers movie (34:39):
“Look, you can either sit in your seats reading those workbooks or you can play a game. Either way, you’re in here till the bell rings. OK? This is called the Line Game. I’m gonna ask you a question. If that question applies to you, you step onto the line and then step back away for the next question. Easy, right? The first question. How many of you have the new Snoop Dog album? <kids move around> OK, back away. Next question. How many of you have seen Boys in the Hood?”
Fawn Nguyen (35:26):
We all learn about Miss G and her 150 students in the movie Freedom Writers starring Hilary Swank. All great teachers share a common set of traits. They care deeply about their students, have high expectations of them, and always believing wholeheartedly that they will succeed. Great teachers go above and beyond, not because they extraordinary—as Anne Gruwell would always refer to herself as an ordinary teacher—but because extraordinary things happen to people when we believe in them, give them hope, help them write their own story with a different ending. So what stood out for me with Miss G is the scope of her reach, the ever-expanding sphere of her humanity. The red tape she had placed on the classroom floor for the line game shows just how much we all have in common despite our differences. Her students didn’t just learn from her; they learned from one another. If you’d like to be part of this expanding sphere to give voice and hope, please check out Freedom Writers Foundation dot org.
Dan Meyer (36:38):
OK. This right here is a tough one for us. Thank you, Fawn. We collectively ranked—that’s our number one seed and number eight seed, which I hasten to say does not have to do with Erin Gruwell, a person, but the portrayal and the movie. So we don’t have like a whole lot of…there’s not a lot of defense we have to offer here of our eighth seed. And I heard like a kind of a little bit of a murmur over the crowd on Erin Gruwell. So I’m more interested than having a defense back and forth. I’d be curious what you, Bethany, think about what, like, what both movies have to say about like, what teaching is, especially teaching urban schools with black and brown kids and lower-class kids, for instance. They both have, I think, very different things to say about them. Do you have thoughts about that?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (37:19):
Well, it’s interesting because there is some overlap in the sense that the arguments that both Fawn and Robert Berry put out, they both care deeply about their students, right? We’re not gonna argue that. They care deeply. And something that I would say about Miss Teagues is there’s something about the way that she sees not only her classroom, her students, but she sees all of the students in the school as her students. And her idea of resource generation is really helping the teachers to generate resources from their community themselves, and to also realize that the students see themselves reflected in the teachers. And I think that—you know, again, this is not about the real person—but the movie portrayal, and we often see kind of this, for Freedom Writers, we often see this like, Great Last Hope whisked in and her personal sacrifices are what makes these students, these brown and black students’ transformation possible. Because of her sacrifices. Including her marriage. Including, you know, three jobs. And it’s just portrayed in a way that I think really celebrates her sacrifices rather than what the students have already brought—they already come into the room bringing so much as they are, already, without her intervention.
Dan Meyer (38:38):
I love the portrayal of the teacher as part of a community of teachers. Versus in so many of these movies, it’s the teacher as the only person who gets it, you know, oftentimes coming from outside of the world of teaching and everyone’s against them and wants ’em just to fall in line and do the thing we always do, and they’re the outlier. But in Abbott Elementary, it’s like we all rise and we fall together. And teachers are investing in each other’s success, especially with Gregory the longterm sub. We’re all rooting for his, you know, his flourishing. I love that. And yeah. That’s bigtime.
Chris Nho (39:09):
Yeah, I think one interesting thing is that Freedom Writers, when it came out, I think it was like a commercial success.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:17):
Oh, big time. Yeah. It was.
Chris Nho (39:18):
It probably influenced a lot of people to try teaching out. So I do wonder what it says about us, right? Like that we want teaching to fit this narrative, and we wanna be those people who could go into a classroom and <puts on “cool voice”> “Y’all listen to Snoop Dog?” and just have that question HIT. <laughter> And you know, I’ve taught in a large urban school district, and I’ve been that person and I’ve seen other people try and be that person. And I think stepping away from it a little bit, just—it’s a reflection of what people want out of teaching and what they think better education looks like.
Dan Meyer (39:57):
Yeah, yeah. This idea that, so I’m a middle-class person, let’s say, and like, there’s this idea, like, “I know what I would do if I was going into circumstances of impoverishment.” Like I have—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:06):
“All they really need is…”
Dan Meyer (40:07):
…for me to give ’em some real talk and tell ’em, you know, pull their pants up or whatever, listen to Snoop Dog, that kind of thing. And that will be the key. And that’s not how it is in, you know, in Jack Black in School of Rock or Tina Fey school, which are, you know, coded as largely like upper-class or largely white schools. And in those movies, it’s interesting, like how it’s about students discovering themselves, oftentimes. And the central figures are often students. And the students need to reject an oppressive parent figure or something and find themselves. But no, in Freedom Writers, it’s like, “You need to become more like the middle-class teachers who are coming in here to give you this wisdom.” It’s just interesting. I do find it—a pet peeve of mine is when movies portray teachers as only successful if you endure, for instance, the failure of your marriage, or even in Stand and Deliver, for instance, like Jaime Escalante, they depict him having a heart attack. And, like, the job oughta be…easier. <Audience laughs>
Chris Nho (41:04):
Truth.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:05):
That’s the barometer for how much….
Dan Meyer (41:09):
Like, no heart attacks and no divorces related to the job, that kind of thing. I do love how in Abbott—one last thing and we’ll vote and Abbott will win <audience laughs>—is like how, like there, there is a lot of degradation in Abbott, but it’s not a divorce or a heart attack—it’s the petty indignities of asking a student, “Do you wanna hang with me?” And a student says, “Nah, not really.” And that just spoke to me like how it’s not cinematic, but teaching, successful teaching, is like a collection of developing an immunity to students saying, “You’re not hot.” <Laugh> You know? And so I love that. I do wish that there was more depiction of students in Abbott Elementary. It’s a lot of adult stuff. Whatever. Give it up for Abbott, if you would, please. Let’s just get this done here. All right. That’s plenty. That’s plenty. Not gonna ask folks about Freedom Writers. OK, let’s move on to— all right, let’s hear it for Freedom Writers! Yeah. OK, cool. We go, yep.
Chris Nho (42:05):
Plot twist!
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:07):
OK, let’s see our final four. Cut and paste. Real time. Real time.
Audience member (42:12):
Where’s Dolores Umbridge?
Dan Meyer (42:14):
Oh….
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:16):
Hey, did you hear that? He said, “Where’s Dolores Umbridge?”
Dan Meyer (42:20):
All right. OK.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:20):
See, we missed so many. We could…
Dan Meyer (42:21):
So coming up here, we’ve got in the Eastern Conference, Tina Fey and Ms. Frizzle. Y’all know how I feel about that one. Let’s just get this one done. OK, let’s give it up for Tina Fey. Let’s hear it. <Audience cheers> OK. All right. Yes! Let’s give it up for menace to children everywhere, the terror, the Ms. Frizzle. <Audience cheers> One more time for Tina Fey. Let’s hear it. <Audience cheers> One more time for Ms. Frizzle. Let’s hear it. <Audience cheers>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:59):
Yeah. OK.
Dan Meyer (43:00):
It took ’em one round, but they made the right call in the end. <Laugh>
Chris Nho (43:04):
All it took was 10 minutes of constant Ms. Frizzle-bashing. <Laugh>
Dan Meyer (43:09):
Persevering and problem-solving, that’s my game. Yes. All right. So, do either of you want to influence the audience one way or the other?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (43:16):
That’s not how I play, Dan.
Dan Meyer (43:18):
Oh, OK. Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. You’re good. On Abbott versus Marshall Kane, should we just let ’em have it? All right. All right. Give it up For Abbott Elementary. Not bad. And for Marshall Kane. OK. OK. I hear Zak and five other people. All right, cool. <laugh> Right on. All right. We got our, we got our finals,
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (43:45):
We did it. We made it to two. And we know: We left out a lot of people. Right? And honestly, I kind of wish we could poll like everyone. I mean, think you put it on Twitter, right? Like, who would you pick? But I would say we had a pretty solid eight there. I’m excited to see who… Look at the little crown he put, you guys. Come on.
Dan Meyer (44:05):
I worked hard for you. For you. <Laugh> Yeah. I liked that it was a good bunch that had a lot of different kinds of qualities…and lack of qualities in some cases. And it allowed us that—I shouldn’t knock her while she’s down, and she IS down, it’s true. <Laugh> And I appreciate the conversation we’ve had, what they have revealed overall about teaching and what the world wants teaching to be versus what it actually is or actually should be. I appreciate that. So let’s settle this here. Give it up, if you would, for Abbott Elementary. <Audience cheers> And give it up for Tina Fey in Mean Girls. <Audience cheers>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (44:49):
Wow.
Dan Meyer (44:51):
That was close. I almost give that to Tina Fey.
Audience member (44:55):
Yeah, we do!
Dan Meyer (44:55):
I don’t know. That was a bracket-buster for me right there. Yeah. I lost money in the office pool off that right there. Maybe let’s just find out one more time here. One more time.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (45:03):
Last time.
Dan Meyer (45:03):
Time to summon up all your conviction on one or the other here. No half-measures right now. All right.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (45:07):
Emmy Award-winning Quinta Brunson.
Dan Meyer (45:09):
Yeah, you saw Robert Berry on that, right? He was like, “Oh, I got one more card to play. Emmy Award-winning.” That’s admissible. That’s admissible. We’ll take that. All right. So…give it up for Abbott Elementary, one last time. <Audience cheers> OK. All right. All right. And give it up for Tina Fey in Mean Girls. <Audience cheers>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (45:30):
Drumroll, please!
Chris Nho (45:33):
Best teacher is….
Dan Meyer (45:34):
Tina Fey in Mean Girls! Yeah. Not a bad pick.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (45:39):
I love it. And I think, too, I think we’re gonna have a little bit of a more reflective lens than we thought we did when we see depictions of teachers in film and television. And, you know, hopefully we’ll see some new tropes come in, right?
Dan Meyer (45:55):
Yep. Yeah. Every dollar we spend on movies with lousy teachers is just encouraging these people to make more lousy teacher movies, you know? Awesome. Thank you for being here for a live taping—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (46:06):
Thank you for being here.
Dan Meyer (46:06):
—of our podcast, Math Teacher Lounge, in a hot room. Appreciate that. Yeah, it’s been fun for us to have you here. Um, super-important, super-important final remark: Bethany loves Oprah and Oprah occasionally, in the show—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (46:18):
Is she coming?! Is she here?!
Dan Meyer (46:19):
Not here! Not here! Calm down. Calm down. Um, but we do have in Oprah fashion, not something—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (46:24):
Oh. Oh, OK. Oh, that’s, that’s OK. Sorry. I got, had really excited for a second. As if the Amplify playing cards, The Amplify t-shirts being chucked at you at high speed—I did try to get a t-shirt cannon, and that was quickly ruled out <laugh>. They didn’t know about my rocket arm, right?
Dan Meyer (46:46):
Yeah, you got a cannon. <Laugh>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (46:47):
Yeah. Oh, that’s a compliment. Oh, is that a compliment? Thank you, Dan. Thank you. Look under your seat because we have five winners. We wanna thank you for being here in person. We wanna thank the folks who are listening. We wanna thank Amplify. Oh my God. Somebody just pulled off the chair tag. You get to take that chair home with you.
Dan Meyer (47:08):
Does anybody have a prize?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:10):
OK, stand up if you…stand up if you…Yes! Stand up if you have one!
Dan Meyer (47:16):
Free set of classroom dry-erase boards, right here. Congratulations.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:22):
And for you who pulled off the chair tag, I don’t know. We gotta we gotta find something for you.
Dan Meyer (47:27):
Put that in your backpack.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:30):
Thank you again for being here. Thank you. Amplify. Thank you, Desmos. Thank you. Dan Meyer.
Dan Meyer (47:36):
Thank you folks. Chris, thank you buddy.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:38):
Chris! Chris Nho, everybody!
Dan Meyer (47:40):
We will be, we will be at—Bethany and I will be at the booth, if you wanna chit-chat and hang out, sign some stuff. Whatever. You wanna have Bethany sign you, she’ll do that. Um, come on down to the Amplify booth and we’ll—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:50):
We’ll talk to you more about Ms. Frizzle.
Dan Meyer (47:52):
Fun and prizes. I will share with my real thoughts about Ms. Frizzle down there. I’d love to see you. Thanks for being here, folks.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:57):
Thanks for listening. Bye.
Stay connected!
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We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.
Meet the guests
Dan Meyer
Dan Meyer taught high school math to students who didn’t like high school math. He has advocated for better math instruction on CNN, Good Morning America, Everyday With Rachel Ray, and TED.com. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in math education and is currently the Dean of Research at Desmos, where he explores the future of math, technology, and learning. Dan has worked with teachers internationally and in all 50 United States and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson
Bethany Lockhart Johnson is an elementary school educator and author. Prior to serving as a multiple-subject teacher, she taught theater and dance and now loves incorporating movement and creative play into her classroom. Bethany is committed to helping students find joy in discovering their identities as mathematicians. In addition to her role as a full-time classroom teacher, Bethany is a Student Achievement Partners California Core Advocate and is active in national and local mathematics organizations. Bethany is a member of the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Curriculum Steering Committee and serves as a consultant, creating materials to support families during distance learning.
About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast
Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.
Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!
You might also like:
What does problem-based math learning unlock for students? Part 3
Webinar series recap, part 3 of 3
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about—and watching—parts one and two of our three-part webinar series on student-centered learning. The earlier segments explored the thinking and framework behind student-centered instruction.
In this section—a sneak peek at a new lesson from Desmos Math 6–A1—we explore what it actually looks like in practice (and in a fish tank).
Read on for a look at how problem-based math instruction creates memorable learning experiences, and how you can find inspiration to do the same in your classrooms. (Impatient to find out? You can also just go straight to the full recording!)
Carlos’s fish: A different type of real-life problem
The idea for this lesson arose from the real-life experience of Desmos Classroom engineer Carlos Diaz, who found himself in possession of a “magic” toy aquarium. (For more of the entertaining backstory, watch the demo!)
The aquarium contained small fish that grow when you add water—by up to 400%, according to the package.
Takeaway 1: We are always surrounded with inspiration for student-driven math lessons, we just have to keep our eyes open.
Takeaway 2: Green did keep his eyes open, and they were drawn immediately to that 400%. He was skeptical—”At 400% larger, will they even fit?”—and then inspired. “We need to test this thing out,” he thought.
A stream of other questions came forth: Does the scale factor apply to lengths, volumes, something else? Would the growth be linear, or exponential? (Would Carlos ever have to clean the tank?)
The power of open-ended questions
We can’t tell you how large the fish grew (spoiler!) but we can tell you that they did (metaphorically) bust out of their tank and into a lively math lesson.
In the lesson, students look at the toy and are asked: What do you see? What do you notice? What do you wonder?
This type of question helps form the basis of student-centered learning. Here, students are not presented with a fixed set of variables and parameters and asked to solve strictly within them. Rather, they’re presented with a relevant or real-world problem and invited to reference background knowledge, previously learned content, new information, and even imagination.
Potential for exponential growth
From there, a teacher can guide students to make connections between a situation in context and the type of solution or equation that might be relevant. Students can explore collaboratively why one strategy might work better than another.
In this case, a teacher can help students determine that they’ll need to calculate exponential growth (mass), and support them in deciding the best way to do so. Then, having arrived thoughtfully at an approach, they can actually solve the problem and find an answer.
In other words, teachers leading student-driven learning transfer responsibility to those students. Teachers set up the lessons and activities and then provide just enough information and scaffolding to allow students to learn and reinforce math concepts, apply knowledge, and discover new approaches.
Let’s put it this way. Science has found that—contrary to popular belief—goldfish can remember things for not just weeks or months, but years. With student-focused learning, your students will, too.
Learn more.
Register for a free trial for access to this and other lessons.
Learn more about Amplify Desmos Math.
Watch the webinar.
Subscribe to Math Teacher Lounge.
Desmos Math 6–8 earns perfect scores from EdReports
It’s great news when a student who has worked hard to do their best gets a perfect score on an exacting test.
We’d like to take a brief moment to share some similar news of our own: Desmos Math 6–8 has earned perfect scores and an all-green rating from EdReports!
This is a powerful affirmation not only of our program, but also of every Desmos Math 6–8 student who benefits from the high-quality instructional materials, student-centered instruction, and thoughtful technology in the math classroom.
The power of math technology
Here’s a bit about the program. Based on Illustrative Mathematics’ IM 6–8 Math™ and Open Up Resources, Desmos Math 6–8 features interactive, standards-aligned lessons that are easy to use and fully customizable.
The program empowers teachers with an engaging curriculum that helps them:
- Celebrate student brilliance.
- Put student ideas at the center of instruction.
- Drive student achievement every day.
The technology in the program is purposeful: students are empowered to explore new ideas, and our teacher dashboard helps teachers bridge those ideas together. Whether teachers are observing student learning on our lesson summary page or guiding productive discussions with our conversation toolkit, our facilitation tools make teaching more effective and more fun.
The rigorous EdReports review process
EdReports.org is an independent nonprofit designed to improve K–12 education. Among other things, its expert reviews help equip teachers with the highest-quality instructional materials.
Their review process is necessarily individualized and rigorous. Educator teams develop rubrics and evidence guides; recruit expert reviewers with a collective thousands of years of experience; then conduct rigorous, evidence-based reviews.
The reviews collect evidence about important characteristics of high-quality instructional materials. These include the presence of standards, how well they are sequenced, and how deeply they are included.
Reviews take 4–6 months. Ultimately, multiple educators will analyze every page of the materials, calibrate their findings, and reach a unified conclusion.
And in our case, it was this: Desmos Math 6–8 received perfect scores from EdReports and met expectations for every one of their gateways.
See for yourself
Request a free 30-day trial today!
IM 6–8 Math™ and Illustrative Mathematics® are trademarks of Illustrative Mathematics, which is not affiliated with Amplify. Amplify is not an IM Certified Partner. EdReports and associated marks and logos are trademarks of EdReports.org, Inc.
EdReports.org is an independent nonprofit designed to improve K–12 education. Among other things, its expert reviews help equip teachers with the highest-quality instructional materials.
The power of technology in the math classroom
You might say math and tech go hand in hand. And these days, of course, kids and tech go literally hand in hand. So it makes sense that using digital tools in the math classroom can help teachers reach students, and teach the math content they need to learn. But truly integrating technology into math instruction is not just a matter of adding random gadgets and gizmos. We need to do more—especially if we want to leverage the power of math technology to engage all students.
Why integrate technology into the math classroom
Integrating technology into instruction delivers numerous benefits in the classroom–perhaps especially in the math classroom.
Numerous studies suggest that technology can support student learning in the math classroom. This tech might take the form of graphic calculators, digital manipulatives, or learning software. In general, such tools have been shown to help students improve both their understanding of math concepts and their performance on tests.
Thoughtful tech has these effects in part because it can make math more engaging. Students are generally more excited to dive into a visually appealing and interactive program than a black-and-white math textbook.
Integrating technology into a math classroom also means:
- Personalized learning: Students can work at their own pace and get tailored guidance and feedback.
- Collaboration: Students can work together regardless of their physical location.
- Real-world applications: Technology can simulate real-world scenarios that require mathematical reasoning and critical thinking skills.
- Saving teachers time: Technology helps teachers assess learning more effectively, providing real-time feedback and helping them identify where students need support.
- Preparing students for the future: After all, most jobs require the use of technology!
How to integrate technology into the math classroom
The most effective technology approaches in the math classroom are active, not passive. They also invite deep thinking and productive struggle rather than speed and rote memorization.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) includes this guidance in its Principles to Action:
“An excellent mathematics program integrates the use of mathematical tools and technology as essential resources to help students learn and make sense of mathematical ideas, reason mathematically, and communicate their mathematical thinking.”
The NCTM recommends that teachers: “incorporate mathematical tools and technology as an everyday part of the mathematics classroom, recognizing that students should experience ‘mathematical action technologies’ and physical or virtual manipulatives to explore important mathematics.”
Here are just a few approaches that enhance engagement:
- Use interactive whiteboards or projectors: You can display math problems and solutions, diagrams, graphs, and simulations, allowing students to interact with and manipulate visual representations of math concepts.
- Use graphing calculators and virtual manipulatives: They can help students visualize and solve complex math problems, and prepare them for more advanced mathematical concepts.
- Use gamification techniques: Can make math more engaging and fun for students.
- Use online collaboration tools: These tools can help students work together on math problems and projects, even when they are not in the same physical location.
- Use select social media and other online platforms: To create math communities where students can collaborate, share resources, and ask questions.
- Use math software and apps: These programs can help students practice math, solve problems, and visualize math concepts in 3D or interactive models.
How Desmos Math 6–A1 delivers
Desmos Math 6–A1 is just that kind of program. It provides dynamic and interactive digital math learning experiences, alongside flexible and creative print activities. Its teacher dashboard is designed to encourage classroom discussion and collaboration. It invites students to explore a variety of approaches—and invites teachers to celebrate and develop interesting thinking in their classrooms.
The dashboard also shows teachers actionable formative assessment data for each student and the entire class, and allows them to leave written feedback for students in their lessons.
And we know it works. Teachers and students in our pilot program said that students learned more with Desmos Math 6–A1 than with their prior program. (See case studies in a large midwestern school district and in Naugatuck Public Schools.)
What’s more, Desmos Math 6–8 has earned perfect scores and an all-green rating from EdReports. This is a powerful affirmation not only of our program, but also of high-quality instructional materials, student-centered instruction, and thoughtful technology in the math classroom.
Learn more
Identifying math anxiety
Can you do long division in your head and calculate tips in your sleep? Or does the mere thought of arithmetic keep you up at night?
If you fall into the latter camp, you’re not alone.
Math anxiety is real—and an established body of research proves it. In fact, data shows that math anxiety affects at least 20% of students.
And its effects can be damaging in both the immediate and long term. It can bring down student performance both in and beyond math, and in and outside the classroom.
Fortunately, we’re also learning how teachers can help students manage math anxiety—and succeed wherever it’s holding them back.
We explored this topic on a recent episode of Math Teacher Lounge, our biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. This season is all about recognizing and reducing math anxiety in students, with each episode featuring experts and educators who share their insights and strategies around this critical subject.
Dr. Gerardo Ramirez, associate professor of educational psychology at Ball State University, has been studying math anxiety for more than a decade. He joined podcast hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to share his insights.
So let’s take a look at what math anxiety is—and is not. We’ll also explore what impact it has on learning, and what we can do about it.
What is math anxiety?
Math anxiety is more than just finding math challenging, or feeling like you’re “not a math person.” Dr. Ramirez offers this definition: “[Math anxiety] is a fear or apprehension in situations that might involve math or situations that you perceive as involving math. Anything from tests to homework to paying a tip at a restaurant.”
Math anxiety may cause sweating, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, and other physical symptoms of anxiety.
But while math anxiety has some similarities with other forms of anxiety, it’s exclusive to math-related tasks, and comes with a unique set of characteristics and influences.
Math anxiety can lead sufferers to deliberately avoid math. And this avoidance can not only result in a student not learning math, but also limiting their academic success, career options, and even social experiences and connections. This can look like anything from getting poor grades in math class, to tension with family members over doing math homework.
Parents and teachers can suffer from math anxiety, too. In fact, some research suggests that when teachers have math anxiety, it’s more likely that some of their students will, too.
What causes math anxiety?
It’s not correlated to high or low skill or performance in math. Students who generally don’t do well in math can experience math anxiety because they assume they’ll do poorly every time. Students who have been pressured to be high-achieving experience math anxiety because they’re worried they won’t meet expectations.
Other triggers may include:
- Pressure. Pressure from parents or peers to do well in math can create anxiety, especially if the person feels that their worth or future success is tied to their math abilities.
- Negative past experiences. Someone who has struggled with math or gotten negative feedback about their math skills might develop math anxiety. They may start to avoid or fear math, making it even harder to approach and improve.
- Learning style. Different people have different learning styles. When someone’s learning style doesn’t match the way math is taught in their class or school, they may struggle and develop anxiety.
- Cultural factors. When students hear things like, “Boys are better at math,” it can increase math anxiety in girls who may absorb the notion that they are already destined to underachieve.
Math anxiety and working memory
Dr. Ramirez has researched the important relationship between math anxiety and working memory.
Working memory refers to the ability to hold and manipulate information in short-term memory. People with math anxiety often have poorer working memory capacity when it comes to math-related tasks. This is thought to be due to the cognitive load created by anxiety, which can interfere with the ability to manage information in working memory.
The result? A negative feedback loop. Poor working memory can lead to further math anxiety, and increased anxiety can further impair working memory.
However, it’s important to note that not all individuals with math anxiety experience a decline in working memory capacity. Some may have average or above-average working memory capacity but still experience math anxiety. In such cases, the anxiety may be related to negative beliefs about one’s ability to perform math tasks, rather than an actual cognitive deficit.
What we can do about math anxiety
Even though math anxiety is a distinct type of anxiety, interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and mindfulness approaches have been shown to be effective in reducing it.
It starts, says Dr. Ramirez, with normalizing the anxiety.
“If you’re a student and you’re struggling with math and I tell you, ‘Yeah, it’s hard, it’s OK to struggle with math,’ that makes you feel seen. And that’s gonna lead you to want to ask me more for help, because I’m someone who understands you,” says Dr. Ramirez. “And that’s a great opportunity.”
Learn more
Welcome, Willard Public Schools ELA review committee!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s ELA resources for K–8.
Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA K-5) is an effective core literacy resource for grades K–5 students. CKLA was developed with the Core Knowledge Foundation and designed to help teachers implement proven evidence-based instructional practices. CKLA is all green on EdReports–read the full review on EdReports.org.
Click here for correlations to the K-5 Missouri Learning Standards.
Amplify ELA is a blended English language arts curriculum designed to support students in grades 6–8 and prepare them for high school and beyond. With Amplify ELA, students learn to tackle any complex text and make observations, grapple with exciting ideas, and find relevance for themselves. Amplify ELA is also all-green on EdReports.
Click here for correlations to the 6-8 Missouri Learning Standards.
Trial Access
Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.
Go to learning.amplify.com
Select Log in with Amplify
Teacher login: t1.willard-ela@demo.tryamplify.net
Password: Amplify1-willard-ela
Student login: s1.willard-ela@demo.tryamplify.net
Password: Amplify1-willard-ela
Virtual presentations
Amplify CKLA for Grades K–2
Amplify CKLA for Grades 3–5
About CKLA
Amplify CKLA is a core ELA program for grades K–5 that delivers:
- A combination of explicit foundational skills with meaningful knowledge building.
- Embedded support and differentiation that get all students reading grade-level texts together.
- Opportunities for students to see the strengths and experiences that all people share while celebrating each others’ unique identities and experiences.
- Authentic Spanish language arts instruction with Amplify Caminos.
How it Works
Amplify CKLA teaches both foundational skills and background knowledge in grades K–2 and combines them in 3–5.
- In grades K–2, students complete one full lesson that builds foundational reading skills and one full lesson that builds background knowledge.
- In grades 3–5, students complete one integrated lesson combining skills and knowledge with increasingly complex texts, close reading, and a greater emphasis on writing
What students Explore
Amplify CKLA builds knowledge coherently across subjects and grades.
Students make connections from year to year by exploring grade-appropriate subject-area knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, literature, and the arts while learning to read, write, and think creatively and for themselves.
Download the at-a-glance resources below to learn more.
What students read
Amplify CKLA puts a variety of texts in the hands of students every day to build and strengthen background knowledge and vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension, and decoding and fluency skills.
A comprehensive approach to literacy instruction requires students to have a wide range of text experiences, including reading, listening, discussing, and writing. Check out our text complexity guide to learn more by clicking here. Most questions, tasks, and assignments in CKLA materials are text-dependent. See how we use questioning and analysis skills to help students understand text in CKLA here.
More than that, we ensure the texts students read represent the world around them. With a diverse range of authors, topics, and characters, all students have ample access to both windows and mirrors. Our texts include the following:
- Authentic books.
- Authentic text passages.
- Student Readers.
- Novel Guides (grades 3–5).
Download the lists below to explore specific grade-level texts.
Supports LETRS
Amplify CKLA aligns with the instructional principles recommended by LETRS.
- Structured: Concepts are taught through consistent routines.
- Sequential: Concepts are taught in a logical, well-planned sequence.
- Systematic: Phonemes are taught from simplest to most complex.
- Explicit: Decoding and encoding concepts are taught directly and explicitly.
- Multi-sensory: Instruction is delivered through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways.
- Cumulative: Concepts are applied in decodable, connected texts with constant review and reinforcement.
A comprehensive and cohesive solution
A strong literacy program is more than a reading program or an assessment tool: it combines curriculum, instruction, regular practice, intervention, and assessments.
Amplify has brought these components together in our early literacy curriculum suite to ensure you have what you need for multi-tiered support.
Trial Access
Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.
Explore CKLA's digital site
First, watch the quick teacher navigation video to the right. Then, follow the instructions below to access your demo account.
Go to my.amplify.com
Select Log in with Amplify
Teacher login: t1.springfield.ckla.k-5@demo.
Student login: s1.springfield.ckla.k-5@demo.
Password for both: Amplify1-springfield.ckla.k-5
Select the CKLA icon and your desired grade level
Additional Resources
Check out the information below to learn more about Amplify CKLA and see how Amplify CKLA is impacting classrooms all over the country.
Scope and sequences:
Grade 3 Integrated
Grade 4 Integrated
Grade 5 Integrated
Writing resources:
CKLA Writing Continuum for Grades K–2
CKLA Writing Continuum for Grades 3–5
Grade 3 Grammar and Morphology Scope & Sequence
Grade 4 Grammar and Morphology Scope & Sequence
Grade 5 Grammar and Morphology Scope & Sequence
Other helpful resources:
Contact us
Interested in speaking directly with your representative?
 |
Kristin McDonald Senior Account Executive (515) 240-0244 |
Welcome, Fayette County Public Schools literacy review committee!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s high-quality instructional literacy resources for K–8. We are proud to share our explicit and systematic foundational skills and our rich knowledge-building curriculum.
Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA K-2 and 3-5) is an effective core literacy resource for your students. CKLA was developed with the Core Knowledge Foundation and designed to help teachers implement proven evidence-based instructional practices. CKLA is all green on EdReports–read the full review on EdReports.org.
Click here for correlations to the Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing K-5.
Click here for a crosswalk between CKLA and LETRS.
Amplify ELA is a blended English language arts curriculum designed to support students in grades 6–8 and prepare them for high school and beyond. With Amplify ELA, students learn to tackle any complex text and make observations, grapple with exciting ideas, and find relevance for themselves. Amplify ELA is also all-green on EdReports.
Click here for correlations to the Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing 6-8.
Trial Access
Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your K-8 demo account.
Go to learning.amplify.com
Select Log in with Amplify
Login: t1.fayette-literacy@demo.tryamplify.net
Password: Amplify1-fayette-literacy
Welcome, Anoka-Hennepin Public Schools literacy review committee!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s high-quality instructional literacy resources. Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA K-2 and 3-5) is your students’ core literacy resource with explicit and systematic foundational skills and a rich knowledge-building curriculum. CKLA was developed with the Core Knowledge Foundation and designed to help teachers implement proven evidence-based instructional practices. CKLA is all green on EdReports–read the full review on EdReports.org.
Click here for correlations to the Minnesota Learning Standards.
Click here for a crosswalk between CKLA and LETRS.
Scroll down to access your review credentials and learn more about CKLA.
Trial Access
Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.
Go to learning.amplify.com
Select Log in with Amplify
Login: t1.ah-ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
Password: Amplify1-ah-ckla
Watch this video to help you navigate CKLA digital.
S2-03: Building meaningful student connections in the science classroom
In this episode, Eric Cross sits down with Indiana State Teacher of the Year, Sharita Ware, to talk about how to successfully build meaningful student connections in the science classroom. Sharita shares her journey from a corporate career to becoming Indiana’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, and her passion for creating project-based lessons for her students. Together, Eric and Sharita discuss how educators can teach students to love science content by building strong relationships, adding in other content areas, and supporting students’ imagination. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Sharita Ware (00:00):
I try to create that equal playing field where there’s nobody’s voice, that’s more important than anyone else’s and try to make them all feel that what they have to say is important.
Eric Cross (00:14):
Welcome to science connections. I’m your host Eric. My guest today is Sheta where Sheta is the 2022 Indiana state teacher of the year. And in her 10 year career, as an engineering and technology teacher, she has dedicated herself to helping students build knowledge and skills for high school and life. Beyond. In this episode, we discuss how she inspires her seventh and eighth grade students to build problem solving and critical thinking skills through hands on real world and collaborative projects. She is as humble as she is knowledgeable and through our conversation, it was easy for me to see why her students feel successful under her guidance. And now please enjoy my conversation with Sharita Ware.
Eric Cross (00:59):
Can I start off by saying congratulations on teacher of the year. Thank you for the state of Indiana. Um, that’s amazing. So I, I, I did watch, uh, your videos, uh, short interviews, and then you spoke, was it Purdue? Yes. You were there. And so, uh, to see if fellow seventh grade, eighth grade science teacher out there being celebrated, like I was so excited, so yeah, I wanted to congratulate you on that and, and just kind of talk to you about like your teaching journey and ask you, uh, maybe just kind of start off with your story about what brought you into, into the classroom, especially the middle school.
Sharita Ware (01:29):
Classroom. So what happened is when I was working in industry as an engineer and when my husband and I got married, we decided that I was gonna, um, stay home with the kids because, you know, we wanted, um, our influence to be greater on our kids than, you know, the people that would be watching them, you know, because they would ultimately spend more time with them than they would with us. And, and so, um, I stayed home and when my youngest was going to be going to kindergarten the next year, I was like, okay, what am I going to do? Cuz I really don’t necessarily feel like I need to stay at home. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but um, I knew going back to industry would be a challenge just because in my field, I, I was traveling a lot before I got married and had kids.
Sharita Ware (02:14):
And so I knew that that wouldn’t really be conducive to again, raising children. So I, I get this email, my inbox for Woodrow Wilson, teaching fellowship at Purdue. And they were just looking for people in stem fields to go into teaching. And I was like, okay. And it was a national search, you know, I filled out the application, we had to go in and do some sample teaching mm-hmm <affirmative>. And I was picked as, as one of the, the teachers to go through the program. And I started off thinking I wanted high school. And the really cool thing about this, uh, program is that we had long observation periods at high school and at middle schools. And so we would go to a school and we’d stay there two or three weeks. And so it, it kind of gave you right. A little bit more insight to what happened on a daily basis. And after those observations, I was like, I like middle school better than I, uh, like high school. And so I just kind of went that direction and you know, the rest is history. So
Eric Cross (03:19):
I feel like our stories are similar because I went into teaching thinking I wanted to do high school because I like the maturity and you a little bit more sophistication, advanced things, but yes, middle school, I felt like I can, I could get them more upstream before and kind of help shape mm-hmm <affirmative> that experience for them? Because I feel like at middle school is really where they kind of decide like what they can do based on their experiences.
Sharita Ware (03:39):
I found in the middle school that the kids, I mean, they just, they clamor around you and they’re like, what are we doing today? You know? And they get so excited and, um, they’re, they’re just, I don’t know, I guess in some ways, just more hungry in the sense of like they’re willingness to, um, now sometimes they’re a little reluctant, but you know, their willingness just to try new things. And I think, um, my students really what I have found over the years that they have found a safe space and I hear the kids, you know, say to me so many times that, you know, it it’s safe. I feel, I feel safe in here. And, and it’s not something that in my mind I’m thinking about, oh, I need to make this a safe place. It’s just, I guess part of just who I am as a person has created this environment of, of safety and, and the kids recognize that, you know, I don’t play favorites. You know, everybody starts out mm-hmm, <affirmative> on equal footing. I, I don’t care what your backstory is. I don’t care how many times I see you in the hallway when I’m walking during my prep. You know, when you hit my room, I’m, I’m gonna treat you the same way on day one, that I treat everybody else.
Eric Cross (04:54):
You really understand how to build culture with, in, with your classroom, with your students. And, and you said they feel safe, but is there anything that you do that someone could like apply? And like you found that you’ve gotten a lot of just relational capital through doing these things, or is it just your personality? Like how, how do you build those connections?
Sharita Ware (05:12):
You know, growing up being a, a very quiet person. I, I think a lot of times my voice was ignored because I was the quiet kid in the back of the room. And oftentimes I became seen or heard because of my work, you know, in the beginning it was kind of like, oh, she’s just this quiet girl in the back of the room. And then, you know, the first essay was due or the first project was due. And then it was like, oh, you know, then you’re the person to be on, you know, people’s teams. And, and that, I don’t know, that always kind of bothered me because, you know, I’m thinking just because you’re not the loudest person in the room doesn’t mean that you don’t have something to say, mm-hmm <affirmative>, you just might not be talking all the time. You know? And, and so for my students, I just, I try to create that equal playing field where there’s, nobody’s voice, that’s more important than anyone else’s and try to make them all feel like that what they have to say, or what they have to contribute is, is enough, is good.
Sharita Ware (06:14):
Enough is important as…
Eric Cross (06:16):
It is, as it is. And there’s probably a lot of things that you do. But in addition to building these relationships, what do you do? Like how do you make your learning fun for students?
Sharita Ware (06:25):
I think, um, I’m also a little bit on the silly side. Um, we do a, a Barbie prosthetic leg project, and this was after trial and error of having the kids make full size prosthetic legs. And I try to make it as real world as possible, but with none of the children being amputee or, you know, having access to someone, it was really hard for them to really visualize what needed to happen. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so, um, I found this Barbie that had a prosthetic leg and I was like, well, LA, so I just started collecting Barbies and chopping their legs off <laugh>. And so I have this jar of Barbie legs. And so, and I said, you’re gonna make prosthetic legs. And I lay this jar of legs on the counter and the kids are like, like they gasp and then they crack up and then they’re like, okay, this lady’s crazy. So…
Eric Cross (07:22):
That’s when you take off your scarf and there’s this necklace of just Barbie legs that are just around and you’re like, I’m a middle school teacher and they go, oh, okay. I understand. Yeah. Yeah. It’s totally fine. Is this a lesson that someone that you made up or is it something that you’ve re remixed? Is it something that someone could do if they looked it up anywhere?
Sharita Ware (07:38):
Um, so I think teach engineering has the, the full size leg that the kids make. And that’s where I initially got it from.
Eric Cross (07:47):
Is that the website teach engineering?
Sharita Ware (07:49):
Yes. And, um, I, in fact, I get lots of ideals from there. Um, and I, I always usually tweak them, but it’s, it’s one of those things that kind of gets your brain going. And so it was kind of a mixture of, uh, project lead the way gateway to technology and the teach engineering. And I think the project lead the way had us making like braces, uh, for, um, kids with, um, like cerebral palsy or, or something like that. And the kids did okay with that project. Uh, but I wanted to go just a little bit, uh, deeper with it because part of what I was wanting them to do is that context and that connection, that human connection, because for me, it’s not just enough for them to make a project. Uh, before we start this prosthetic leg, I read them a story out of a Scholastic magazine, and it’s a, a teenage girl that lost her leg in a boating accident.
Sharita Ware (08:42):
And she was super active, um, playing sports and running. And, and so I was, you know, trying to get the kids to, you know, make that connection, someone close to their age. Um, and then how it’s not, it’s, it’s more than about her physical healing. It’s also about her mental healing and how she had to, you know, talk to herself to say that she could, you know, recover and, and come back from this and still go on to do all of the things that she was doing before. Um, and in some ways it’s kind of cool because, um, you know, she has a running prosthetic, she has a, a swimming prosthetic, and she has her every day with the pain and toils prosthetic. So just trying to, you know, help them to see that it’s more than just the, you know, the biomedical mechanical engineering aspect of the project.
Sharita Ware (09:30):
And so they have to design for comfort. They have to design for, um, swelling. And then, um, they also can, if they, if they want to, they don’t have to, if they want to, they can create their own backstory. So when they get there, um, we have a day where they are introduced to their client, so they get to meet their Barbie and, and then they get to decide if they want a backstory and, and then do their research based off of that. So if it’s someone that was a runner, then they can design a prosthetic running blade. So just, they have lots of, uh, flexibility.
Eric Cross (10:04):
The, that aspect of adding the narrative. It does so much for like listening to it on the outside. It one, it adds this humanity to, you know, what can sometimes just feel like it may be cold, logical stem. We’re just, we’re just doing things. We’re fixing things. We’re, you know, we’re discovering things, but really the stem has value when we’re actually applying it to, to, to serve humanity or our ecosystem or whatever it is. There was a, a coding, uh, class I was doing with my students and I showed them this app called be my eyes. And it’s for people who are visually impaired and it pairs them with a volunteer. And when they call, and there’s a whole huge pool of volunteers and I’m one of them. And when my, when it happens in class, I answer and it uses the FaceTime. So the person who’s visually impaired is holding up their phone and you see what they see and you tell them and real time what’s happening.
Sharita Ware (10:54):
Oh, wow. That’s so cool.
Eric Cross (10:56):
These are, these were the things I think for students that the story, the, the human part of it, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, it must bring in so many more students into engagement.
Sharita Ware (11:05):
Yeah. I, I feel like it does because I, I think, um, and, you know, along the journey, they kind of lose, um, they lose sight a little bit because, you know, they get out in the lab and they have access to all of these different materials. And I think, you know, truly making it, you know, project based for me is I try not to control the materials too much. Um, I try not to make it so wide that they just get lost, but I try to throw a few curve balls in there, you know, of, of materials that really don’t make sense to use, but they kind of think they make sense to use. Um, because the, the, the meat of it is that the prosthetic leg is a similar size of the original leg and that the, the knee functions. And so I don’t limit, and I grade them off of efficient use of materials.
Sharita Ware (11:59):
So, and that just throws them off because I think, well, how many Popsicle sticks can I use? And I’m like, you can use as many as you like, but remember, this is a prosthetic leg that, um, your Barbie, which is one six scale, um, is going to be wearing all day. So you could think that a Popsicle stick, if you chose to use a Popsicle stick is kind of like dragging around a two by four <laugh>, you know? So do, is that what you really want to use as your material? And some of the kids really think about it and saying, okay, I’m, I’ve got this aluminum rod, okay. This is probably what I would use for my bone structure, because it’s lightweight, but yet it is supportive. And then sometimes they come up with their own ideas in terms of materials, like one student brought in his, um, 3d doodle pin mm-hmm <affirmative> and he made joints and everything with this pin.
Sharita Ware (12:54):
And I’m, and I had delayed buying one, cause I’m like, I, how do you have control over that thing? Mm-hmm <affirmative> he brought that in and he did probably two or three iterations of it and, and got it to work where even the knee where it bit back 90 degrees, but it stopped. He made like, so that it didn’t bend forward. It blows my mind. I’m like so many UN unexpected things have, have happened just from my, um, teaching style. Now I did have, my first few years, I had a, a teaching coach, um, come in and, um, I asked her to come into my room because I just wanted to make sure because I was not a traditional teacher. She said, this classroom is amazing. And, and I think the one thing that she helped me with was, was purpose and consistency and the sense of making sure that with the standards that all of these cool things and ways of being, um, that I was doing in my classroom, that, that I kept it purposeful and intentional. So many times as educators, I know in having student teachers again, ask yourself the question, what is the big picture I want the kids to take away. And once you ask that question, then everything that you have them do will lead to that big picture. Well, it should lead to that big picture.
Eric Cross (14:22):
So it sounds like they’re, you’re starting with this end goal in mind and then kind of backwards planning to get there. Yeah. Do you think you would’ve been the same type of teacher if you would’ve gone straight from college into the classroom? No. And if, if, no, as you’re shaking your head, what do you think it is about? Cause I’ve been asking myself these questions, like just over the years, what is it about coming from industry and going into the classroom? Do you feel like, is how has that impacted you in how you teach?
Sharita Ware (14:45):
Well, I think it’s twofold cuz I was older. I already had three children. I think the combination for me, I think is I was already a mom and I had worked in industry. So the behavior aspect of kids and, and then having that real world experience. And I, I just feel like whether it’s in the classroom, um, marriage, kids, to me, it’s 90% relationship, you know, and the rest will work itself out. That’s, that’s just my, my take on it. But I, I feel like having kids, so some of the behavioral things I kind of was aware of, you know, and just learned many times just not to react to some of the things that they did.
Eric Cross (15:31):
Which is huge. Right. Especially in middle school is controlling your reactions.
Sharita Ware (15:35):
Yes. Cuz that’s what they want. You know? And, and I had this student last year as well. She’s brilliant. And so if she cannot wrap her mind around the purpose of what you’re doing and, and you’re pushing her to do something that she doesn’t think is necessary, mm-hmm <affirmative>, she kind of has these meltdowns. And, and so we just had this, you know, I don’t know, we just came to this understanding and it, and it works to control the meltdowns. I tried to make sure. And, and I used her as a gauge because I knew she wasn’t, she wasn’t getting upset because she didn’t understand. She didn’t understand the why mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so I felt like if she got the why then so would everyone else. So when she, if she was okay with it, then I was like, okay, then I must have explained it well enough.
Sharita Ware (16:25):
And so in my mind that I really need to make sure they understand the, again, going back to that purpose <laugh> and intention, making sure that that is clear. And then I think that’s what gets lost. Sometimes mm-hmm <affirmative> uh, with us as teachers, we, we know where we want the kids to go and we want us to trust the process, you know, just do it because I said so, but sometimes, you know, empowering your children to under to understand the why, because that again is what allows them to be able to do bigger and greater things on their own. So on that next project comes along. They’re starting to tell you, well, first we need to make sure we understand what, um, we’re being asked to do to do. So we have to define the question. We have to make our driving question that will help us stay focused. And, and you’re just standing up there going, okay, now you don’t need me. I’ll go here and sit down. <laugh> so it’s, uh, it is really cool.
Eric Cross (17:28):
Now I’m thinking about my own kids. Like, do my students know the why behind the lesson we did today? It’s one area of growth that I wanna make sure I do this year with my students. And so I really appreciate that. So the, and you just hit on something that is, has been in the forefront of my mind lately and math and English as you know, tend to be prioritized in schools everywhere because it’s what state tested. And it’s what, you know, this is a whole other conversation, but I’ve been talking to math teachers frequently about one of the challenges that they experience or they’ve been telling me is that math is kind of taught. Like it’s just computational, you’re solving these problems, but it’s really separated from any real life application. A lot of times, you know, it’s pizza or gumballs or, or just fictional scenarios and students don’t perform well many times. And some of the reasons why is cuz just no connection. I don’t want to solve puzzles. Like it’s not my jam. Do you have any just inside or, or perspective on how math is, is taught in maybe a way that you think it would students would benefit more?
Sharita Ware (18:32):
You know how kids learn in elementary school, you’ve got this, the same teacher teaching all of the subjects. And so wouldn’t that be an awesome opportunity for you to have like these, these projects where I feel like you could, a class could legit work on the same project for a whole entire year. And so couldn’t the English be writing your persuasive letter to the mayor, asking him to do this or do that. And the process of doing that they’re, they’re, they’re writing with a purpose with a true purpose. Um, and then when they’re doing math, you know, they want, they want a new neighborhood park. So, you know, well how much is this gonna cost? Well, math, what size is it gonna be math? Let’s see what it looks like, art, you know, you just, you have all of this things. And then of course then science.
Sharita Ware (19:32):
So if it’s on a heel, how can we, you know, deal with erosion? And you know, you can just pull so many different things into that. And so not only are they learning, but they’re narrowed in and focused on a project, they’re, they’re able to dive deep into, you know, learning more of learning, how to express themselves and communicate with real people. So it’s more of taking these compartmentalized learning that we do in middle school and high school. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> where you’re almost learning apprenticeship style. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, you have these master educators and it’s not about them being the best at math or being the best at this or that. Cuz there’s so many tools now that could help you through that. But you’re, you’re giving, you’re teaching them so many life skills and so many ways to think and problem solve that, that we’re just that the kids just don’t have.
Eric Cross (20:27):
I think that that is amazing. And I think that in that situation, what I’m hearing is we’re going deeper, not wider because there are a lot of different concepts that kids are expected to learn. Or I should say there are several concepts that teachers are expected to teach doesn’t necessarily mean that our kids are learning, but we’re teaching them. And this way you’re embedded it into an authentic context. Students are able to go through this cycle just like real life. And then they’re also able to build these kind of really transdisciplinary skills. Not only am I learning the math, the English, the the, but I’m also learning the interpersonal skills of being able to sell myself and present myself in a way that’s winsome. And it’s especially powerful coming from someone from industry. Last question, even just listening to you, I know you, you are this for a lot of people, but I wanted to ask you who inspires you?
Sharita Ware (21:14):
I think there have been lots of people over the years. Like I’m thinking of my shop teacher who has since, uh, the last few years passed away. Um, he was one of those people, I think similar personality to me, super quiet person, but he was always in the background on my journey and his name was Joe Mo and we called her Madam Carol was my 10th grade English lit teacher. And she was the one that started reading my work out in front of the class. And you know, and that just gave me courage, not so much to be seen. Uh, but that the work I was doing was, was good. And, and I think I needed that kind of encouragement. Lastly, my students inspire me because when I look at their faces and see the excitement, I think of those students for the first time and, and, and think about this seventh and eighth graders for the first time feeling like they really have something to say, they really have something to contribute of value. And, and I do it for them. You know, the reason why I am here in this moment is because of them. Um, without them, you wouldn’t be talking to me <laugh>
Eric Cross (22:37):
This is, this is true. This is, this is true. You would probably never say this about yourself, but you just exude a humility and a service in how you talk about your students and yourself. And I just wanna thank you for using your gifts, but I don’t wanna just call them gifts because it makes it sound like you didn’t earn ’em and your skills that you’ve earned and worked very hard to acquire over the years to go back into the classroom and leave industry, cuz you, you could have gone back to industry too, but you decided not to. And you could have worked in the industry and your hours were a little different pay is a little different, but you came back to serve the kids of Indiana and because of you and because of that choice, those students have a brighter future and believe in themselves and they’re finding their voice. And I want to thank you for that and for representing all of us stem teachers who are in middle school and being that leader. So thank you for that and thank you for being on the podcast.
Sharita Ware (23:24):
You’re welcome. Thank you for having me.
Eric Cross (23:28):
Thank so much for listening. Now we wanna hear more about you in the amazing work you’re doing for students. Do you have any educators who inspire you? You can nominate them as a future guest on science connections by emailing stem, amplifycom.wpengine.com. That’s ST E M amplifycom.wpengine.com. Make sure to click, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and join our Facebook group science connections, the community until next time.
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Meet the guest
Sharita Ware, a Purdue University graduate, is in her 10th year of teaching engineering and technology education to middle school students in the Tippecanoe School Corporation. Ware challenges her students with real-world, problem-based design scenarios that will help them contribute to global technology and integrated STEM. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
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S1-04: Connecting with students and caregivers in the science classroom: Ryan Rudkin
In this special episode, our host Eric Cross sits down with veteran middle school teacher Ryan Rudkin. Ryan shares her expertise after almost two decades in the classroom, discussing ways to incorporate aspects of problem-based learning into the K–8 science classroom. Eric and Ryan talk about how to increase parent engagement, involve community members, and add excitement to lessons.
Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (00:00):
I know there’s other goals in mind, you know, standards and test scores. But at the end of the day, I wanna come back and I want them to come back.
Eric Cross (00:35):
My name’s Eric Cross, host of our science podcast, and I am with Ryan Rudkin, middle-school teacher out here in California just to the north up near Sacramento? El Dorado Hills?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (00:46):
Yeah. 20 miles east of Sacramento.
Eric Cross (00:49):
Nice. And I am down here in San Diego. And so Ryan, to start off, what I wanna do is ask you about your origin story, like a superhero. So how did you become a middle-school science teacher to become part of this elite profession of science folks that get to do awesome things with kids?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (01:08):
I would agree with you that it is definitely an elite profession. I got my credential and I thought I was gonna teach third or fourth grade elementary school. And the second day I got called for a sub job for middle school. And I just thought, “We’ll take it,” you know? And by second period, I knew: This is where I belong. The kids, middle school, students are just a species of their own. And you have to appreciate them. And if you do appreciate them, then you’re in the right spot. And I quickly looked at my coursework and I was able to get authorizations in science, history, and English, and I love science. So I chose science. And the rest is history. It’s been a wild ride and I wouldn’t have changed or asked for anything different. I love it.
Eric Cross (02:02):
I definitely agree with you. So, your history—you’ve been in various middle-school classrooms. Can you tell us a little bit about that? What classrooms have you been in? What disciplines of science have you taught or are currently teaching?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (02:14):
I was hired for seventh grade life science, and then I did that for a few years and then I got moved into eighth physical science, and I was there for 12 years. Love eighth grade science. I love eighth graders. Chemistry and physics are my favorite. There’s just so much opportunity for just awesome labs, great conversations, student discourse, all of that. And then the past three years I’ve been in sixth grade and now we’re integrated. So,a sixth grade integrated science and I also teach social studies and a technology design class.
Eric Cross (02:52):
Oh, nice. What do you do in your technology design class? That sounds cool.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (02:56):
Right now it’s mostly internet media and we use WeVideo, it’s an editing-video program, and we produce and put on our school weekly news bulletin. And then we weave in other projects. We do some interdisciplinary projects. Right now my students are working on a mythology God, Goddess, and Monster project that relates to our social studies curriculum. And we’re learning about Greece. So yeah, we just try to give them added projects and they’re using the WeVideo platform. By sixth grade, they’re coming to us now with wonderful skills with all the tech. I mean, if I need help, I ask them like, “How do you do something on Google Docs?” Or, “How do you do something on Drive?” The kids are definitely tech-savvy.
Eric Cross (03:49):
They must love being the teacher in the classroom. They get to—it kind of switches power roles, where they get to teach the teacher something.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (03:56):
Yes. And especially WeVideo, sometimes we’ve had some hiccups, and the kids show everybody, and that’s part of the design class. They’re trying to solve—we’re teaching them how to solve their own problems. So if there’s any kind of issue with anything with the technology, honestly, I usually tell them, “Go ask a friend,” or we kind of shout out, “Hey, who knows how to troubleshoot this?” And the kids are eager to help each other, which is nice.
Eric Cross (04:21):
And they have this authentic experience where they’re actually doing real problem-solving, as opposed to something that we manufactured. Like, those are real things that we have to deal with in life. And that’s exactly like how we solve it, right? We just go ask people! We look it up, and the ahas are genuine too. Throughout!
Ryan Renee Rudkin (04:36):
Yes, especially thinking on the fly. Especially yesterday, I was in the middle of teaching and my laptop froze, and it’s like, “OK, everybodytake a couple minutes, you know, work on this, this, or that while I switch out laptops!” And so I’m modeling, too, how to solve my own problems. And I think it teaches the kids how to do that too.
Eric Cross (04:59):
I’ve always thought it was interesting that when teachers get to teach in real time, how do we handle stress and frustration when it’s really happening? And I think the tech—at times, failure is the real one where you feel this chill or this sweat that kind of comes over you and you’re trying to present or cast or the video won’t play and things like that. I think I’ve done enough times in my years of teaching where now my students know what to do, or they want to come up and help, and we’re good with it. But I remember in the beginning when those things would kind of glitch or go wrong or the wifi goes down, and you’re like, OK, what do we need now?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (05:33):
I think it’s honestly, after the fact, when I think in the moment, I’m not thinking of feeling stressed, but just afterwards, then I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this has just been a wild day.” But yeah, you just have to kind of go with it. And that’s just the beast of middle school. I just added to the list of why we love it.
Eric Cross (05:53):
You said something about interdisciplinary work, and I wanna kind of ask about that. Because it sounds like you’ve had your hand in several different areas of science and grade levels. Working, doing design courses, working with tech. Are there certain lessons that are your favorites to teach? The ones that you really enjoy, or that no matter what, you’re like, “We need to do this; this is such a rich experience for students”?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (06:17):
Yeah. I definitely try to do lessons or activities along the way. I like to do projects at the end of my units. When I taught physics, we did a project and it was mainly an assessment tool called the Wheeling and Dealing. The kids, they would all get a different car. And then they to sell their car. And so they had to pretend to be a car salesman, and they did that with their knowledge of the physics unit. So everything we did on forces and speed and motion. So I like doing culminating projects like that. And you’re kind of tricking them into assessing them.
Eric Cross (06:57):
When I think about your car salesman project, I’m thinking of a bunch of students, but they’re like on Shark Tank, but they’re just littler versions. And they’re doing these sales pitches, but they’re speaking in scientific terms as they’re trying to do it. Do you record these or do they just exist in the classroom?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (07:12):
No…And that was a long time ago, when I taught eighth grade. I wish I had; I wish I had recorded. That was definitely—it was fun, ’cause the kids, they would get their little piece of paper and they—some of ’em didn’t know what car it was. And so they’re like “A Boo… A Boo-gatti? What’s a Boo-gatti?” And then someone from across the room would be like, “Ooh, I want it! Here, I’ll trade you my Ford Focus!” And <laugh> so they would kind of wheel-and-deal which car they would…and then once they got their choice, then they would do the project.
Eric Cross (07:44):
So they’re really embodying this persona of a car salesman. The wheeling and doing back-and-forth and trying to trade a Bugatti for a Ford Focus. <Laugh>
Ryan Renee Rudkin (07:53):
I know. <Laugh> I like to make my class, my learning environment, enjoyable. You know, I gotta be there; they gotta be there. So I know there’s other goals in mind—you know, standards and test scores—but at the end of the day, I wanna come back, and I want them to come back. And I just have that as a priority.
Eric Cross (08:18):
Well, based on the projects that you’re doing and the way that you approach education with students, I can see why middle-school students would want to come back, even if they had the option not to. Just because of the cool things that you’re doing. Now we’re on this—hopefully, fingers crossed—tail end of COVID in the classroom and schools, and I know it’s impacted all of us differently. Has student engagement changed since COVID and if so, how, and what have you done in these last two years to maybe adjust your approach, to continue that engagement and that richness that you provide for your kids?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (08:57):
I definitely—I think for me, I recognize that when the students are in my classroom, I want them to, I dunno, for lack of a better word, just escape the noise at home. And I know we’ve always had students that are going through divorce situations or their dog died, other things, but I think with COVID, it’s definitely been compounded. And just creating a safe place for the kids to want to be and…it’s hard. We’ve had a lot of students that have been out, absent, for various reasons and on quarantine. And they’re struggling with doing work from home, ’cause their parents are stressed and their parents are dealing with their work issues. And so I think just having grace for the kids and just keeping…I don’t know, I guess like I said, I’ve always had student engagement as top of my list.
Eric Cross (10:06):
It sounds like—the things I hear you say really have to do with who these students are as people.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:12):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (10:13):
And then as a second, who they are as students. How do relationships fit into your engagement? ‘Cause I’m hearing this connection that you seem to be making with kids as you’re talking about things that are beyond academics: their home life, how they’re impacted.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:28):
Yes.
Eric Cross (10:28):
Is there anything that you do to build these relationships, or to connect with your students, to make them feel wanted or feel connected to the classroom or to you?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:37):
Yeah, I do. I do a few things to build those connections. And again, this timeframe in their life is so out of their control, their peer relationships, relationships with their parents. And when they’re in my classroom, I want them to feel loved and appreciated. Something I do it’s called Phone Fridays. And in one of the social media groups, someone posted about it, and I’ve been doing it for over a year now, actually. So on Fridays I call parents and give good news. And so I’ll pick maybe one or two students. And it could be academic reasons. It could be behavior, I’ve seen a slight improvement of behavior. Maybe a role model in the classroom. And my goal is to get everybody every trimester. So everybody gets a phone call by the end of the trimester. And it’s funny ’cause sometimes the parents are a little like “Uh-oh”! When they pick up, they see the caller ID, and their school’s calling. ‘Cause Some kids don’t get good calls. So it’s a really—I would say every single parent that I’ve called, I usually get a follow-up email, either to me or my admin, just saying it’s such a cool idea I do this; thank you so much. And yeah, I just call and give good news and just put ’em on the spot. And usually the kids are a little embarrassed, but you can tell, even though they’re kind of—I think they’re faking it, that they’re embarrassed! ‘Cause You know that they got the Phone Friday, and everybody’s like, “Who’s gonna get the phone Friday?!” And so it’s a very big deal in my class.
Eric Cross (12:07):
What a great way to—I mean, it seems like that hits on so many levels. You’re making these positive calls home. You’re praising publicly, which a lot of times can happen where students can get criticized or redirected publicly and then praised privately, which is a lot of times the reverse what we should be doing. But here you are praising them publicly. And then you’re not only building a relationship with yourself, but you’re also connecting them with their parent or whoever is caring for them, because now when they go home, there’s this, “Hey, your teacher called; you’re doing awesome!” So it’s this kind of triangle that’s forming there. I think that’s super-cool and a great thing for teachers to do.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (12:45):
It takes, you know, the last five minutes of my class. I do it every class. And then I have a system. Like I said, I keep track of all the kids. That way, by the end of the trimester I’ve gotten everybody. Sometimes I let the students, whoever I call first, then I let them pick a peer and I tell them, “OK, we have to have a solid reason. Why are we calling?” And a couple times they’ll have a student, like one of my energized ones, they’ll raise their hand. “How About me? How about me?” And I and the kids kind of laugh a little and I said, “Well, how about this? Let’s make a goal. How about next week we’re gonna make a goal and we’re gonna have a reason to call home.” So just working on the kids that need a little push in the right direction. That’s other reasoning to it. But yeah, it’s fun. I love it.
Eric Cross (13:33):
And you have the community. You have this goal setting. We were talking a little earlier about this transition—so you’re becoming this…your school’s going through the IB process, is that right?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (13:44):
Yes.
Eric Cross (13:44):
And we were talking about the ATL skills and one of them is goal-setting management. You already kind of organically do this in your classroom, which is really neat. I know being an IB teacher, a lot of times I find the things that I’ve already been doing and find, “Oh, this is actually an approach to learning!” or “This is something that has a title!” I just thought it was just being helpful! Ah…So the kids are connected. You have this process where you’re calling parents; it’s working; students are involved, so it’s building this community. Now you’re engaging students. Do you have any favorite student engagement tools that you use in your classroom or when you’re teaching that you feel like you get a lot of bang for your buck? There’s so many things out there these days. And so many approaches, tools, web apps. Do you have any favorites that you use?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (14:40):
No. Nothing comes up top of my mind right now. Mostly just projects, like I said. And being excited. I think having my students see me excited about something…and I’m honest when we’re doing something that’s not quite my favorite, then I’m honest about that too. But just having my—like, we just started thermal energy this week and I told my students, I said, “OK guys, I’m gonna weave in some chemistry in there. I’m gonna weave in some particle motion,” and they’re like, “Oh! That’s when you taught eighth grade, huh!” Cause I talk a lot about when I taught eighth grade before. I don’t know, just showing my own enthusiasm, I think, is a good payoff to me. That’s a bang for your buck. Other things…I try to give ’em cool videos and Mark Grober, he’s definitely a favorite of mine I like to show my students. I like to bring in guest speakers from our community. When I taught eighth grade for physics, I always brought in a local CHP officer and they would bring in the radar and lidar guns and the kids would mark off the parking lot and they would calculate their speed. And then they would verify it with the radar gun. Two years ago when I taught math, I brought in a local landscaper company, a father-and-son outfit, and they showed the kids how they would do bids on jobs. And so, relate it to our chapter on volume and area. So just making that connection with real life. Plus it’s just a nice opportunity, too, for the community to come in. With our design class, put on our newscast. And then one of our units in our sixth grade curriculum is weather. And so I brought in a local weatheruh, chief meteorologist. And he actually talked to the students about his job as a meteorologist and then also being on the news and putting on a newscast. So we got him on our green screen and did a little like Mark Finan, you know, little cameo on our newscast for the week for school. So that was kind of cool.
Eric Cross (16:45):
They must have been excited.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (16:47):
Yeah. They’re pretty starstruck by him. So that was pretty fun.
Eric Cross (16:51):
This person was on their local news? So they would know him?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (16:56):
Yeah, he’s on Channel 3 out of Sacramento. Yeah. KCRA Channel 3, Mark Finan.
Eric Cross (17:00):
So all these guest speakers that you have…how do you reach out to these people? And you sound like you get a lot of success. Do you ever get nos? Like if I’m sitting here listening and that inspires me, but you’re getting celebrities and you see a few people…like, how do you reach out to them? And does everybody say yes? How does it go?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (17:21):
Well, usually at my back-to-school night, I always ask the parents if they have a career or hobby that could lend itself to the curriculum. And so sometimes I’ll hear about—students will talk about, like, “My mom’s a doctor.” And so I’ll reach out to parents and just say, “Hey, you know, your kiddo said, you’re a doctor. May I ask what type?” And most of the time the nos that I’ve received are just because of schedule conflicts. You just have to get creative! Look in your community and see what you have. People want to come and talk to kids. I’ve had some presentations that the person is so intelligent and amazing, but they just, weren’t very kid-friendly. I mean, that happens. Butsomeone knows someone. And just ask! I mean, it doesn’t hurt to ask to have ’em come out, come hang out for the day, with my students. Andone time I had a nurse practitioner she was in the cardiac unit. And so she brought in hearts and led a heart dissection with my students. And we did a station set-up. I’ve had elaborate ones like that, or just a mom come in to tell my students about her job as a nutritionist and relate it to our unit on metabolism. And so just did like a little 15-minute Q&A with the kids on nutrition. And I would just say, look at your community and/or post on social media. I always do that. Post in your school’s PTA groups. So the parents know someone, that’s for sure. Or someone’s retired. One time I had—I think he was a grandfather of one of the kids—he was into rocks. And he had a bunch of meteorites <laugh> and brought in his meteorites.
Eric Cross (19:15):
Bring in your rocks!
Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:15):
I know! Right? And he <laugh> just brought in his meteorite collection! I was like, sure, come on in!
Eric Cross (19:23):
That’s one of the things I love about being a middle-school teacher is that my students have such varied interests and I’ll get the Rock Kid every once in a while and he’ll come in and he’ll have all these rocks and crystals. And a lot of times there’s a grandfather that’s responsible for this inherited geologic treasure that they have.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:45):
Yeah, something like that—I mean rocks are not my favorites, but I don’t really tell the kids that. I was like, “Sure, yeah, come on in! We can have a whole-day lesson on rocks!”
Eric Cross (19:55):
<Weakly> “This is great!”
Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:58):
Just utilizing your resources. That’s all it’s about.
Eric Cross (20:02):
Well, I think the back-to-school night was really helpful. That’s something that’s super doable. You have a bunch of parents and you just simply ask, “Who do you know? What do you do?” And then just collecting that and then just asking people to come in. I’ve I’ve been reluctant to do it more often than I’ve wanted to, because I haven’t figured out—and maybe you can help me with this—I have three class periods a day plus other class periods that are not necessarily science. And I don’t want to dominate a person’s schedule. Do they tend to be willing to stay all day? Or do you do, one class gets it, and you record it? Like, how do you balance out the speakers with your school schedule?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (20:39):
Mostly they’ll they’ll just come for the whole day. When I taught eighth grade, I had five classes, so that was easy. That was an all-day thing. And then usually I’ll offer to call lunch, have lunch delivered, or snacks during the day. I mean—
Eric Cross (20:53):
Feeding them is key.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (20:54):
Yeah. Just something kind of nice. Donuts in the morning. I mean, you’d be very surprised. Most people that are in the field or retired, like I said, they’re more than willing to come. And even if they have to wait an hour, while you teach another class that doesn’t pertain to it, then they’ll either leave or come back or just hang out in the back and pretend to be a student during that history class that you have.
Eric Cross (21:20):
It’s my own limiting belief where I feel guilty. I don’t think about it. I need to think about it through the perspective that you do, that these people WANT to talk. I just assume everybody’s so busy. But I do know, the times I’ve had speakers come out, at the end of the day, they’re so energized or they’re so happy or they’re so grateful. ‘Cause They’re like, “This is what it’s like to teach every day?” I’m like, “Yeah, this is what it’s like.”
Ryan Renee Rudkin (21:42):
I think too, a lot of parents…usually being being in the stops at elementary. A Lot of parents don’t get the opportunity to come help out in the classroom, because the middle school kids, you know, it’s not very cool or it’s just not needed like in the elementary classes. So a lot of times, like I said, you’d be surprised. A lot of the parents they’re more than happy to come and hang out. And again, some students, they don’t want their mom or dad to be there, but then I talk it up. I’m like, “Everyone’s gonna be so like impressed that your dad’s a doctor,” or “your mom’s a doctor” or —so then I kind of like downplay it. Like, “Oh, whatever, you’re you’re faking it. It’ll be fine. Don’t be embarrassed.” Leading up to their parent coming into the classroom.
Eric Cross (22:36):
Right. Kind of redirect that energy toward something positive. With guest speakers, projects, pacing, all these awesome things that you have going on, how do you find balance as a teacher, as a person? And what encouragement would you give to new or aspiring teachers? We work in a profession that will take as much as you give it. And you fall asleep at night worrying about other people’s kids and we love it. And teachers by personality can just give and give and give and give. But in order for us to last—I’m thinking about those new teachers who are going into it, who are gonna go in and be there before the sun gets up and stay after the sun gets down. How do you maintain balance, taking care of yourself? You’ve been in education for—how long have you been teaching for?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (23:29):
Sixteen. This is my 16th year.
Eric Cross (23:31):
Enough to be that veteran. So how do you find balance? And then, what encouragement would you give to new or aspiring teachers?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (23:39):
I would say each year, pick one or two things to add on. You can’t add on 10 things, even though you’re gonna find 10 things that are awesome. But just make a little list, put ’em in a file, and every year, just get good at what you do and then just add on one or two things. And reflect on what’s not going well that you can get rid of to make room to add something else. Try to be patient with yourself. And don’t reinvent the wheel. There’s so many things out there that you can borrow and make it your own. Again, I think that’s a time-saver, just leaning on your colleagues. And take lots of notes, because then when you do it again next year, you can refresh yourself and, “Oh yeah, this lesson, wasn’t the best…” What can you add in to make it a little bit better? And yeah, I would say just take on one or two things each year. And then by the time you get to, you know, being a veteran, you can do all these awesome things and it’ll feel natural ’cause you’ve been practicing and just adding in one thing at a time. I coached Science Olympiad a bunch of years ago, and Science Olympiad is so rewarding. It’s just so amazing.
Eric Cross (24:59):
What is Science Olympiad, for the people who’ve never heard of it?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (25:03):
Oh, Science Olympiad is so awesome. Google it. I think it’s just ScienceOlympiad.org. It’s 23 different events across all disciplines of science, different topics. And then you have a team of 15 students. And so your 15 students have to cover the 23 events. So for example, if the student’s on the anatomy team, usually there’s a team of two kids they’re gonna study and learn. They provide all the rules and the guidelines. So the students learn and study whatever the parameters are for that year. And then they take a test. And then they compete against other schools. And there’s build events, the engineering events, they can build things like trebuchets matchbox cars or mousetrap cars. Oh gosh, there’s all kinds of things. There’s like a Rube Goldberg device. It changes every year. And it’s so rewarding to see the kids; they pick their area of science that they love. And sometimes you have to put them on an event that they don’t know, and then they end up loving it. It’s so rewarding as a teacher to see these kids that are just on fire and you know that one day they’re gonna go off and do amazing things. They just commit. They commit to their event. And then they blow it outta the water and they win medals and just the recognition…it’s super, it’s just an amazing program.
Eric Cross (26:42):
One of the competitions that’s really low-tech that I’ve taken into my classroom is Write It, Do It. Have you done that one before?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (26:50):
Oh, yes. Yeah. That’s one. Yep.
Eric Cross (26:52):
It’s such a low-tech, simple one to do, but it teaches such great skills. And for those people who haven’t heard of the Write It, Do It project, you create kinda some abstract art out of random crafts. That’s very difficult to describe. You have pipe cleaners and foam and balls and you know, all these different things. And you make it. And then one person on the team is the writer, and they look at it and they write the procedures, and then their teammate, who’s in a different room and doesn’t get to see it, gets all the materials to build it and the procedures, and they have to rebuild it as closely as possible to the actual original. Even though they don’t get to see the original. So they have to rely on their partner’s ability to write procedures step-by-step. And it was fun to watch my students become teammates in that. And they learned how to communicate in a really fun competition. So I expanded it to do it with all of my students as an activity, just to teach them how write descriptively, to write procedurally, to be technical writers. And it’s, it’s fun! It’s fun to see what they build based on what the students say. <Laugh> And it’s also fun to watch them interact with each other, which for seventh graders, usually it’s conflict. <Laugh> But, like, playful conflict. <Laugh> It’s pretty funny to see what they build.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:11):
They’re like, “Man, what are you talking about? That doesn’t mean this; it means this!”
Eric Cross (28:16):
<Laugh> I know part of me feels guilty, but not enough to stop the project. ‘Cause I know for some of ’em, it’s gonna be a really trial by fire being able to practice their skills with writing procedures.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:27):
But they’re learning among themselves how to provide more details and to be more thorough with their writing and and their thoughts, put their thoughts onto paper. So yeah, that’s a funny event. Definitely.
Eric Cross (28:41):
Earlier you had mentioned something about connecting your kids with kids and students outside of your classroom. What is it that you do with that? Because I thought that was a really cool project. Can you speak to that a little bit?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:57):
Yes, I’ve done—they haven’t had it in a few years, but there’s something called the Pringles Challenge. And if you Google that, I’m sure it’s on the Internet still. So you sign your class up, or your classes, and you get partnered with another school somewhere in the U.S., someplace else. And you decide individually teams, whatever they build. And they make a package to ship a single Pringle chip through the mail. And then you actually mail a Pringle chip through the mail. And then your partner team or partner school, they send their chips to you and then you open everything and then you can take pictures and video. And then there was a whole scoring process where you would score when you receive the chips. And then you input all the data on the website so you can see like how your—and most schools would trade pictures, so that the kids found out how their chip survived. March Mammal Madness is so much fun. Again, Google that.
Eric Cross (30:01):
Did you say March Mammal Madness?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:02):
Yes.
Eric Cross (30:03):
Like March Madness, with mammals?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:05):
Yes.
Eric Cross (30:05):
- What is this?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:06):
It starts up in March. And you can sign your students up. And that one—it’s not too interactive with other schools, but this is opportunity to get the kids interacting within your site or within your district. Or if you have teacher friends at other schools. There’s like 60…I think it’s 64 animals? And they have this massive bracket that they post. And then you can have the students, I did it—it would be very time-consuming to have the kids individually research each animal. So I just gave one animal per student and so as a class we researched all the animals and then, I think it’s every three days or so, they have these bouts. And it’s all posted on YouTube. Google it. It’s kind of fun.
Eric Cross (30:56):
I’ve already got the website up, ready to go! Folks, everybody who needs to Google this: <articulates carefully> March Mammal Madness. And is it Arizona State University? Is that the main site, ASU?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:04):
Yes.
Eric Cross (31:04):
So people, listen to this. Check it out. March Mammal Madness. Look, I’m doing this! I’m already,—you’ve already sold me on this.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:14):
It is so much fun, oh my gosh. And then, then the kids—each round, they pick their pick, just like basketball. They do their picks and then you wait for the video. And they do it live on—I think it’s live on Instagram, or the next day on YouTube. And then the kids get all excited. And then usually the kids, whatever animal they got as their research animal, they’re rooting for that one to win, the whole thing.
Eric Cross (31:42):
But we still have time; we still have time to—
Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:45):
You can jump in anytime. Even if it’s already started, you can jump into it. It usually lasts—I believe it’s a two-week from beginning to end. When they do the first round, the wild card, and then all the way to the winner, I believe it’s a two-week process. Oh, maybe three, actually.
Eric Cross (31:59):
I’m already seeing this lead-up to the video being watched in class to see…I’m already thinking about like, “How do I prevent my students from finding the video?” Or like, “When does it go live so that I could be the one to show them so they didn’t go find it early?”
Ryan Renee Rudkin (32:13):
It takes time out of the class, but I believe it’s one of those things where you have to just…it takes 10 minutes out of the class, but it’s important. So when they each round and then the next day, they release the YouTube video. Last year, when it got down to the final round, we were on spring break. And so I told my students, “You guys, let’s do some optional Zooms. And so I had a bunch of kids log on and we all watched the videos together. So that was kind of fun. And then this year, the other thing, the first time I’ve ever done this and it’s going really well is—on social media, I was talking with one of the teachers from Ohio who teaches science and she and I decided we’re gonna do penpals for our students this year. Paper-And-Pen penpals. So that’s been a lot of fun. We just partnered up all the students, her students and my students, and once a month we send and receive the letters to each other. So that’s been a really cool experience.
Eric Cross (33:14):
If you keep doing that, and you need more teachers to be involved, can my students be penpals with your students?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:20):
Yeah!
Eric Cross (33:20):
If you open it up to more people? I think that, to get a letter, old-school? Letter in the mail? It would be so exciting.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:28):
It is. We mail them, the teacher and I, we just put them all together in one package. But yeah, it’s an actual handwritten letter.
Eric Cross (33:37):
The only letters I feel like I get in the mail now are bills.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:42):
Right? Exactly.
Eric Cross (33:42):
But I feel like the digital version of that is if someone calls me, it’s probably bad news. I don’t know if I’m the only one that’s like that, but I’m like, “Who’s calling me? Why aren’t you texting me? What’s going on? Text me first, then call! I need to know who’s going on, and if you’re unknown, you’re going to voicemail.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (34:00):
Exactly. The penpals has been a lot of fun.
Eric Cross (34:03):
You’ve been in education for a while. You’re on the other side of what it’s like to be a student in the classroom. Which can be surreal in itself, when we think about our own experiences as being a student. Is there a teacher or a learning experience that’s had an impact on you while you were a student in school that really stands out to you? And you can interpret the question however you want. But is there someone that’s memorable or an experience that’s memorable that you still carry with you today?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (34:32):
Definitely. My favorite teacher, and we actually still keep in contact on social media is Mrs. Sheldon. She was my fifth and sixth grade teacher. I had the pleasure when I was in elementary school, I was in an all-day contained GATE class—Gifted and Talented Education class. I vividly remember doing so many amazing projects. We built this big, giant—she brought in a big ol’, like, TV box. It was big, big, big. And you could stick like three kids inside there, standing up shoulder-to-shoulder. And we built this big dragon. The head, and we had the whole rest of the class in a big sheet behind us, and we would do a little parade around the school. And she had that thing for years after. They had to repair it every year, and they would do the little parade around school. She did a lot of traveling and when we would go on vacation and then come back, that was always the big deal: “Where did Mrs Sheldon go?” And she had sand from Egypt and pictures from the rainforest. And later when I became a teacher and then I looked her up and we reconnected I did ask her, “Did you go to those places? Or did you, like, lie about it? <Laugh> To get us engaged?
Eric Cross (35:52):
You went for the real questions!
Ryan Renee Rudkin (35:54):
I did. And she laughed and thought that was funny. And she did travel for real. But yeah, she’s an amazing woman. We still keep in contact. And I remember, you know, little things…like we would be out there doing our PE time and she’d have her long skirt, you know, dress on, with her tennies, and she’s out there playing kickball with us. Just a very kindhearted, smart, amazing woman. I’m very fortunate and I’m grateful that we are able to keep in contact. Love social media for that reason. So.
Eric Cross (36:33):
Yeah. And that’s Miss Sheldon?
Ryan Renee Rudkin (36:35):
Mrs. Sheldon. Marlene Sheldon. Yeah.
Eric Cross (36:37):
Shout-Out to Marlene Sheldon influencing the next generation of teachers, with engagement with your world travels and all those different things.
Eric Cross (37:04):
Ryan, thank you so much for one, serving our students. And in the classroom, our middle-school students who need us. I think that middle school especially, elementary school, those years are when students are really starting to decide, “What am I good at?” And the experiences that we create for our students really shape what they believe they can do. These really cool, engaging experiences, these projects that you’re giving them, whether they’re doing these car sales, Shark Tanks, or they’re doing penpals, or you have guest speakers, or they’re designing planets. These are things that students don’t forget. And then when they move on to higher grades, they remember more than anything, I think, how they felt about something. And it sounds like you’re crafting these awesome experiences. And so I just wanna thank you for your time. I know as a teacher it’s very short. And I thank you for being on the podcast with us.
Ryan Renee Rudkin (38:04):
Thank you. This has been a great experience. I just—I really enjoy my students. And I feel very, very grateful and very blessed for finding where I belong.
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Meet the guest
Ryan Rudkin is a middle school science educator near Sacremento, California. Although she originally thought she would teach elementary students, Ryan connected with middle school and never looked back. Now in her 16th year in the classroom, Ryan also supports teachers in her district with professional development. Ryan’s favorite part of teaching science is seeing students grapple with concepts and explore phenomena.
About Science Connections: The podcast
Welcome to Science Connections: The Podcast! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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S1-09: Supporting K–8 science students in the digital world: Ricky Mason
In this episode, Eric sits down with Ricky Mason, chief executive officer of BrainSTEM. Ricky shares his passion for inspiring students into science careers, and his path from an engineering career with organizations like the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Central Intelligence Agency to starting BrainSTEM, an education program that develops creative digital tools to enable all teachers and students to dive deeper into STEM content. Ricky and Eric talk about representation in science classrooms and the importance of embedding fun within K–8 science content! Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Ricky Mason (00:00):
I feel like comfort is where dreams go to die. And I’m still dreaming every night. So I’ll wake up, chasing them.
Eric Cross (00:08):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Ricky Mason. Ricky is an engineer whose career included lead roles at the Department of Defense, NASA, and the CIA. Ricky transitioned to education as an adjunct faculty at the University of Kentucky. And while there, he founded BrainSTEM, an edtech company that developed a 3D virtual reality metaverse for STEM education. Today, BrainSTEM serves public school districts, private schools, and nonprofits. And in this episode, we discuss what led Ricky to creating BrainSTEM Metaversity, and how he’s using the metaverse to transform STEM learning for students. And now please enjoy my conversation with Ricky Mason. How did you, so like maybe going back doing your origin story, maybe you can talk about it, but brother, you don’t sleep. Talk about keep making moves, your hashtag, I mean, I was looking at your LinkedIn profiles, looking at your details. You get after it. I was getting tired just reading it. I was like John Hopkins, electrical engineering, real estate, starting companies. You must have that gene where it’s like four hours of sleep and then you’re like, ready to go.
Ricky Mason (01:19):
Yeah, man. My mom told me if I didn’t stay busy, then I’m in trouble. So when I was about 14, she told me that. I said, well, Mama, I guess I’m gonna stay busy then. And yeah, man, that’s just been my life. I feel like if I don’t keep making moves, then I’m in trouble. So, feel like comfort is where dreams go to die and I’m still dreaming every night. So I’ll wake up chasing them.
Eric Cross (01:44):
I feel like a kindred spirit with you. So, were you always interested in STEM like, was there something like a moment or a year where you remember you were like, this is my jam. This is what I’m gonna get into.
Ricky Mason (01:57):
Yeah, man. When it really clicked for me was in the fifth grade. I was at a school assembly and an IBM engineer came in and he brought a robot and he programmed it with punch cards right on the stage. And I got the opportunity to come up andyou know, put one of the punch cards in the robot to program it. And I asked him, I’m like, what is your job? He said, I’m a robotics engineer. And I went home right after that assembly and I said, Mom, that’s what I wanna do, become a robotics engineer. And my mom would take me to the libraries. Well, I felt like I was getting outta bible study on Wednesdays by going to the library. So I went there and I started researching robots.
Ricky Mason (02:39):
And at the time the robots that were popular were all being sent to space. And it was the spiritless. It was being sent to Mars. And I said, Mom, well, I guess I gotta become an astronaut if I’m gonna be a robotics engineer. And that’s kind of what set me out on that dream. And my mom started trying to find outlets for me to get involved in STEM, but it was really tough to find those outlets, you know, especially in that fifth to eighth grade range here in Kentucky. So that was kind of where it started for me man, when I knew that yeah, engineering is what I wanna do.
Eric Cross (03:14):
What does an electrical engineer do? I imagine there’s different types of specialties, but like, was there something that you specialize in that you focused on or was it, is it just kind of like a generalist field?
Ricky Mason (03:23):
Yeah, so I would say, yeah, man, it’s a huge field. So you could be doing anything from, you know, power, like power coming into your house. So those large power systems all the way down to nanotechnology and microchips. I like to tell people I’m a real full stack engineer, so my wheelhouse is kind of from the PCD, the little green computer chips, all the way to the cloud. Over my career, I’ve had some pretty cool jobs. One of those things was I was a test engineer for the army. So I got to test weapons up at Aberdeen Proving Ground for the Army. So I got to drive those weapons and test them before they went to theater there. After that,I worked at United Launch Alliance down at Cape Canaveral where I launched five rockets.
Ricky Mason (04:07):
So I was a part of the electrical ground systems team there where we were responsible for all of the electrical systems on the rocket while it was on the pad. Somonitoring the temperature of the rocket, the fuel, the entire system for safety while it was on that pad. And then finally I worked at the CIA as a computer engineer building data centers and as a data center architect for some of our remote systems and virtualizing our systems. So kind of had a broad spectrum of things there. And then finally coming back to the University of Kentucky as a research engineer and faculty. I developed drone technology for monitoring crops. So flying drones over crops with LIDAR, just like self-driving cars with high-definition cameras to pull in data about those crops, to help farmers determine about pesticides fertilizers, and the overall health of their crops from a remote location.
Eric Cross (05:10):
It’s so neat to hear you talk about it and to see how this is all built up to what you do now with BrainSTEM. How would you explain what BrainSTEM is? I know that’s your, that’s kind of your baby right now and what you’ve been working on a few years.
Ricky Mason (05:23):
Yeah, man, we started BrainSTEM in 2019 officially, but I would say BrainSTEM has been almost 10 years in coming. While I was in undergrad, I played football at the University of Kentucky. But I got hurt going into my sophomore year and that kind of shattered my dreams of football. And that’s when I really got back into engineering. One of my professors asked me to come to a robotics competition and I saw these third graders and sixth graders programming robots. And I’m like, oh my God, they’re programming robots! And I had no idea how to code or what to do with these things. And where was this a when I was a kid? And so I immediately bought one of those robots and taught myself how to program it <laugh> and then we started a robotics team in Lexington,there at a church.
Ricky Mason (06:10):
And we got a sponsorship from Lexmark to start that team. And that was kind of my first leap into STEM and teaching STEM and creating programs for students in STEM. I did that in undergrad and like I said, fast forward 10 years later, I’m teaching at the University of Kentucky and we’re struggling to recruit STEM students. Why aren’t students going into STEM? I hear too many adults tell me, oh man, I wish I would’ve done engineering, or I started out in engineering, but I left engineering or I wish I could go back to school for engineering or learn to code. And I’m like, I asked them like, why didn’t you do this? What happened? And often it’s like, it was the math. It was, oh, I didn’t get into it until I was in college. And I’m like, well, that’s the key.
Ricky Mason (06:52):
I knew I wanted to do this in the fifth grade. And I started with a plan in the fifth grade to achieve these goals and dreams. And I started doing that research and realizing that the same problem existed that I had. There was no outlet for kids to get involved in STEM, and so many kids have an affinity for STEM an early age. So we started BrainSTEM to provide access to STEM education and exposure STEM careers, STEM professionals, and just to STEM fields as a whole, because too often kids may know about the term, engineer, or the term, scientists, but they don’t really know what those people do or have a strong connection with the field or have any hands-on projects that they kind of done around those things or met anyone like me.
Ricky Mason (07:42):
I didn’t meet an engineer until I was in college. So that has really been impactful for some of the students that we’ve been able to touch. I had a family reach out to me. They moved to Lexington from California and they were like, man, I really want my ninth-grade son to get involved in engineering. So we started a weekend program with that one student and it went amazing. Like we competed in science fairs, we applied for different college programs and things like that. So it became an entire like mentorship program. And I’m proud to say that a year ago, he actually graduated with his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from your side of town, UCSB. It was just awesome to actually see this come full circle. And that’s kind of one of the first things that we did before we actually formalized as BrainSTEM University.
Eric Cross (08:34):
What will be like your elevator pitch for a teacher? If you were gonna say, this is what BrainSTEM does. I have the luxury of going through it on the site, but since we’re on a podcast, how would you kind of pitch it to people letting them know, like what, what does it do? Who does it serve?
Ricky Mason (08:47):
Yeah. So BrainSTEM provides STEM curriculum and STEM magnets for schools and nonprofits looking to increase access to STEM for K through 12 students. We also have launched our BrainSTEM Metaversity, a metaverse product for teachers to take their 2D Google classroom and convert it into a 3D metaverse classroom where students can collaborate during a 3D class. So all of your students show up as their avatars that they can select from our inventory of 150 avatars, and enjoy class in a 3D gameified Minecraft like World.
Eric Cross (09:26):
So I made my avatar by the way. It’s kind of tight, I have to say, it’s kind of tight. Hey, I’m gonna share. So those of you in the podcasts I’ll share it so you can see it. You’re not gonna be able to see it right now, but since I have the man himself I gotta share it with him just so I can get a reaction. So can you see that?
Ricky Mason (09:43):
Yeah. <laugh> That’s so good.
Eric Cross (09:44):
I feel like I wanna look like him though. I want him in real life. Like I want be able to switch to looking like my avatar
Ricky Mason (09:52):
<Laugh>
Eric Cross (09:54):
That was the first thing that I jumped on, when I went on your site, was making the avatar and I had so much fun doing it. I actually took longer than I probably wanna admit cause I was like customizing everything
Ricky Mason (10:03):
Yeah, man. It’s so fun. And that’s exactly what, you know, when you can show up as the person you want, it changes your whole being. I’ve seen kids that are quiet in class. They show up as their avatar and they’re talkative, they’re asking questions, they’re moving around the room, interacting with other kids. I feel like it’s almost like a superpower just to put your avatar on.
Eric Cross (10:25):
So what is something that a teacher could have their students go and learn or do if they, if they signed up,
Ricky Mason (10:31):
Let’s kick it off. So how we started with the metaverses, was teaching coding. So our first class was Minecraft and Python coding in the metaverse. So students showed up in the metaverse with our virtual instructor, that instructor led a lecture in the metaverse and then those students could collaborate on their Python games. So, they created and built the game in Python. We shared those games in the metaverse and we have our leaderboards that are in the metaverse, as they’re completing these challenges, including these games, then sharing them back in the metaverse with other students and getting that feedback on their game. So we’ve seen huge excitement from students when I can come back in and see my friend’s work. Like too often, students don’t get to see their work and that’s motivation to do better when I’m like, Jim’s gonna see my work. It’s amazing to see that motivation when students are sharing their work with other kids and not just their parent or just them and the teacher or seeing their grades. It’s been really cool to see.
Eric Cross (11:33):
You have that genuine audience too. Like that real-time feedback. And then like an authentic audience for students that makes everything seem, it takes it up a notch.
Ricky Mason (11:42):
Yeah, man. And then as we have built on this platform, so like you said with that avatar, so think if you created a really cool looking avatar and other students wanted to be that avatar, we have a way of sharing that avatar back into the world and in the inventory so that other students could then be your avatar. Or, if you create a world, we could then share that world back into the inventory, so the teacher could have class in a world that you created.
Eric Cross (12:07):
They’re creating content, not just consuming it. They’re actually creating content that could be shared across like grade levels or students.
Ricky Mason (12:14):
Well, we’re gonna say right now it’s just within your classroom. Eventually yes, we want students to be able to share that across school districts. At least we think that data will be probably limited to those kinds of realms as far as schools go. But you’ll be able to share this across sixth grade. We’ll be able to see what everyone in the sixth grade is doing in their STEM class or their game development class or their history class, per se, even if they’re giving back a presentation or what we have here in JCPS is backpack skills of success, where students are presenting on things that they’re learning that relate back to core competencies that the district is focused on. And I think that sharing those in the metaverse and doing those in the 3D world will be an awesome experience for students.
Eric Cross (12:56):
Are you seeing anything else as far as those skills that we see that are needed in coding? Is there something that the VR adds that was distinct from maybe just a kid with a Chromebook in his class that it’s just him in isolation doing the coding? Was there any like aha moments or surprises when they’re in the VR world doing this?
Ricky Mason (13:13):
I think the biggest thing is we could actually show them real examples of code working in other ways. Sofor example, if we’re working through loops, we can show them something looping. We can relate these functions to real-world things happening in the VR world so that they can see and better relate the actual concept with visuals, if that makes sense. So, you’re in loop Allen the whole time you’re learning about loops. You’re immersed in that kind of world. What we’ve seen is students really start to, you know, they it pick up and it clicks a lot faster because some of these concepts are so abstract for students to understand, when we can relate them to things in that world that they see that are in front of them, that they can grasp before we go to okay, type in “while” “”parentheses” <laugh> they can thenrelate that and pick up on those clues a lot better after they’ve seen those things in the world.
Eric Cross (14:09):
So they can actually visualize it in the metaverse. Whereas outside of it, it’s more just, just text-based coding and they’re not isolated. Like the first thing I’m thinking about is how like, with my own students, when they’re learning Sratch or Python, it’s not easy to share back and forth because they all are on individual accounts and they’d have to go on a different computer, or we’d have to find some way to publish it. And then all the kids would have to access it. But it sounds like in the metaversity classrooms, it’s easy for students in that same class to see each other’s work. Am I getting that right?
Ricky Mason (14:37):
Yeah. So most of our classrooms are limited to 24 students and in some of our breakout classrooms, we limit them to about eight students. Everybody can share their screen, so students can share their screen in the metaverse. They can share their video in the metaverse. They can share documents in the metaverse. They can share their, like I said, their code or anything that they want to share with other students. They can kind of do that. So it’s been a really cool product, I think, for students to almost find independence to work within a group, in an online setting. As they’ve been working through these problems online and remote it’s been really cool to see how they use the metaverse and break out. Even in a class, they can go off into a section because it’s all spacial. If you walk away, I can’t hear your conversation. So they can go into a little section within a metaverse class and have their own breakout. And a teacher can walk over to them. Okay. You guys are working over here. Let me walk to my next group. Just like in class. So it’s been really cool to see those students use the metaverse like that.
Eric Cross (15:41):
Just listening to you talk about this. One of the exciting things about emerging technologies or taking what the private sector does, and someone with a mind like yourself, and go, how do I use this for education? Like, that’s something that like excites me and you’ve run with it. But I just thought about, you’re doing an hour of code, you’ve created this metaverse, and you can bring in somebody, a professional into the metaverse, but they’re in, you know, the Bay area, but they could be a software engineer for Tesla or Google or anybody. Could they move around the metaverse and take a look at different students’ work and interact in that way.
Ricky Mason (16:17):
Yeah, man, we get in there. We make metaverse selfies. I drop Lambos in the metaverse, we take picture with Lambos. We have scavenger hunts in the metaverse. It’s a really awesome experience. And that’s one of the big things I think that is so powerful, is like you said, we could have that engineer, that celebrity, we could have Travis Scott, you know, in the world meeting thousands of kids motivating them because they met their STEM goals. They met their, you know, their testing school goals or whatever. These are things that kids really care about. If I get the Travis Scott avatar or the Elon Musk avatar, because I completed the Elon Musk rocket challenge, like that’s huge for me to show up in class as that avatar, like it’s just like Fortnite and it’s bringing all of those mechanics into the classroom.
Eric Cross (17:07):
When I hear you talk about the metaverse and I hear you talk about the potential of where you want to go with it, I think about my own students, and I think about, how they would really have a genuine interest and desire to want to do this and probably be doing it when they don’t have to, like at home at night wanting to go back into it and interact. And, you’re also building this virtual community. I mean, are you seeing that like, cause I’m hearing that?
Ricky Mason (17:28):
Yeah, man, building that community is huge. And I often tell people all the time, I want the STEM community to be just like the basketball community, the football community. I want students to have that camaraderie built around them for learning STEM and participating in STEM activities and competitions. Because when you see students out there at a robotics, they have the same zeal, the same, you know, everything that you find at a football competition. So we just have to get behind them and back those events with the same enthusiasm that we back sports. And that’s the environment that I want to create for STEM students and for that STEM community, because I longed for that community when I was in school. And like I said, I had it in football, but I wanted both. I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted my robotics guys and my football guys to show up together here at the competition and have a good time.
Eric Cross (18:23):
You’re absolutely right. Like robotics STEM, these things, community helps fuel like people’s interest and working together. And it brings people from the outside who are seeking that community. Like, hey, my friends are doing this, I wanna kind of check it out. That’s how we recruit a wider swath of our population into it. So it’s not this kind of very narrow channel of folks who are going into STEM.
Ricky Mason (18:45):
If you can’t find that community. I mean for me, I felt like I was the only one playing football who was interested in robotics. So I never told anybody because I didn’t feel like that related to anybody within my vicinity. So I kept that to myself and that’s the biggest thing. I think if we get these kids just talking more about their interests, because a lot of them are interested in robotics and space and these STEM topics, but they don’t have anyone that’s really nudging them or asking them or piquing their interest in those spaces and saying, hey man, it’s okay to, you know, learn about robots. It’s okay to geek out on space. <Laugh> So that’s been my goal and that’s kind of why I felt like this was the time in my career for me to kind of do this, be a face for STEM education and inspire kids to chase their goals and dreams. Over my career, I’ve had some really cool jobs, but I felt like I could keep doing cool jobs, but I’m like at the right age to still connect with those students and inspire them to chase their dreams. And that’s why I feel like right now, man, it’s just an opportune time to get these students involved in STEM.
Eric Cross (20:01):
We don’t get that. Oftentimes, when we’re solely doing the cool job or simply in the private sector, we don’t get those experiences as much as we do when we’re able to actually serve our community or students or take our passion, our skill set, and use it to serve another person. I hear that like, as you describe what you’re doing now is like, there’s something beyond just, you know, the using your skills and doing cool stuff, but there’s something I hear. That’s helping people and actually doing something you believe in that resonates deeply in you. And I can hear it as you talk about it.
Ricky Mason (20:30):
It’s been just amazing to actually chart out that journey. Like I said, and like tell kids, like, no man, I’m from right up the block from you, cause I mean, I’m building this back at home in my hometown. And that’s the reason why I kind of came back to kind of do that in my hometown, because I really want to, you know, relate to those students and inspire, you know, students here. Nobody thinks about technology coming out of Kentucky and that’s been a gift and a curse, I guess, with launching BrainSTEM in Kentucky. When I first started, I said, we’re a STEM education company, people are asking me what is STEM? So, that was where we started out with this in 2019, all the way to, you know, hey, in 2020, we’re gonna launch a metaverse. A metaverse! What is that? It’s been amazing to try to change the minds of not only Kentuckians about STEM and the importance of STEM, but the world that a metaverse company is coming outta Kentucky. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (21:31):
The work that you’re doing and, it exists beyond you and you probably know this, but as a Black science educator out here in San Diego … We don’t see people who look like all of us in this work often, and I saw that you had created something, a network group, network and chill. And that was one of the things, we had touched on community, but I thought that that was so huge because we need each other.
Ricky Mason (21:55):
I feel like that was the biggest thing for us in engineering. Like I showed up to my first internship and I’m like, I mean, my boss was cool. Everything else was cool, but I just didn’t feel like, hey, this is a community for me. And I almost changed my major because of that. But I’m glad that I didn’t, it’s huge to have more of us represented in, in these spaces.
Eric Cross (22:16):
And you know, in engineering, especially when we look at the disproportionate, you know, men versus women. Like it’s not, you know, it’s not just culture, but it’s, you know, gender, all of these different things. And if we’re gonna change it, I think a program like yours that gets exposure to all kids and then giving them choice. What advice would you give to students? Or what advice I should say, do you give to students now? When you see like your younger self in the different kind of K12 grades who are thinking about their futures or they’re thinking about STEM, what do you say to them?
Ricky Mason (22:46):
So my biggest advice, man is start now. Whatever that big thing is, that big dream is that you have, what is that now? You’re thinking about planes. You’re thinking about robots. You’re thinking about RC cars, whatever that is. Let’s start now. Let’s get your hands on an RC car. Let’s take it apart. Let’s start coding. Let’s start thinking about those problems now. But the biggest thing is, is getting kids used to solving tough problems. Typically, most students that have an affinity for, you know, STEM — and you just know that that kid’s gonna go into, STEM — they’re problem solvers. They’re typically looking and seeking those tough problems and seeking opportunities to learn. That’s where I feel like it’s parents’ jobs to provide that environment to foster, that zeal. A five-year-old kid, we started our STEM program with them at the beginning of this month.
Ricky Mason (23:39):
The first day I came in after I told him I was a rocket scientist. And now he’s like, well, I wanna be a pilot. I said, if you pay attention to this class, we’re gonna get you started on your way to being a pilot. And he knows all the parts of a rocket and he knows a rocket needs an oxidizer. And he knows the fuselage, the wings, the wing flaps. He knows all the different parts of the plane and how the forces, the drag, the lift, the weight, he knows how those are working cause we talked about those in class and he has so much more confidence and it came all to fruition when a kid said, wow, I thought it was gonna be really hard to be a robotics engineer. And I’m like, no, that’s not gonna be that hard. That is exactly what we set out to do when we started BrainSTEM, was to break down those barriers and those walls and build that confidence and say, look man, you can do this. It’s easy.
Eric Cross (24:26):
Society doesn’t help much either because one of our terms, right, if something’s really hard, or if something’s not hard, we say it’s not rocket science. That implies that rocket science is really hard and inaccessible. If kids would hear that it kind of instills in their brain, okay. It’s really hard, it’s probably too hard for me. To that point to parents, it sounds like a lot of just exposure, like giving students the opportunity to be able to be exposed to these things and letting them create wonder from it.
Ricky Mason (24:51):
Yeah, man. I often tell parents we’re gonna set kids up to go pro no matter what,
Eric Cross (24:56):
And those skill sets transfer, whether they decide to go into coding or they decide to manage a bank, you’re still gonna be dealing with people. You’re still gonna be problem-solving. You’re still gonna have to come up with creative solutions to things. It sounds like through a program like this, they learn those skills early.
Ricky Mason (25:12):
Yes. And I think that one thing that parents don’t think about … We talk about all the STEM and we want smart kids, but we need those soft skills also within STEM. So those competitions, getting them involved in those communities with STEM students is really huge in presenting their ideas because oftentimes, you know, our STEM guys, we’re in a lab working and that’s where we love and that’s where we wanna be because we haven’t, you know, been prepared to talk and present our ideas. So I think that’s a huge part of what we have to teach our STEM students. And we do that by providing that community and those opportunities for them to, you know, do that.
Eric Cross (25:47):
Thinking about where you are now, looking back on your K-12 education, were there any teachers that stood out to you or that inspired you as I even just say that, can you think of a particular teacher or one or two?
Ricky Mason (26:00):
When I think about my teachers, my teachers really taught me to solve those tough problems and those subjects that you don’t kinda like <laugh>, cause I was always a great student, but my teachers helped me to focus on those subjects that I didn’t so much, you know, enjoy. So I enjoyed math and science, but English social studies, like why do I have to be here? I had two teachers during my high school career that really supported me in that regard, and helping me to be the best student all aroundfrom like I said, STEM to English and social studies, and making me realize that I have to be a well-rounded student if I’m gonna be truly successful. As far as engineering, man, I would say one guy, my teacher, Nick Bazar up at John Hopkins. During my master’s there, I had a really cool project. I got to do data forensics on a real live murder case. <Laugh> That was really inspiring because I’m like, wow, this is real life where my coding skills are being used in a jury trial <laugh>. And so that was a really cool experience to partner with my professor to kind of do that. I mean, that was just mind blowing that I got to help with that and that, I mean, he was using his programming skills to help solve a murder case.
Eric Cross (27:22):
What’s the best way for people to connect with you and follow your journey? And if a teacher’s interested and they’re listening to this and they’re hearing, okay, this metaverse coding thing sounds awesome, I want to get involved, I wanna know more, where can people go? What steps should they take to be able to get connected to you and what you’re doing?
Ricky Mason (27:40):
Yeah. So you can check us out at brainSTEMu.com, that’s brainSTEM, the letter “u” dot com and on all social medias, we’re BrainSTEMu or BrainSTEM University. Teachers, right now, we are doing our free course for teachers. So sign up at brainstemu.com. You can sign up for your class to get into a free metaverse experience, just so you can kind of check it out and get your class into the metaverse and see how your students like the metaverse, how you like teaching in the metaverse and convert one of your 2D lessons from Google classroom into a metaverse classroom. For me, I’m Ricky Mason, 5 0 2 on all social media platforms. So you can just type that in Ricky Mason502 and get with me there.
Eric Cross (28:28):
Nice. Well Ricky, I wanna thank you for sharing your story and creating BrainSTEM. And then for, I know you’re a man of tremendous talents and skills and accomplishments, and you’re focusing all that on not only being back in your community, but also creating something for younger versions of you and opening up opportunities that they might not otherwise have, as you said, folks are like, what is STEM? And that is exactly where we need those seeds planted. So thank you for doing that.
Ricky Mason (28:55):
Oh man, this is awesome. I appreciate you, man for hosting this podcast and providing this platform and sharing the message of, you know, educators and people in the space.
Eric Cross (29:07):
Thanks so much for joining me and Ricky today. Make sure to support Science Connections by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts. And you could hear more from Ricky in our Facebook group, Science Connections the community, where you can check out all the exclusive content. Until next time.
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Meet the guest
Ricky Mason is the dynamic CEO and founder of BrainSTEM, an ed-tech company that developed a metaverse for education. His corporate career included lead engineer roles at the DoD, NASA, and CIA. Ricky transitioned to education as adjunct faculty at the University of Kentucky. While there, he started BrainSTEM to bring innovative technology and an inspirational curriculum to STEM education. Today, BrainSTEM serves public school districts, private schools, and nonprofits.
Follow Ricky on all social media @rickymason502
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
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Please read this Agreement carefully. If you are an employee or other representative of a school or other organization who is accessing or using the Site on behalf of such organization, then you are agreeing to this Agreement on behalf of yourself and such organization. We may modify this Agreement at any time in our discretion, and we may provide such modifications to you by any reasonable means, including by posting the revised version of this Agreement on the Site. You can determine when this Agreement was last revised by referring to the “LAST UPDATED” legend at the top of this Agreement. Your access to or use of the Site following any changes to this Agreement will constitute your acceptance of those changes. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any changes to this Agreement shall not apply to any dispute between you and us arising prior to the date on which we posted the revised version of this Agreement incorporating such changes or otherwise notified you of such changes. If you do not agree to be bound by this Agreement, you must not access or use the Site. Your access to and use of certain parts of the Site may require you to accept additional terms and conditions, and may require you to download certain Software or Content (each as defined below).
Jurisdictional Issues
The Site is controlled and operated by Company from the United States, and is not intended to subject Company to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country or territory other than that of the United States. Company does not represent or warrant that the Site is appropriate or available for use in any particular jurisdiction other than the United States. In choosing to access and use the Site, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk, and you are responsible for complying with all local laws, rules and regulations. You are also subject to United States export controls and are responsible for any violations of such controls, including any United States embargoes and other federal rules and regulations restricting exports. We may limit the Site’s availability to any person, geographic area or jurisdiction we choose, at any time and in our discretion. Not all products or services described on the Site are available in all states or territories.
Company content
The Site contains information, text, files, images, video, sounds, musical works, computer code, works of authorship, applications, and other materials and content (collectively, “Content”) of Company or its licensors (“Company Content”). The Site (including the Company Content) is protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret and other laws, and as between you and Company, Company owns and retains all rights in the Site. Company hereby grants to you a limited, revocable, non-sublicensable license, during the term of the Agreement, to access, display and perform the Company Content (excluding any computer code) solely for your personal, non-commercial use and solely as necessary to access and use the Site. Except as expressly permitted by Company in this Agreement or on the Site, you may not copy, download, stream, capture, reproduce, duplicate, archive, upload, modify, translate, create derivative works based upon, publish, broadcast, transmit, retransmit, distribute, perform, display, sell or otherwise use or transfer any Content. You may not, either directly or through the use of any device, software, online resource or other means, remove, alter, bypass, avoid, interfere with or circumvent any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notice on the Content or any digital rights management mechanism, device, or other content protection or access control measure associated with the Content.
User content
You may not access or use the Site for any commercial purpose. You are responsible for all Content that you post, upload, transmit, e-mail or otherwise make available on, through or in connection with the Site (collectively, “User Content”). Please choose carefully the Content that you make available on, through or in connection with the Site. Company does not control any Content other than Company Content, and as such you may be exposed to offensive, indecent, inaccurate or otherwise objectionable Content by accessing or using the Site. Company is not responsible or liable for any Content or the conduct of any Site user. If you become aware of any misuse of the Site, please report such misuse immediately to Company at general@amplify.com. Company reserves the right (but has no obligation) to monitor the Site, including for inappropriate Content or conduct, and to remove any Content in Company’s discretion and without liability to you or any third party.
Your proprietary rights
You retain any ownership rights that you have in your User Content. You hereby grant to Company and its affiliates, licensees and authorized users, a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid-up and royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), transferable (in whole or in part), worldwide license to use, modify, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and compilations based upon, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and distribute such User Content on, through or in connection with the Site and/or any other commercial or non-commercial endeavor of Company or any of its affiliates, including in connection with any distribution or syndication thereof to Third Party Services (as defined below), on and through all media formats now known or hereafter devised, for any and all purposes including promotional, marketing, trade and commercial purposes. The exercise of such rights shall not require any further permission or notice, payment or attribution to you or any third party. Company reserves the right to limit the storage capacity made available for User Content.
You represent and warrant that: (a) you own the User Content made available by you, or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this Section, and (b) the posting of such User Content through or in connection with the Site does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person or entity. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person or entity by reason of the use of such User Content.
Use of the site
You agree not to:
- Post, upload or otherwise transmit or link to Content that is: unlawful; threatening; harmful; abusive; pornographic or includes nudity; offensive; harassing; excessively violent; tortious; defamatory; false or misleading; obscene; vulgar; libelous; hateful; or discriminatory.
- Violate the rights of others, including patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, privacy, publicity, contract or other proprietary rights.
- Harass or harm another person.
- Exploit or endanger a minor.
- Impersonate any person or entity.
- Introduce or engage in activity that involves the use of viruses, bots, worms, Trojan horses, Easter eggs, time bombs, spyware or any other computer code, files or programs that interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, or otherwise permit the unauthorized access to or use of a computer or a computer network.
- Interfere with, damage, disable, disrupt, impair, create an undue burden on, or gain unauthorized access to the Site or any Account, or Company’s servers or networks;
- Restrict or inhibit any other person from using the Site (including by hacking or defacing the Site). Cover, remove, disable, block or obscure the Site (including advertisements on the Site).
- Use technology or any automated system, such as scripts or bots, to collect user names, passwords, e-mail addresses or any other data from or through the Site, or to circumvent or modify any security technology or software that is part of the Site.
- Send or cause to send (directly or indirectly) unsolicited bulk messages or other unsolicited bulk communications of any kind through the Site. If you do so, you acknowledge you will have caused substantial harm to Company, and that the amount of such harm would be extremely difficult to measure. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay to Company $50.00 for each actual or intended recipient of such communication.
- Modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the Site.
- Solicit, collect or request any information for commercial or unlawful purposes.
- Post, upload or otherwise transmit an image or video of another person without that person’s consent.
- Use the Site to advertise, promote or engage in any commercial activity (including engaging in sales, contests or sweepstakes) without Company’s prior written consent.
- Frame or mirror the Site without Company’s express prior written consent.
- Use the Site in a manner inconsistent with any applicable law, rule or regulation.
- Use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application or other manual or automatic device to retrieve, index, “scrape,” “data mine,” or in any way gather content of the Site or reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Site without Company’s express prior written consent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Company grants to the operators of public search engines the permission to use spiders to copy material from the Site for the sole purpose of, and solely to the extent necessary for, creating publicly-available searchable indices of such material, but not caches or archives of such material. Company reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.
- Attempt, facilitate or encourage others to do any of the foregoing.
Company reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Company’s discretion, violates this Agreement or attempts to do so, including terminating or suspending a user’s Account or access to or use of the Site, or reporting any User Content or conduct to law enforcement authorities.
You (and not Company) are responsible for obtaining and maintaining all telecommunications, broadband and computer hardware, equipment and services needed to access and use the Site, and for paying all charges related thereto.
User disputes
You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of the Site, providers of Third Party Services (as defined below) or any other third parties with whom you interact on, through or in connection with the Site.
Purchases
Company may make available products and services for purchase through the Site, and may use third-party suppliers and service providers to enable e-commerce functionality on the Site. You may only purchase products and services that appear on the Site and that are delivered to an address located in the United States. You may only purchase products and services for personal, non-commercial use by you, your educational institution or students of your educational institution. We may limit quantities or refuse any order for any reason or no reason, including if we have reasonable cause to believe an order is for onward sale or resale other than through distribution channels approved by us. We make no promise that products or services available on the Site are appropriate or available for use in locations outside the United States, and purchasing products or services for delivery to or use in territories where their contents are unlawful is prohibited. If you choose to purchase products or services from locations outside the United States, you do so at your own risk. It is your responsibility to ascertain and obey all applicable local, state, federal and international laws (including minimum age requirements) in regard to the possession, use and sale of any product or service made available through the Site.
If you wish to purchase any product or service made available through the Site, you may be asked to supply certain information relevant to your transaction, including your credit card number, the expiration date of your credit card, your billing address and your shipping information. YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO USE ANY CREDIT CARD(S) USED IN CONNECTION WITH ANY TRANSACTION. By submitting such information, you grant to Company the right to provide such information to third parties for purposes of facilitating the completion of transactions initiated by you or on your behalf. Verification of information may be required prior to the acknowledgement or completion of any transaction. While it is our practice to confirm orders by e-mail, the receipt of an e-mail order confirmation does not constitute our acceptance of an order or our confirmation of an offer to sell a product or service.
Details of the products and services available for purchase are set forth on the Site. All prices are displayed exclusive of all taxes and shipping/freight charges. Available payment methods, methods of shipping and shipping charges (including charges for expedited shipping, if available) are detailed on the Site. Company may also collect and remit sales tax on your purchase as required by United States law. If you are a tax-exempt entity, please enter the appropriate information where requested on your order form and we will not collect sales tax on your purchase.
Generally, credit and debit cards are not charged until we either ship the product(s) or confirm store availability (at which time you will be charged only for the products we have actually shipped along with any applicable taxes and shipping charges). However, we may pre-authorize your order amount with your credit or debit card issuer at the time you place the order, which may have an effect on your available credit line. When paying for a preorder with a debit card, you will be charged at the time you place your preorder. Please contact your credit or debit card issuer for more information. If you ordered a special delivery product, you will be charged once a delivery time is confirmed. For digitally delivered orders, your credit or debit card will be charged at the time that you initiate the download of the product.
All purchases made through the Site are made pursuant to a shipment contract. As a result, risk of loss and title for products purchased through the Site pass to you upon delivery of the products to the carrier. You are responsible for filing any claims with carriers for damaged and/or lost shipments. Please note that all shipping addresses must be compliant with the shipping restrictions contained on the Site.
Products, services and specifications
All products and services described or depicted on the Site, and all related features, content, specifications and prices, are subject to change at any time without notice. Certain weights, measures and similar descriptions are approximate and are provided for convenience purposes only. Packaging may vary from that shown. We make reasonable efforts to accurately display the attributes of our products, including the applicable colors; however, the actual color you see will depend on your computer system, and we cannot guarantee that your computer will accurately display such colors. The inclusion of any product or service on the Site at a particular time does not imply or warrant that such product or service will be available at any time. Occasionally, the manufacture or distribution of a certain product or service may be delayed for a number of reasons. In such event, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you of the delay and keep you informed of the revised delivery schedule. By placing an order, you represent that the products and services ordered will be used only in a lawful manner. All DVDs and similar products are sold for private, non-commercial home use (where no admission fee is charged), non-public performance, or classroom or instructional use only, and may not be duplicated.
Return and exchange policy
Unless otherwise specified in the terms associated with a particular product, you may return or exchange any product purchased through the Site within fourteen (14) days of receipt, by calling our customer service hotline, 1–800–823–1969, in the event that the purchased product is defective or you received the wrong product. Except for the foregoing, you may not return, cancel or exchange any product or service. Certain jurisdictions may provide additional statutory rights. Nothing herein is meant to limit your return or cancellation rights under local law. In the event that a return or exchange is due to an incorrect order or faulty product, we will be responsible for the shipping costs associated with such return. We will ship a replacement product upon receiving your defective or incorrect product and verifying the reason for the return or exchange.
Accuracy of information
We attempt to ensure that information on the Site is complete, accurate and current. Despite our efforts, the information on the Site may occasionally be inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. We make no representation as to the completeness, accuracy or currency of any information on the Site. For example, products or services included on the Site may be unavailable, may have different attributes than those listed, or may carry a different price than that stated on the Site. If an item’s correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation. Items in your “Shopping Bag” reflect the current price displayed on the item’s product detail page. Please note that this price may differ from the price displayed when the item was first placed in your Shopping Bag. In addition, we may make changes in information about price and availability without notice.
Chemicals, agricultural materials, and other hazardous materials
Certain products made available through the Site may include chemicals, agricultural materials or other material that may be subject to regulations or restrictions with respect to import or export, or to whom we may sell such material or where or how such material may be used. It is your responsibility to read and abide by all warning notices that accompany any products that you purchase. In addition, we reserve the right to request additional information from you, verify your identity, limit sales to certified educational or research institutions, or cancel or delay your order if required by law or if we believe it is necessary or advisable. Due to special shipping and handling requirements, freight companies routinely impose a surcharge on each package of hazardous material shipped. In such event, we will add such surcharge to your order.
Registration and account security
You may have the ability to create an account on or through the Site (an “Account”). If you submit registration information to create an Account, you represent and warrant that all information submitted to Company in connection with such registration is complete and accurate, and that you will update such information if it changes. If you create an Account, you are responsible for all use of your Account, and for maintaining the confidentiality of the information used to access your Account (including user name and password). You agree not to share your user name or password with anyone, or use anyone else’s Account at any time. You agree to notify Company immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of, or access to, your Account (including your user name and password). You acknowledge that the reuse of your password in connection with accounts on other websites increases the risk that the security of your Account may be compromised.
Third party links and services
The Site may make available, or third parties may provide, links to other websites, applications, resources, advertisements, Content or other products or services created, hosted or made available by third parties (“Third Party Services”), and such third party may use other third parties to provide portions of the Third Party Service to you, such as technology, development or payment services. When you access or use a Third Party Service, you are interacting with the applicable third party, not with Company, and you do so at your own risk. Company is not responsible for and makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the Third Party Services or the providers of such Third Party Services (including the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by such Third Party Service or the privacy practices of any third party). Inclusion of any Third Party Service or a link thereto on the Site does not imply approval or endorsement of such Third Party Service. Company is not responsible or liable for the content or practices of any Third Party Service or third party, even if such Third Party Service links to or is linked by the Site, and even if such Third Party Service is operated by an affiliate of Company or a company otherwise connected with us or the Site
Feedback
Unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing, if you provide us with any ideas, proposals, suggestions or materials (“Feedback”), whether related to the Site or otherwise, you hereby acknowledge and agree that (a) your provision of any Input is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction and does not place Company under any fiduciary or other obligation; and (b) any Feedback is not confidential and Company has no confidentiality obligations with respect to such Feedback.. You hereby grant to us a world-wide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable and fully sublicensable (through multiple tiers) license, without additional consideration to you or any third party, to reproduce, distribute, perform and display (publicly or otherwise), adapt, modify and otherwise use and exploit such Feedback, in any format or media now known or hereafter developed, and you hereby represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights to grant the foregoing license. We may use Feedback for any purpose whatsoever without permission or notice, compensation or attribution to you or any third party. You are and remain responsible and liable for the content of any Feedback.
Privacy
Please review the Privacy Policy for the Site, available at http://www.amplify.com/privacy, to learn about our information collection, usage and disclosures practices with respect to information collected by us through the Site. Please note that certain products or services made available by us, other than the Site, may be subject to different privacy policies. In addition, the Site’s Privacy Policy does not address, and we are not responsible or liable for, the information collection, usage and disclosures practices of any third party or Third Party Service.
Disclaimers
THE SITE, USER CONTENT, THIRD PARTY SERVICES, AND ALL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SOLD THROUGH THE SITE (COLLECTIVELY, THE “SITE PRODUCTS”) ARE MADE AVAILABLE “AS-IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” AND COMPANY DOES NOT GUARANTEE OR PROMISE ANY SPECIFIC RESULTS FROM USE OF THE SITE PRODUCTS. COMPANY AND ITS AFFILIATES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN PARTICULAR, COMPANY AND ITS AFFILIATES MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE OR USER CONTENT OR THIRD PARTY SERVICES, OR YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE THEREOF, WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, ACCURATE OR RELIABLE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES OF ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE SITE PRODUCTS THAT VIOLATES ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION. CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.
Under no circumstances will Company or its affiliates be responsible for any loss or damage, including property damage, personal injury or death, resulting from use of the Site, Products, problems or technical malfunction in connection with use of the Site, Products, attendance at any Company event or the conduct of any Site users, whether online or offline. Your use of the Site, Products is solely your responsibility and at your own risk. The User Content and Third Party Services do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Company or its affiliates.
Limitations on liability
IN NO EVENT WILL COMPANY OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT DAMAGES, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SITE PRODUCTS, EVEN IF COMPANY OR ONE OF ITS AFFILIATES HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF COMPANY AND ITS AFFILIATES TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO COMPANY FOR THE SITE PRODUCTS.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Company, its affiliates, subcontractors and other partners, and each of their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, from any losses, costs, expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), liabilities, claims or demands, due to or arising out of your use of the Site, your breach or alleged breach of this Agreement, your violation or alleged violation of any rights of another, or any Content that you post or otherwise submit on, through or in connection with the Site.
Termination
This Agreement remains in full force and effect while you access or use the Site. If you create an Account, you may terminate your Account at any time, for any reason, by contacting us at general@amplify.com. Company may terminate or suspend your Account and/or your access to or use of the Site at any time, for any or no reason, with or without prior notice or explanation, and without liability. Upon any such suspension or termination, your right to access and use the Site will immediately cease, and Company may immediately deactivate or delete your Account and all files and other information associated with it, and/or bar any further access to such files and other information. Company shall not be liable to you or any third party for any suspension or termination of your Account or of access to or use of the Site or any such files or other information, and shall not be required to make such files and other information available to you after any such suspension or termination. Sections 2, 5, 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, and 26 shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement.
U.S. export controls
All software made available in connection with the Site (“Software”) may be subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from or through the Site or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of U.S. export laws.
Governing law
The terms of this Agreement are governed by the laws of the State of New York, U.S.A., without regard to its conflicts of law provisions, and regardless of your location.
Arbitration
EXCEPT FOR DISPUTES THAT QUALIFY FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT, ALL DISPUTES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTE, FRAUD, MISREPRESENTATION OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, WILL BE RESOLVED THROUGH FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION BEFORE A NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR INSTEAD OF IN A COURT BY A JUDGE OR JURY, AND YOU AGREE THAT COMPANY AND YOU ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY A JURY. YOU AGREE THAT ANY ARBITRATION UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL TAKE PLACE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS; CLASS ARBITRATIONS AND CLASS ACTIONS ARE NOT PERMITTED AND YOU ARE AGREEING TO GIVE UP THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION.
Arbitration procedure
Any arbitration under Section 23 above will be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (“Supplementary Procedures”), as amended by this Agreement. The Supplementary Procedures are available online at http://www.adr.org/aaa/ShowPDF?doc=ADRSTG_015820. The arbitrator will conduct hearings, if any, by teleconference or videoconference, rather than by personal appearances, unless the arbitrator determines upon request by you or by us that an in-person hearing is appropriate. Any in-person appearances will be held at a location which is reasonably convenient to both parties with due consideration of their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If the parties are unable to agree on a location, such determination should be made by the AAA or by the arbitrator. The arbitrator’s decision will follow the terms of this Agreement and will be final and binding. The arbitrator will have authority to award temporary, interim or permanent injunctive relief or relief providing for specific performance of this Agreement, but only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the individual claim before the arbitrator. The award rendered by the arbitrator may be confirmed and enforced in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Agreement will preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state, or local agencies, and, if the law allows, they can seek relief against us for you.
Employment opportunities
Company may, from time to time, post Company employment opportunities on the Site and/or invite users to submit resumes to Company. If you choose to submit your name, contact information, resume and/or other personal information to Company in response to such employment listings, you are authorizing Company to use this information for all lawful and legitimate hiring, employment and other business purposes. Company also reserves the right, at its discretion, to forward such information to Company’s affiliates for their legitimate business purposes. Nothing in this Agreement or contained on the Site will constitute a promise by Company to review any such information, or to contact, interview, hire or employ any individual who submits such information.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe that any material residing on or linked to from the Site infringes your copyright, please send (or have your agent send) to Company’s Copyright Agent a notification of claimed infringement with all of the following information: (a) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works; (b) identification of the claimed infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material on the Site (such as the URL(s) of the claimed infringing material); (c) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an e-mail address; (d) a statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent or the law; (e) a statement by you that the above information in your notification is accurate and a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed or are authorized to act on such owner’s behalf; and (f) your physical or electronic signature. Company’s Copyright Agent for notification of claimed infringement can be reached as follows: Copyright Agent, Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201; Facsimile: 212-796-2311; Attn: Legal. Company’s Copyright Agent for notification of claimed infringement can also be reached electronically at: legal@amplify.com. Company reserves the right to terminate infringers’ and suspected infringers’ Accounts or their access to or use of the Site.
Notice for California residents
Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following consumer rights notice: If you have a question or complaint regarding the Site, please contact us by writing to Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 or by calling us at 212–213–8177 or sending a fax to 212–796–2311. California residents may reach the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 1625 North Market Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (916) 445–1254 or (800) 952–5210.
Other terms
This Agreement does not, and shall not be construed to, create any partnership, joint venture, employer-employee, agency or franchisor-franchisee relationship between you and Company. You may not assign, transfer or sublicense any or all of your rights or obligations under this Agreement without our express prior written consent. We may assign, transfer or sublicense any or all of our rights or obligations under this Agreement without restriction. The failure of Company to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement will not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. The Section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. References to and mentions of the word “include,” “includes,” “including,” or “e.g.” will mean “including, without limitation.” References to “discretion” will mean “sole discretion.” This Agreement operates to the fullest extent permissible by law. If any provision of this Agreement is unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision is deemed severable from this Agreement and does not affect the validity or enforceability of any remaining provisions. Without limitation, you agree that a printed version of this Agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. Company will not be responsible for failures to fulfill any obligations due to causes beyond its control.
Please contact us at legal@amplify.com with any questions regarding this Agreement.
About Beyond My Years, with Ana Torres and Eric Cross
Meet our host, Ana Torres.
Ana has been an educator for 30 years, working in both the K–8 and higher education sectors. She served as an administrator and instructor at various public and private colleges and universities and as a bilingual and dual language teacher, dual language math and reading interventionist, dual language instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal in K–8 schools. Ana is currently the Bilingual and Multilingual Specialist on Amplify’s Product Specialist team, and delivers literacy and biliteracy presentations across the nation. Ana’s passion and advocacy for biliteracy and multiculturalism has led her to educate leaders, teachers, and parents about the positive impact of bilingualism and biliteracy in our world.
Meet our Classroom Insider, Eric Cross.
Eric Cross is a middle school science teacher who hopes to someday be a lifelong educator, like the guests on Beyond My Years! In each episode, Eric connects with host Ana Torres to discuss her guests’ best insights gleaned from their long and rewarding careers in the classroom. Then, Eric talks about bringing some of their wisdom into his current classroom and busy life.
Transcripts and additional resources:
Quotes
“The people who’ve been in the game for a long time, they can save new teachers a lot of years of trial and error.”
“We’re more than just the educator or the teacher. We’re more than that. We’re the nurturer. We’re the nurse, we’re mom, we’re aunt, we’re all, we play different roles in their lives. And again, it is showing up.”
Grade 6
Module 1: Ratios and Unit Rates
| Eureka Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
| Topic A Representing and Reasoning About Ratios | |
| Lesson 1: Ratios Lesson 2: Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Equivalent Ratios Lesson 4: Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 3: Rice Ratios Lesson 4: Fruit Lab [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Balancing Act Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1 Lesson 8 World Records (Print available) Lesson 11 Community Life (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Solving Problems by Finding Equivalent Ratios Lesson 6: Solving Problems by Finding Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 5 Balancing Act |
| Lesson 7: Associated Ratios and the Value of a Ratio Lesson 8: Equivalent Ratios Defined Through the Value of a Ratio | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available) Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1 |
| Topic B Collections of Equivalent Ratios | |
| Lesson 9: Tables of Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available) Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1 |
| Lesson 10: The Structure of Ratio Tables-Additive and Multiplicative | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Balloons Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Comparing Ratios Using Ratio Tables | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Balloons |
| Lesson 12: From Ratio Tables to Double Number Line Diagrams | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available) Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) Lesson 12: Mixing Paint, Part 2 Lesson 14: Lunch Waste (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 13: From Ratio Tables to Equations Using the Value of a Ratio | |
| Lesson 14: From Ratio Tables, Equations, and Double Number Line Diagrams to Plots on the Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 15: A Synthesis of Representations of Equivalent Ratio Collections | |
| Topic C Unit Rates | |
| Lesson 16: From Ratio to Rates | Unit 2 Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory |
| Lesson 17: From Rates to Ratios | |
| Lesson 18: Finding a Rate by Dividing Two Quantities | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory Lesson 7: More Soft Serve |
| Lesson 19: Comparison Shopping-Unit Price and Related Measurement Conversions Lesson 20: Comparison Shopping-Unit Price and Related Measurement Conversions Lesson 21: Getting the Job Done—Speed, Work, and Measurement Units Lesson 22: Getting the Job Done—Speed, Work, and Measurement Units | Unit 3 Lesson 2: Counting Classrooms Lesson 3: Pen Pals |
| Lesson 23: Problem-Solving Using Rates, Unit Rates, and Conversions. | Unit 3 Lesson 13: A Country as a Village |
| Topic D Percent | |
| Lesson 24: Percent and Rates per 100 | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals |
| Lesson 25: A Fraction as a Percent | |
| Lesson 26: Percent of a Quantity. | Unit 3 Lesson 10: What´s Missing? (Print available) Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown |
| Lesson 27: Solving Percent Problems Lesson 28: Solving Percent Problems Lesson 29: Solving Percent Problems | Unit 3 Lesson 10: What´s Missing? (Print available) Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals Lesson 13: A Country as a Village Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 2: Arithmetic Operations Including Division of Fractions
| Lesson 1: Interpreting Division of a Fraction by a Whole Number—Visual Models. | Unit 4 Lesson 2: Making Connections (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Interpreting Division of a Whole Number by a Fraction —Visual Models. | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Cookie Cutter Lesson 3: Flour Planner [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Flower Planters Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Interpreting and Computing Division of a Fraction by a Fraction—More Models Lesson 4: Interpreting and Computing Division of a Fraction by a Fraction—More Models | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Garden Bricks Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson] Lesson 7: Break It Down Lesson 8: Potting Soil Lesson 9: Division Challenges Lesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available) Practice Day |
| Lesson 5: Creating Division Stories. | |
| Lesson 6: More Division Stories. | |
| Lesson 7: The Relationship Between Visual Fraction Models and Equations | |
| Lesson 8: Dividing Fractions and Mixed Numbers | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available) Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson] |
| Topic B Multi-Digit Decimal Operations—Adding, Subtracting, and Multiplying | |
| Lesson 9: Sums and Differences of Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound Lesson 4: Missing Digits |
| Lesson 10: The Distributive Property and the Products of Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas Lesson 7: Multiplication Methods (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Fraction Multiplication and the Products of Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 7: Multiplication Methods (Print available) |
| Topic C Dividing Whole Numbers and Decimals | |
| Lesson 12: Estimating Digits in a Quotient | |
| Lesson 13: Dividing Multi-Digit Numbers Using the Algorithm | Unit 5 Lesson 9: Long Division Launch Practice Day 1 (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 14: The Division Algorithm—Converting Decimal Division into Whole Number Division Using Fractions. | |
| Lesson 15: The Division Algorithm—Converting Decimal Division into Whole Number Division Using Mental Math | |
| Topic D Number Theory—Thinking Logically About Multiplicative Arithmetic | |
| Lesson 16: Even and Odd Numbers | |
| Lesson 17: Divisibility Tests for 3 and 9 | |
| Lesson 18: Least Common Multiple and Greatest Common Factor | Unit 5 Lesson 14: Common Multiples Lesson 15: Common Factors Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 19: The Euclidean Algorithm as an Application of the Long Division Algorithm |
Module 3: Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Positive and Negative Numbers on the Number Line—Opposite Direction and Value | Unit 7Lesson 2: Digging Deeper |
| Lesson 2: Real-World Positive and Negative Numbers and Zero. Lesson 3: Real-World Positive and Negative Numbers and Zero. | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Sub-Zero |
| Lesson 4: The Opposite of a Number Lesson 5: The Opposite of a Number’s Opposite Lesson 6: Rational Numbers on the Number Line | Unit 7Lesson 2: Digging Deeper |
| Topic B Order and Absolute Value | |
| Lesson 7: Ordering Integers and Other Rational Numbers Lesson 8: Ordering Integers and Other Rational Numbers Lesson 9: Comparing Integers and Other Rational Numbers | Unit 7Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 10: Writing and Interpreting Inequality Statements Involving Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 11: Absolute Value—Magnitude and Distance Lesson 12: The Relationship Between Absolute Value and Order | Unit 7Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line |
| Lesson 13: Statements of Order in the Real World. | |
| Topic C Rational Numbers and the Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 14: Ordered Pairs Lesson 15: Locating Ordered Pairs on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 9: Sand Dollar SearchLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate PlaneLesson 11: Polygon Maker |
| Lesson 16: Symmetry in the Coordinate Plane. | |
| Lesson 17: Drawing the Coordinate Plane and Points on the Plane | Lesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane |
| Lesson 18: Distance on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 11: Polygon Maker |
| Lesson 19: Problem Solving and the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 4: Expressions and Equations
| Topic A Relationships of the Operations | |
| Lesson 1: The Relationship of Addition and Subtraction | |
| Lesson 2: The Relationship of Multiplication and Division | |
| Lesson 3: The Relationship of Multiplication and Addition. | |
| Lesson 4: The Relationship of Division and Subtraction | |
| Topic B Special Notations of Operations | |
| Lesson 5: Exponents | Unit 6Lesson 10: PowersLesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: The Order of Operations | |
| Topic C Replacing Letters and Numbers | |
| Lesson 7: Replacing Letters with Numbers Lesson 8: Replacing Numbers with Letters | Unit 6Lesson 7: Border TilesLesson 12: Squares and Cubes |
| Topic D Expanding, Factoring, and Distributing Expressions | |
| Lesson 9: Writing Addition and Subtraction Expressions | Unit 6Lesson 6: Vari-applesLesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences |
| Lesson 10: Writing and Expanding Multiplication Expressions Lesson 11: Factoring Expressions Lesson 12: Distributing Expressions | Unit 6Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences |
| Lesson 13: Writing Division Expressions | |
| Lesson 14: Writing Division Expressions | |
| Topic E Expressing Operations in Algebraic Form | |
| Lesson 15: Read Expressions in Which Letters Stand for Numbers Lesson 16: Write Expressions in Which Letters Stand for Numbers Lesson 17: Write Expressions in Which Letters Stand for Numbers | Unit 6Lesson 6: Vari-applesLesson 7: Border Tiles |
| Topic F Writing and Evaluating Expressions and Formulas | |
| Lesson 18: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Addition and Subtraction Lesson 19: Substituting to Evaluate Addition and Subtraction Expressions Lesson 20: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Multiplication and Division Lesson 21: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Multiplication and Addition | Unit 6Lesson 7: Border TilesLesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and DifferencesLesson 12: Squares and Cubes |
| Lesson 22: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Exponents | Unit 6Lesson 10: PowersLesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)Lesson 12: Squares and CubesPractice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Topic G Solving Equations | |
| Lesson 23: True and False Number Sentences Lesson 24: True and False Number Sentences | Unit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 25: Finding Solutions to Make Equations True | Unit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five Equations |
| Lesson 26: One-Step Equations—Addition and Subtraction | Unit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five EquationsLesson 3: Hanging Around |
| Lesson 27: One-Step Equations—Multiplication and Division Lesson 28: Two-Step Problems—All Operations Lesson 29: Multi-Step Problems—All Operations | Unit 6Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and Solve |
| Topic H Applications of Equations | |
| Lesson 30: One-Step Problems in the Real World Lesson 31: Problems in Mathematical TermsLesson Lesson 32: Multi-Step Problems in the Real World | Unit 6Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and SolvePractice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 33: From Equations to Inequalities Lesson 34: Writing and Graphing Inequalities in Real-World Problems | Unit 7Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Comparing WeightsLesson 8: Shira´s Solutions |
Module 5: Area, Surface Area, and Volume Problems
| Topic A: Area of Triangles, Quadrilaterals, and Polygons | |
| Lesson 1: The Area of Parallelograms Through Rectangle Facts | Unit 1Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Off the Grid |
| Lesson 2: The Area of Right Triangles Lesson 3: The Area of Acute Triangles Using Height and Base | Unit 1Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available)Lesson 6: Triangles and ParallelogramsLesson 7: Off the Grid, Part 2 |
| Lesson 4: The Area of All Triangles Using Height and Base | Unit 1Lesson 6: Triangles and ParallelogramsLesson 7: Off the Grid, Part 2 |
| Lesson 5: The Area of Polygons Through Composition and Decomposition | Unit 1Lesson 2: LettersLesson 8: Pile of PolygonsPractice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Area in the Real World | |
| Topic B Polygons on the Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 7: Distance on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons |
| Lesson 8: Drawing Polygons in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 11: Polygon Maker |
| Lesson 9: Determining Perimeter and Area of Polygons on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons |
| Lesson 10: Distance, Perimeter, and Area in the Real World | |
| Topic C Volume of Right Rectangular Prisms | |
| Lesson 11: Volume with Fractional Edge Lengths and Unit Cubes | Unit 4Lesson 11: Classroom ComparisonsLesson 12: Puzzling Areas (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Volume ChallengesLesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available) |
| Lesson 12: From Unit Cubes to the Formulas for Volume | |
| Lesson 13: The Formulas for Volume | |
| Lesson 14: Volume in the Real World | Unit 4Lesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available) |
| Topic D Nets and Surface Area | |
| Lesson 15: Representing Three-Dimensional Figures Using Nets Lesson 16: Constructing Nets Lesson 17: From Nets to Surface Area | Unit 1Lesson 10: Plenty of PolyhedraLesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available)Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available) |
| Lesson 18: Determining Surface Area of Three-Dimensional Figures | Unit 1Lesson 9: Renata´s Stickers [Free lesson]Lesson 10: Plenty of PolyhedraLesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available)Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 19: Surface Area and Volume in the Real World | |
| Lesson 19a: Addendum Lesson for Modeling―Applying Surface Area and Volume to Aquariums | |
| Lesson 3: The Area of Acute Triangles Using Height and Base | Unit 1Lesson 5 Exploring TrianglesLesson 6 Triangles and ParallelogramsLesson 7 Off the Grid, Part 2 |
Module 6: Statistics
| Topic A Understanding Distributions | |
| Lesson 1: Posing Statistical Questions | Unit 8 Lesson 1: Screen TimeLesson 2: Dot Plots |
| Lesson 2: Displaying a Data Distribution Lesson 3: Creating a Dot Plot | Unit 8 Lesson 2: Dot PlotsLesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Lots More Dots |
| Lesson 4: Creating a Histogram Lesson 5: Describing a Distribution Displayed in a Histogram | Unit 8Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson]Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available) |
| Topic B Summarizing a Distribution That Is Approximately Symmetric Using the Mean and Mean Absolute Deviation | |
| Lesson 6: Describing the Center of a Distribution Using the Mean Lesson 7: The Mean as a Balance Point | Unit 8Lesson 7: Snack Time |
| Lesson 8: Variability in a Data Distribution | Unit 8Lesson 8: Pop It! |
| Topic 9: The Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD). | Unit 8Lesson 9: Hoops |
| Lesson 10: Describing Distributions Using the Mean and MAD Lesson 11: Describing Distributions Using the Mean and MAD | Unit 8Lesson 10 Hollywood Part 1Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Topic C Summarizing a Distribution That Is Skewed Using the Median and the Interquartile Range | |
| Lesson 12: Describing the Center of a Distribution Using the Median | Unit 8Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson]Lesson 12: In the News |
| Lesson 13: Describing Variability Using the Interquartile Range (IQR) | Unit 8Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch |
| Lesson 14: Summarizing a Distribution Using a Box Plot Lesson 15: More Practice with Box Plots | Unit 8Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Understanding Box Plots | Unit 8Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Topic D Summarizing and Describing Distributions | |
| Lesson 17: Developing a Statistical Project | |
| Lesson 18: Connecting Graphical Representations and Numerical Summaries | Unit 8Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 19: Comparing Data Distributions | Unit 8Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2 |
| Lesson 20: Describing Center, Variability, and Shape of a Data Distribution from a Graphical Representation Lesson 21: Summarizing a Data Distribution by Describing Center, Variability, and Shape | Unit 8Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) |
| Lesson 22: Presenting a Summary of a Statistical Project | |
| Lesson 3: Creating a Dot Plot | Unit 8Lesson 2 Dot PlotsLesson 3 Minimum Wage [Free lesson]Lesson 4 Lots More Dots |
Grade 7
Module 1: Ratios and Proportional Relationships
Module 2: Rational Numbers
| Topic A Addition and Subtraction of Integers and Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 1: Opposite Quantities Combine to Make Zero | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Using the Number Line to Model the Addition of Integers Lesson 3: Understanding Addition of Integers Lesson 4: Efficiently Adding Integers and Other Rational Numbers Lesson 5: Understanding Subtraction of Integers and Other Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Number Puzzles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: The Distance Between Two Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 7: Addition and Subtraction of Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Bumpers Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Number Puzzles Lesson 10; Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 8: Applying the Properties of Operations to Add and Subtract Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 9: Applying the Properties of Operations to Add and Subtract Rational Numbers | |
| Topic B Multiplication and Division of Integers and Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 10: Understanding Multiplication of Integers Lesson 11: Develop Rules for Multiplying Signed Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Floating in Groups Lesson 7: Back in Time Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 12: Division of Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles |
| Lesson 13: Converting Between Fractions and Decimals Using Equivalent Fractions | |
| Lesson 14: Converting Rational Numbers to Decimals Using Long Division | Unit 4 Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available) |
| Lesson 15: Multiplication and Division of Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available) Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Applying the Properties of Operations to Multiply and Divide Rational Numbers | |
| Topic C Applying Operations with Rational Numbers to Expressions and Equations | |
| Lesson 17: Comparing Tape Diagram Solutions to Algebraic Solutions | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 3: Equations Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available) |
| Lesson 18: Writing, Evaluating, and Finding Equivalent Expressions with Rational Numbers Lesson 19: Writing, Evaluating, and Finding Equivalent Expressions with Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 9 Expressions |
| Lesson 20: Investments—Performing Operations with Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 21: If-Then Moves with Integer Number Cards | |
| Lesson 22: Solving Equations Using Algebra Lesson 23: Solving Equations Using Algebra | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Equations Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available) Lesson 6: Balancing Equations Lesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available) Lesson 12: Community Day (Print available) Unit 5 Lesson 3: Bumpers |
Module 3: Expressions and Equations
Module 4: Percent and Proportional Relationships
Module 5: Statistics and Probability
| Topic A Calculating and Interpreting Probabilities | |
| Lesson 1: Chance Experiments | Unit 8Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Mystery Bag |
| Lesson 2: Estimating Probabilities by Collecting Data Lesson 3: Chance Experiments with Equally Likely Outcomes Lesson 4: Calculating Probabilities for Chance Experiments with Equally Likely Outcomes | Unit 8Lesson 3: Mystery BagLesson 4: Spin ClassLesson 5: Is It Fair?Lesson 6: Fair Games |
| Lesson 5: Chance Experiments with Outcomes That Are Not Equally Likely | Unit 8Lesson 4: Spin ClassLesson 5: Is It Fair?Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or Not |
| Lesson 6: Using Tree Diagrams to Represent a Sample Space and to Calculate Probabilities | Unit 8Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or Not |
| Lesson 7: Calculating Probabilities of Compound Events | Unit 8Lesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Topic B Estimating Probabilities | |
| Lesson 8: The Difference Between Theoretical Probabilities and Estimated Probabilities Lesson 9: Comparing Estimated Probabilities to Probabilities Predicted by a Model | Unit 8Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) |
| Lesson 10: Conducting a Simulation to Estimate the Probability of an Event | Unit 8Lesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Conducting a Simulation to Estimate the Probability of an Event Lesson 12: Applying Probability to Make Informed Decisions | Unit 8Lesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available) |
| Topic C Random Sampling and Estimating Population Characteristics | |
| Lesson 13: Populations, Samples, and Generalizing from a Sample to a Population | Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: HeadlinesLesson 12: Flower Power |
| Lesson 14: Selecting a Sample Lesson 15: Random Sampling Lesson 16: Methods for Selecting a Random Sample | Unit 8Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 17: Sampling Variability | Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 13: Plots and Samples |
| Lesson 18: Sampling Variability and the Effect of Sample Size Lesson 19: Understanding Variability When Estimating a Population Proportion | Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesLesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available) |
| Lesson 20: Estimating a Population Proportion | |
| Topic D Comparing Populations | |
| Lesson 21: Why Worry About Sampling Variability? | Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesLesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available) |
| Lesson 22: Using Sample Data to Compare the Means of Two or More Populations Lesson 23: Using Sample Data to Compare the Means of Two or More Populations | Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesLesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) |
Module 6: Geometry
| Topic A Unknown Angles | |
| Lesson 1: Complementary and Supplementary Angles | Unit 7Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams |
| Lesson 2: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations Lesson 3: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations Lesson 4: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations | Unit 7Lesson 1: PinwheelsLesson 2: Friendly AnglesLesson 3: Angle DiagramsLesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Topic B Constructing Triangles | |
| Lesson 5: Identical Triangles | Unit 7Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than One |
| Lesson 6: Drawing Geometric Shapes | Unit 7Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Drawing Parallelograms | |
| Lesson 8: Drawing Triangles | Unit 7Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 9: Conditions for a Unique Triangle―Three Sides and Two Sides and the Included Lesson 10: Conditions for a Unique Triangle—Two Angles and a Given Side Angle | Unit 7Lesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Conditions on Measurements That Determine a Triangle | Unit 7Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 12: Unique Triangles―Two Sides and a Non-Included Angle | |
| Lesson 13: Checking for Identical Triangles Lesson 14: Checking for Identical Triangles | Unit 7Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OnePractice Day 1 |
| Lesson 15: Using Unique Triangles to Solve Real-World and Mathematical Problems | |
| Topic C Slicing Solids | |
| Lesson 16: Slicing a Right Rectangular Prism with a Plane Lesson 17: Slicing a Right Rectangular Pyramid with a Plane Lesson 18: Slicing on an Angle | Unit 7Lesson 9: Slicing Solids |
| Lesson 19: Understanding Three-Dimensional Figures | |
| Topic D Problems Involving Area and Surface Area | |
| Lesson 20: Real-World Area Problems | Unit 3Lesson 5: Area Strategies |
| Lesson 21: Mathematical Area Problems | Unit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available) |
| Lesson 22: Area Problems with Circular Regions | Unit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 23: Surface Area Lesson 24: Surface Area | Unit 7Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available)Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Topic E Problems Involving Volume | |
| Lesson 25: Volume of Right Prisms | Unit 7Lesson 10: Simple PrismsLesson 11: More Complicated PrismsLesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Lesson 26: Volume of Composite Three-Dimensional Objects | Unit 7Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms |
| Lesson 27: Real-World Volume Problems | Unit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
Grade 8
Module 1: Integer Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Eureka Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
| Topic A Exponential Notation and Properties of Integer Exponents | |
| Lesson 1: Exponential Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 1 Circles [Free lesson]Lesson 2 Combining Exponents |
| Lesson 2: Multiplication of Numbers in Exponential Form Lesson 3: Numbers in Exponential Form Raised to a Power | Unit 7 Lesson 2 Combining ExponentsLesson 3 Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4 Rewriting Powers |
| Lesson 4: Numbers Raised to the Zeroth Power Lesson 5: Negative Exponents and the Laws of Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 5 Zero and Negative ExponentsLesson 6 Write a Rule (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Proofs of Laws of Exponents | |
| Topic B Magnitude and Scientific Notation | |
| Lesson 7: Magnitude | Unit 7 Lesson 7 Scales and Weights |
| Lesson 8: Estimating Quantities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Scales and WeightsLesson 8: Point ZapperLesson 9: Use Your Powers |
| Lesson 9: Scientific Notation Lesson 10: Operations with Numbers in Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Star Power |
| Lesson 11: Efficacy of Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 13: Star Power |
| Lesson 12: Choice of Unit | |
| Lesson 13: Comparison of Numbers Written in Scientific Notation and Interpreting Scientific Notation Using Technology | Unit 7 Lesson 13: Star Power Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 2: The Concept of Congruence
| Topic A Definitions and Properties of the Basic Rigid Motions | |
| Lesson 1: Why Move Things Around? Lesson 2: Definition of Translation and Three Basic Properties | Unit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Translating Lines | Unit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson] Unit 3Lesson 6: Translations |
| Lesson 4: Definition of Reflection and Basic Properties Lesson 5: Definition of Rotation and Basic Properties Lesson 6: Rotations of 180 Degrees | Unit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated |
| Topic B Sequencing the Basic Rigid Motions | |
| Lesson 7: Sequencing Translations Lesson 8: Sequencing Reflections and Translations | Unit 1Lesson 3: Transformation GolfLesson 6: Connecting the Dots [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 9: Sequencing Rotations Lesson 10: Sequences of Rigid Motions | Unit 1Lesson 3: Transformation GolfLesson 6: Connecting the Dots [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Tessellate [Free lesson]Practice Day |
| Topic C Congruence and Angle Relationships | |
| Lesson 11: Definition of Congruence and Some Basic Properties | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Are They the Same?Lesson 8: No Bending, No StretchingLesson 9: Are They Congruent?Practice Day |
| Lesson 12: Angles Associated with Parallel Lines | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles |
| Lesson 13: Angle Sum of a Triangle | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available) |
| Lesson 14: More on the Angles of a Triangle | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out [Free lesson] |
| Topic D: The Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 15: Informal Proof of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It |
| Lesson 16: Applications of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8Lesson 10: Taco TruckPractice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 3: Similarity
Module 4: Linear Equations
Module 5: Examples of Functions from Geometry
Module 6: Linear Functions
Module 7: Introduction to Irrational Numbers Using Geometry
| Topic A Square and Cube Roots | |
| Lesson 1: The Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem |
| Lesson 2: Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots Lesson 3: Between Squares Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Existence and Uniqueness of Square Roots and Cube Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 5: Filling Cubes |
| Lesson 4: Simplifying Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots Lesson 3: Between Squares Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson] Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Solving Equations with Radicals | |
| Topic B Decimal Expansions of Numbers | |
| Lesson 6: Finite and Infinite Decimals Lesson 7: Infinite Decimals Lesson 8: The Long Division Algorithm Lesson 9: Decimal Expansions of Fractions, Part 1 Lesson 10: Converting Repeating Decimals to Fractions | Unit 8 Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions |
| Lesson 11: The Decimal Expansion of Some Irrational Numbers | |
| Lesson 12: Decimal Expansions of Fractions, Part 2 | |
| Lesson 13: Comparing Irrational Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 14: Hit the Target |
| Lesson 14: Decimal Expansion of π | |
| Topic C The Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 15: Pythagorean Theorem, Revisited | Unit 8 Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It |
| Lesson 16: Converse of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Make It Right |
| Lesson 17: Distance on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Pond Hopper |
| Lesson 18: Applications of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson] Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Topic D Applications of Radicals and Roots | |
| Lesson 19: Cones and Spheres | |
| Lesson 20: Truncated Cones | |
| Lesson 21: Volume of Composite Solids | |
| Lesson 22: Average Rate of Change | |
| Lesson 23: Nonlinear Motion |
Grade 6
Unit 1: Area and Surface Area
| Illustrative Mathematics | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Topic A: Reasoning to Find Area | |
| Lesson 1: Tiling the Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Finding Area by Decomposing and Rearranging Lesson 3: Reasoning to Find Area | Unit 1 Lesson 2: Letters |
| Topic 2: Parallelograms | |
| Lesson 4: Parallelograms Lesson 5: Bases and Heights of Parallelograms Lesson 6: Area of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Off the Grid |
| Topic 3: Triangles | |
| Lesson 7: From Parallelograms to Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Off the Grid Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms |
| Lesson 8: Area of Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available) |
| Lesson 9: Formula for the Area of a Triangle Lesson 10: Bases and Heights of Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Off the Grid Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms |
| Topic 4: Polygons | |
| Lesson 11: Polygons | Unit 1 Lesson 2: Letters Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons Practice Day 1 (Print available) Unit 7 Lesson 11: Polygon Maker |
| Topic 5: Surface Area | |
| Lesson 12: What is Surface Area? | Unit 1 Lesson 9: Renata´s Stickers [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 13: Polyhedra | Unit 1Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra |
| Lesson 14: Nets and Surface Area | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra Lesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available) Lesson 13: Take It To Go |
| Lesson 15: More Nets, More Surface Area | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra Lesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available) Lesson 12: Face Value Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Distinguishing Between Surface Area and Volume | |
| Topic 6: Squares and Cubes | |
| Lesson 17: Squares and Cubes | Unit 6 Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes |
| Lesson 18: Surface Area of a Cube | |
| Topic 7: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 19: Designing a Tent | Unit 1 Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available) |
Unit 2: Introducing Ratios
Unit 3: Rates and Percentages
| Topic 1: Units of Measurement | |
| Lesson 1: The Burj Khalifa | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains |
| Topic 2: Unit Conversion | |
| Lesson 2: Anchoring Units of Measurement | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Measuring with Different-Sized Units Lesson 4: Converting Units | Unit 3 Lesson 2: Counting Classrooms Lesson 3: Pen Pals |
| Topic 3: Rates | |
| Lesson 5: Comparing Speeds and Prices | Unit 2 Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory |
| Lesson 6: Interpreting Rates Lesson 7: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 8: More About Constant Speed | Unit 2 Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains |
| Lesson 9: Solving Rate Problems | Unit 3 Lesson 7: More Soft Serve |
| Topic 4: Percentages | |
| Lesson 10: What Are percentages | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals |
| Lesson 11: Percentages and Double Number Lines | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available) |
| Lesson 12: Percentages and Tape Diagrams | Unit 3 Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available) |
| Lesson 13: Benchmark percentages | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 14: Solving Percentage Problems Lesson 15: Finding This Percent of That Lesson 16: Finding the Percentage | Unit 3 Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available) Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals Lesson 13: A Country as a Village |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 17: Painting a Room | Unit 3 Lesson 13: A Country as a Village |
| Lesson 7: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson] |
Unit 4: Dividing Fractions
| Topic 1: Making Sense of Division | |
| Lesson 1: Size of Divisor and Size of Quotient Lesson 2: Meanings of Division | Unit 4Lesson 1: Cookie Cutter |
| Lesson 3: Interpreting Division Situations | Unit 4Lesson 2: Making Connections (Print available) |
| Topic 2: Meanings of Fraction Division | |
| Lesson 4: How Many Groups (Part 1) | Unit 4Lesson 3: Flour Planner [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Flower Planters |
| Lesson 5: How Many Groups (Part 2) | Unit 4Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Using Diagrams to Find the Number of Groups | Unit 4Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 7: What Fraction of a Group? Lesson 8: How Much in Each Group? (Part 1) Lesson 9: How Much in Each Group? (Part 2) | Unit 4Lesson 8: Potting Soil |
| Topic 3: Algorithm for Fraction Division | |
| Lesson 10: Dividing by Unit and Non-Unit Fractions | Unit 4Lesson 7: Break It DownLesson 8: Potting SoilLesson 9: Division Challenges |
| Lesson 11: Using an Algorithm to Divide Fractions | Unit 4Lesson 9: Division ChallengesPractice Day |
| Topic 4: Fractions in Lengths, Areas, and Volumes | |
| Lesson 12: Fractional Lengths | Unit 4Lesson 11: Classroom Comparisons |
| Lesson 13: Rectangles with Fractional Side Lengths | Unit 4Lesson 12: Puzzling Areas (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 14: Fractional Lengths in Triangles and Prisms | |
| Lesson 15: Volume of Prisms | Unit 4Lesson 13: Volume Challenges |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 16: Solving Problems with Fractions | Unit 4Lesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: Fitting Boxes into Boxes | Unit 4Lesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available) |
Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base Ten
| Topic 1: Warming Up to Decimals | |
| Lesson 1: Using Decimals in a Shopping Context | Unit 5Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Topic 2: Adding and Subtracting Decimals | |
| Lesson 2: Using Decimals to Represent Addition and Subtraction | Unit 5Lesson 3: Fruit by the PoundLesson 4: Missing Digits |
| Lesson 3: Adding and Subtracting Decimals with Few Non-Zero Digits | Unit 5Lesson 4: Missing Digits |
| Lesson 4: Adding and Subtracting Decimals with Many Non-Zero Digits | |
| Topic 3: Multiplying Decimals | |
| Lesson 5: Decimal Points in Products | Unit 5Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication |
| Lesson 6: Methods for Multiplying Decimals | Unit 5Lesson 5: Decimal MultiplicationLesson 6: Multiplying with AreasLesson 7: Multiplication methods (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Using Diagrams to Represent Multiplication | Unit 5Lesson 5: Decimal MultiplicationLesson 6: Multiplying with Areas |
| Lesson 8: Calculating Products of Decimals | Unit 5Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas |
| Topic 4: Dividing Decimals | |
| Lesson 9: Using the Partial Quotients Method | Unit 5Lesson 8: Division Diagrams |
| Lesson 10: Using Long Division | Unit 5Lesson 8: Division DiagramsLesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Dividing Numbers That Result in Decimals Lesson 12: Dividing Decimals by Whole Numbers Lesson 13: Dividing Decimals by Decimals | Unit 5Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available) |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 14: Using Operations on Decimals to Solve Problems | Unit 5Lesson 11: Movie Time [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 15: Making and Measuring Boxes | |
| Lesson 12: Dividing Decimals by Whole Numbers | |
| Lesson 13: Dividing Decimals by Decimals | Unit 5Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available) |
Unit 6: Expressions and Equations
Unit 7: Rational Numbers
| Topic 1: Positive and Negative Numbers | |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 7Lesson 1: Can You Dig In [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Digging Deeper |
| Lesson 2: Points on the Number Line | Unit 7Lesson 2: Digging Deeper |
| Lesson 3: Comparing Positive and Negative Numbers Lesson 4: Ordering Rational Numbers | Unit 7Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 5: Using Negative Numbers to make Sense of Contexts | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Sub-Zero |
| Lesson 6: Absolute Value of Numbers Lesson 7: Comparing Numbers and Distance from Zero | Unit 7Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line |
| Topic 2: Inequalities | |
| Lesson 8: Writing and Graphing Inequalities | Unit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Lesson 9: Solutions of Inequalities Lesson 10: Interpreting Inequalities | Unit 7Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Comparing WeightsLesson 8: Shira´s Solutions |
| Topic 3: The Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 11: Points on the Coordinate Plane Lesson 12: Constructing the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 9: Sand Dollar SearchLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane |
| Lesson 13: Interpreting Points on a Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 9: Sand Dollar SearchLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate PlaneLesson 11: Polygon Maker |
| Lesson 14: Distances on a Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 11: Polygon MakerLesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available) |
| Lesson 15: Shapes on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane [Free lesson]Lesson 2: LettersLesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available)Lesson 6: Triangles and ParallelogramsUnit 7Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available)Lesson 11: Polygon MakerLesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available) |
| Topic 4: Common Factors and Common Multiples | |
| Lesson 16: Common Factors | Unit 5Lesson 15: Common factors |
| Lesson 17: Common Multiples | Unit 5Lesson 14: Common Multiples |
| Lesson 18: Using Common Multiples and Common Factors | Unit 5Lesson 14: Common MultiplesLesson 15: Common factorsPractice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 19: Drawing on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 11: Polygon MakerLesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available) |
Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions
| Topic 1: Data, Variability, and Statistical Questions | |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Got Data? Lesson 2: Statistical Questions | Unit 8Lesson 1: Screen TimeLesson 2: Dot Plots |
| Topic 2: Dot Plots and Distributions | |
| Lesson 3: Representing Data Graphically Lesson 4: Dot Plots Lesson 5: Using Dot Plots to Answer Statistical Questions | Unit 8Lesson 2: Dot PlotsLesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Lots More Dots |
| Lesson 6: Interpreting Histograms Lesson 7: Using Histograms to Answer Statistical Questions Lesson 8: Describing Distributions on Histograms | Unit 8Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson]Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available) |
| Topic 3: Measures of Center and Variability | |
| Lesson 9: Mean Lesson 10: Finding and Interpreting the Mean as a Balance Point | Unit 8Lesson 7: Snack Time |
| Lesson 11: Variability and MAD | Unit 8Lesson 8: Pop It! |
| Lesson 12: Using Mean and MAD to Make Comparisons | Unit 8Lesson 9: Hoops |
| Topic 4: Median and IQR | |
| Lesson 13: Median | Unit 8Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson]Lesson 12: In the News |
| Lesson 14: Comparing Mean and Median | Unit 8Lesson 12: In the News |
| Lesson 15: Quartiles and Interquartile Range | Unit 8Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch |
| Lesson 16: Box Plots | Unit 8Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: Using Box Plots | Unit 8Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 18: Using Data to Solve Problems | Unit 8Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) |
Unit 9: Putting It All Together
| Topic 1: Making Connections | |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Fermi Problems Lesson 2: In Our Class Were the World | Unit 3Lesson 13: A Country as a Village |
| Lesson 3: Rectangle Madness | Unit 5Lesson 14: Common MultiplesLesson 15: Common factors |
| Topic 2: Voting | |
| Lesson 4: How Do We Choose? | Unit 2Lesson 13: City PlanningLesson 14: Lunch Waste (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: More than Two Choices | Unit 3Lesson 13: A Country as a Village |
| Lesson 6: Picking Representatives | Unit 8Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) |
Grade 7
Unit 1: Scale Drawings
| Illustrative Mathematics | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Topic 1: Scaled Copies | |
| Lesson 1: What are Scaled Copies? | Unit 1Lesson 1: Scaling Machines [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Corresponding Parts and Scale Factors | Unit 1Lesson 2: Scaling Robots Unit 3Lesson 1: Toothpicks |
| Lesson 3: Making Scaled Copies Lesson 4: Scaled Relationship | Unit 1Lesson 3: Make It Scale Unit 4Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes |
| Lesson 5: The Size and the Scale Factor | Unit 1Lesson 4: Scale Factor Challenges |
| Lesson 6: Scaling and Area | Unit 1Lesson 5: TilesPractice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Topic 2: Scale Drawings | |
| Lesson 7: Scale Drawings | Unit 1Lesson 6: Introducing ScaleLesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 8: Scale Drawings and Maps | |
| Lesson 9: Creating Scale Drawings Lesson 10: Changing Scales in Scale Drawings | Unit 1Lesson 8: Scaling StatesLesson 9: Scaling BuildingsLesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Scales without Units | |
| Lesson 12: Units in Scale Drawings | Unit 1Lesson 8: Scaling StatesLesson 9: Scaling BuildingsLesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Topic 3: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 13: Draw It to Scale | Unit 1Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available) |
Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships
| Topic 1: Representing Proportional Relationships with Tables | |
| Lesson 1: One of These Things Is Not Like the Others | Unit 2Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships with Tables | Unit 2Lesson 2: Balloon FloatLesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)Lesson 4: Robot Factory |
| Lesson 3: More About Constant of Proportionality | Unit 2Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)Unit 4Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes |
| Topic 2: Representing Proportional Relationships with Equations | |
| Lesson 4: Proportional Relationships with Equations | Unit 2Lesson 4: Robot FactoryLesson 5: SnapshotsLesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations |
| Lesson 5: Two Equations for Each Relationship Lesson 6: Using Equations to Solve Problems | Unit 2Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 7: All Kinds of EquationsPractice Day |
| Topic 3: Comparing Proportional and Nonproportional Relationships | |
| Lesson 7: Comparing Relationships with Tables | Unit 2Lesson 2: Balloon FloatLesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)Lesson 4: Robot Factory |
| Lesson 8: Comparing Relationships with Equations | Unit 2Lesson 4: Robot FactoryLesson 5: SnapshotsLesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 7: All Kinds of EquationsLesson 11: Four RepresentationsLesson 12: Water Efficiency |
| Lesson 9: Solving Problems About Proportional Relationships | Unit 2Lesson 12: Water Efficiency |
| Topic 4: Representing Proportional Relationships with Graphs | |
| Lesson 10: Introducing Graphs of Proportional Relationships Lesson 11: Interpreting Graphs of Proportional Relationships Lesson 12: Using Graphs to Compare Relationships Lesson 13: Two Graphs for Each Relationship | Unit 2Lesson 8: Dino Pops [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Gallon ChallengeLesson 10: Three TurtlesLesson 11: Four RepresentationsLesson 12: Water Efficiency |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 14: For Representations | Unit 2Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available) |
| Lesson 15: Using Water Efficiency | Unit 2Lesson 12: Water Efficiency |
Unit 3: Measuring Circles
| Topic 1: Circumference of a Circle | |
| Lesson 1: How Well Can You Measure? | Unit 3Lesson 1: Toothpicks |
| Lesson 2: Exploring Circles Lesson 3: Exploring Circumference Lesson 4: Applying Circumference | Unit 3Lesson 2: Is It a Circle?Lesson 3: Measuring Around [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 5: Circumference and Wheels | |
| Topic 2: Area of a Circle | |
| Lesson 6: Estimating Areas | Unit 3Lesson 5: Area Strategies |
| Lesson 7: Exploring the Area of a Circle Lesson 8: Relating Area to Circumference | Unit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)Lesson 7: Why Pi?Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Circle vs. SquarePractice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 9: Applying Area of Circles | Unit 3Lesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available) |
| Topic 3: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 10: Distinguishing Circumference and Area | Unit 3Lesson 7: Why Pi? |
| Lesson 11: Stained-Glass Windows | Unit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available) |
Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages
Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic
| Topic 1: Interpreting Negative Numbers | |
| Lesson 1: Interpreting Negative Numbers | Unit 5Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson] |
| Topic 2: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 2: Changing Temperatures Lesson 3: Changing Elevation | Unit 5Lesson 2: More Floats and AnchorsLesson 3: BumpersLesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 4: Money and Debts | |
| Lesson 5: Representing Subtraction | Unit 5Lesson 5: Number Puzzles |
| Lesson 6: Subtracting Rational Numbers Lesson 7: Adding and Subtracting to Solve Problems | Unit 5Lesson 3: BumpersLesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Number PuzzlesLesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Changing TemperaturesLesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Topic 3: Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 8: Position, Speed, and Direction Lesson 9: Multiplying Rational Numbers Lesson 10: Multiply! | Unit 5Lesson 7: Back in Time |
| Lesson 11: Dividing Rational Numbers | Unit 5Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles |
| Lesson 12: Negative Rates | |
| Topic 4: Four Operations with Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 13: Expressions with Rational Numbers | Unit 5Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 14: Solving Problems with Rational Numbers | Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 12: Arctic Ice Sea (Print available) Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) |
| Topic 5: Solving Equations When There Are Negative Numbers | |
| Lesson 15: Making and Measuring Boxes | |
| Lesson 16: Representing Contexts with Equations | |
| Topic 6: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 17: The Stock market |
Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms
| Topic 1: Angle Relationships | |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1:Relationships of Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Pinwheels Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams |
| Lesson 2: Adjacent Angles Lesson 3: Nonadjacent Angles | Unit 7Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams |
| Lesson 4: Solving for Unknown Angles | Unit 7Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Angle DiagramsLesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Using Equations to Solve for Unknown Angles | Unit 7Lesson 3: Angle DiagramsLesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Topic 2: Drawing Polygons with Given Conditions | |
| Lesson 6: Building Polygons (Part 1) Lesson 7: Building Polygons (Part 2) | Unit 7Lesson 6: Is It Enough? |
| Lesson 8: Triangles with 3 Common Measures | Unit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Lesson 9: Drawing Triangles (Part 1) Lesson 10: Drawing Triangles (Part 2) | Unit 7Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Topic 3: Solid Geometry | |
| Lesson 11: Slicing Solids | Unit 7Lesson 9: Slicing Solids |
| Lesson 12: Volume of Right Prisms | Unit 7Lesson 10: Simple Prisms |
| Lesson 13: Decomposing Bases for Areas | Unit 7Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms |
| Lesson 14: Surface Area of Right Prisms | Unit 7Lesson 10: Simple PrismsLesson 11: More Complicated PrismsLesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available) |
| Lesson 15: Distinguishing Volume and Surface Area | |
| Lesson 16: Applying Volume and Surface Area | Unit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 17: Building Prisms |
Unit 8: Probability and Sampling
Grade 8
Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence
Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope
Unit 3: Linear Relationships
Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems
Unit 5: Functions and Volume
Unit 6: Associations in Data
Unit 7: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Topic 1: Exponent Review | |
| Lesson 1: Exponent Review | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Combining Exponents |
| Topic 2: Exponent Rules | |
| Lesson 2: Multiplying Powers of 10 Lesson 3: Powers of Powers of 10 Lesson 4: Dividing Powers of 10 | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers |
| Lesson 5: Negative Exponents with Powers of 10 | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Zero and Negative ExponentsLesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: What about Other Bases? | |
| Lesson 7: Practice with Rational Bases | |
| Lesson 8: Combining Bases | |
| Topic 3: Scientific Notation | |
| Lesson 9: Describing Large and Small Numbers using Powers of 10 | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Scales and Weights |
| Lesson 10: Representing Large Numbers on the Number Line Lesson 11: Representing Small Numbers on the Number Line | Unit 7 Lesson 8: Point Zapper |
| Lesson 12: Applications of Arithmetic with Powers of 10 | Unit 7 Lesson 8: Point ZapperLesson 9: Use Your Powers |
| Lesson 13: Defining Scientific Notation Lesson 14: Multiplying, Dividing, and Estimating with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Star Power |
| Lesson 15: Adding and Subtracting with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]Lesson 12: City LightsLesson 13: Star Power |
| Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 16: Is a Smartphone Smart Enough to Go to the Moon? | Lesson 13: Star Power Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers
| Topic 1: Side Lengths and Areas of Squares | |
| Lesson 1: The Areas of Squares and Their Side Lengths | Unit 8Lesson 1: Tilted Squares |
| Lesson 2: Side Lengths and Areas | Unit 8Lesson 2: From Squares to RootsLesson 3: Between Squares |
| Lesson 3: Rational and Irrational Numbers | |
| Lesson 4: Square Roots on the Number Line | |
| Lesson 5: Reasoning about Square Roots | Unit 8Lesson 2: From Squares to RootsLesson 3: Between SquaresLesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Topic 2: The Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 6: Finding Side Lengths of Triangles | Unit 8Lesson 6: The Pythagorean TheoremLesson 7: Pictures to Prove ItLesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 7: A Proof of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It |
| Lesson 8: Finding Unknown Side Lengths | Unit 8Lesson 11: Pond Hopper |
| Lesson 9: The Converse | Unit 8Lesson 9: Make It Right |
| Lesson 10: Applications of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 11: Finding Distances in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 8Lesson 11: Pond Hopper |
| Topic 3: Side Lengths and Volumes of Cubes | |
| Lesson 12: Edge Lengths and Volumes Lesson 13: Cube Roots | Unit 8Lesson 5: Filling Cubes |
| Topic 4: Decimal Representation of Rational and Irrational Numbers | |
| Lesson 14: Decimal Representation of Rational and Numbers Lesson 15: Infinite Decimal expansions | Unit 8Lesson 12: Fractions to DecimalsLesson 13: Decimals to Fractions |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 16: When Is the Same Size Not the Same Size? | Unit 8Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson] |
Unit 9: Putting It All Together
| Topic 1: Tessellations | |
| Lesson 1: Tessellations of the Plane | |
| Lesson 2: Regular Tessellations | |
| Lesson 3: Tessellating Polygons | |
| Topic 2: The Weather | |
| Lesson 4: What Influences Temperature? | |
| Lesson 5: Plotting the Weather | |
| Lesson 6: Using and Interpreting a Mathematical Model |
Illustrative Mathematics-NEW
Grade 6
Unit 1: Area and Surface Area
| Illustrative Mathematics | Amplify Classroom |
| Topic A: Reasoning to Find Area | |
| Lesson 1: Tiling the Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane |
| Lesson 4: Parallelograms Lesson 5: Bases and Heights of Parallelograms Lesson 6: Area of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms |
| Topic 3: Triangles | |
| Lesson 7: From Parallelograms to Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms |
| Topic 5: Surface Area | |
| Lesson 12: What is Surface Area? | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Renata’s Stickers |
Unit 2: Introducing Ratios
| Topic 1: Introducing Ratios | |
| Lesson 1: Introducing Ratios and Ratio Language | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker |
| Lesson 2: Representing Ratios with Diagrams | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker |
| Topic 2: Equivalent Ratios | |
| Lesson 3: Recipes | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Fruit Lab |
| Lesson 5: Defining Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker |
| Topic 4: Solving Ratio and Rate Problems | |
| Lesson 11: Representing Ratios with Tables | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
Unit 3: Rates and Percentages
| Topic 2: Unit Conversion | |
| Lesson 2: Anchoring Units of Measurement | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements |
| Topic 3: Rates | |
| Lesson 5: Comparing Speeds and Prices | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Lesson 6: Interpreting Rates Lesson 7: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Topic 4: Percentages | |
| Lesson 10: What Are percentages | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
| Lesson 13: Benchmark percentages | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 7: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
Unit 4: Dividing Fractions
| Topic 2: Meanings of Fraction Division | |
| Lesson 4: How Many Groups (Part 1) | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner |
| Lesson 6: Using Diagrams to Find the Number of Groups | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base Ten
| Topic 1: Warming Up to Decimals | |
| Lesson 1: Using Decimals in a Shopping Context | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 14: Using Operations on Decimals to Solve Problems | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
Unit 6: Expressions and Equations
| Lesson 1: Tape Diagrams and Equations Lesson 2: Truth and Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Lesson 3: Staying in Balance | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Topic 2: Equal and Equivalent | |
| Lesson 8: Equal and Equivalent | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Topic 9: The Distributive Property, Part 1 | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 10: The Distributive Property, Part 2 Lesson 11: The Distributive Property, Part 3 | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 19: Tables, Equations, and Graphs, Oh My! | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Subway Fares Take Away (coming soon!) |
Unit 7: Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 3: Comparing Positive and Negative Numbers Lesson 4: Ordering Rational Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
| Topic 2: Inequalities | |
| Lesson 9: Solutions of Inequalities Lesson 10: Interpreting Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
| Topic 3: The Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 15: Shapes on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane |
Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions
| Topic 2: Dot Plots and Distributions | |
| Lesson 3: Representing Data Graphically Lesson 4: Dot Plots Lesson 5: Using Dot Plots to Answer Statistical Questions | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 6: Interpreting Histograms Lesson 7: Using Histograms to Answer Statistical Questions Lesson 8: Describing Distributions on Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Topic 4: Median and IQR | |
| Lesson 13: Median | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
Grade 7
Unit 1: Scale Drawings
| Illustrative Mathematics | Amplify Classroom |
| Topic 1: Scaled Copies | |
| Lesson 1: What are Scaled Copies? | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines |
| Topic 2: Scale Drawings | |
| Lesson 7: Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships
| Topic 1: Representing Proportional Relationships with Tables | |
| Lesson 1: One of These Things Is Not Like the Others | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Topic 2: Representing Proportional Relationships with Equations | |
| Lesson 4: Proportional Relationships with Equations | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Lesson 5: Two Equations for Each Relationship Lesson 6: Using Equations to Solve Problems | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Topic 3: Comparing Proportional and Nonproportional Relationships | |
| Lesson 8: Comparing Relationships with Equations | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Topic 4: Representing Proportional Relationships with Graphs | |
| Lesson 10: Introducing Graphs of Proportional Relationships Lesson 11: Interpreting Graphs of Proportional Relationships Lesson 12: Using Graphs to Compare Relationships Lesson 13: Two Graphs for Each Relationship | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
Unit 3: Measuring Circles
| Topic 1: Circumference of a Circle | |
| Lesson 1: How Well Can You Measure? | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Toothpicks (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 2: Exploring Circles Lesson 3: Exploring Circumference Lesson 4: Applying Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Measuring Around Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Topic 2: Area of a Circle | |
| Lesson 7: Exploring the Area of a Circle Lesson 8: Relating Area to Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges Take Away (coming soon!) |
Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages
| Topic 1: Proportional Relationships with Fractions | |
| Lesson 1: Lots of Flags Lesson 2: Ratios and Rates with Fractions Lesson 3: Revisiting Proportional Relationships Lesson 4: Half as Much Again | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Topic 2: Percent Increase and Decrease | |
| Lesson 6: Increasing and Decreasing | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Topic 3: Applying Percentages | |
| Lesson 10: Tax and Tip Lesson 11: Percentage Contexts | Unit 4 Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 16: Posing Percent Problems | Unit 4 Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic
| Topic 1: Interpreting Negative Numbers | |
| Lesson 1: Interpreting Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
| Topic 2: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 2: Changing Temperatures Lesson 3: Changing Elevation | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own |
| Lesson 6: Subtracting Rational Numbers Lesson 7: Adding and Subtracting to Solve Problems | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
| Topic 1: Representing Situations of the Form px + q = r and p(x + q) = r | |
| Lesson 1: Relationships Between Quantities | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Topic 9 Dealing with Negative Numbers | |
| Lesson 10: Different Options for Solving One Equation | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Topic 3: Inequalities | |
| Lesson 13: Reintroducing Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 14: Finding Solutions to Inequalities in Context Lesson 15: Efficiency Solving Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 16: Interpreting Inequalities Lesson 17: Modeling with Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Topic 4: Writing Equivalent Expressions | |
| Lesson 18: Subtraction in Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 20: Combining Like Terms (Part 1) Lesson 21: Combining Like Terms (Part 2) Lesson 22: Combining Like Terms (Part 3) | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms
| Lesson 2: Adjacent Angles Lesson 3: Nonadjacent Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles |
| Lesson 4: Solving for Unknown Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles |
| Lesson 5: Using Equations to Solve for Unknown Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
| Topic 2: Drawing Polygons with Given Conditions | |
| Lesson 9: Drawing Triangles (Part 1) Lesson 10: Drawing Triangles (Part 2) | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? |
Unit 8: Probability and Sampling
| Topic 1: Probabilities of Single Step Events | |
| Lesson 1: Mystery Bags Lesson 2: Chance Experiments Lesson 3: What Are Probabilities? | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
| Topic 3: Sampling | |
| Lesson 11: Comparing Groups Lesson 12: Larger Populations Lesson 13: What Makes a Good Sample? Lesson 14: Sampling in a Fair Way | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Topic 4: Using Samples | |
| Lesson 15: Estimating Population Measures of Center Lesson 16: Estimating Population Proportions | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 17: More about Sampling Variability Lesson 18: Comparing Populations Using Samples Lesson 19: Comparing Populations with Friends | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Grade 8
Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence
| Illustrative Mathematics | Amplify Classroom |
| Topic 1: Rigid Transformations | |
| Lesson 1: Moving in the Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers |
| Lesson 2: Naming the Moves | Unit 1 Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding |
| Lesson 3: Grid Moves | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 4: Making the Moves | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 5: Coordinate Moves | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 6: Describing Transformations | Unit 1 Lesson 6: Connecting the Dots (coming soon!) |
| Topic 2: Properties of Rigid Transformations | |
| Lesson 8: Rotation Patterns | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 17: Rotate and Tessellate | Lesson 13: Tessellate |
Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope
| Topic 1: Dilations | |
| Lesson 1: Projecting and Scaling | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 2: Circular Grid Lesson 3: Dilations with No Grid Lesson 4: Dilations on a Square Grid Lesson 5: More Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
| Topic 2: Similarity | |
| Lesson 6: Similarity | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
| Topic 3: Slope | |
| Lesson 10: Meet Slope | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
Unit 3: Linear Relationships
| Topic 1: Proportional Relationships | |
| Lesson 1: Understanding Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 2: Graphs of Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 3: Representing Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Topic 2: Representing Linear Relationships | |
| Lesson 5: Introduction to Linear Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 7: Representations of Linear Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Topic 3: Finding Slopes | |
| Lesson 9: Slopes Don’t Have to be Positive | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 11: Equations of All Kinds of Lines | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Topic 4: Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 13: More Solutions to Linear Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems
| Topic 2: Linear Equation in One Variable | |
| Lesson 5: Solving Any Linear Equation | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 6: Strategic Solving | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Topic 3: Systems of Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 11: On Both of the Lines Lesson 12: Systems of Equations Lesson 13: Solving Systems of Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance Lesson 12: Line Zapper |
Unit 5: Functions and Volume
| Topic 1: Inputs and Outputs | |
| Lesson 1: Inputs and Outputs | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 2: Introduction to Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Topic 2: Representing and Interpreting Functions | |
| Lesson 3: Equations of Functions | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 4: Tables, Equations, and Graphs of Functions Lesson 5: More Graphs of Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Topic 3: Linear Functions and Rates of Change | |
| Lesson 8: Linear Functions | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 9: Linear Models | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Topic 4: Cylinder and Cones | |
| Lesson 13: The Volume of a Cylinder | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
| Lesson 14: Finding Cylinder Dimensions | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
| Lesson 15: The Volume of a Cone | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones |
| Lesson 16: Finding Cone Dimensions | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones |
Unit 6: Associations in Data
| Topic 2: Associations in Numerical Data | |
| Lesson 3: What a Point in a Scatter Plot Means | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 4: Fitting a Line | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 6: Find the Fit |
| Lesson 5: Describing Trends in Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 7: Observing More patterns in Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Topic 3: Associations in Categorical data | |
| Lesson 9: Looking for Associations | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
| Lesson 10: Using Data Displays to Find associations | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
Unit 7: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Topic 1: Exponent Review | |
| Lesson 1: Exponent Review | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles |
| Lesson 2: Multiplying Powers of 10 Lesson 3: Powers of Powers of 10 Lesson 4: Dividing Powers of 10 | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Topic 3: Scientific Notation | |
| Lesson 13: Defining Scientific Notation Lesson 14: Multiplying, Dividing, and Estimating with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
| Lesson 15: Adding and Subtracting with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers
| Topic 1: Side Lengths and Areas of Squares | |
| Lesson 5: Reasoning about Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Topic 2: The Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 6: Finding Side Lengths of Triangles | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle |
| Lesson 10: Applications of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Taco Truck |
| Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work | |
| Lesson 16: When Is the Same Size Not the Same Size? | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Taco Truck |
Disclaimer
This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Eureka Math-NEW
Grade 6
Unit 1: Area and Surface Area
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 1: Area and Surface Area | Unit 1: Area and Surface Area Unit 7: Positive and Negative Numbers |
| Lesson 1: The Tangram | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane |
| Lesson 2: Exploring the Tangram | Unit 1 Lesson 2: Letters |
| Sub-Unit 1 : Area of Special Polygons | |
| Lesson 3: Tilting the Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane |
| Lesson 4: Compositing and Rearranging to Determine Area | Unit 1 Lesson 2: Letters |
| Lesson 5: Reasoning to Determine Area | Unit 1 Lesson 2: Letters |
| Lesson 6: Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) Lesson 4: Off the Grid |
| Lesson 7: Bases and Heights of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) Lesson 4: Off the Grid |
| Lesson 8: Bases and Heights of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) Lesson 4: Off the Grid |
| Lesson 9: From Parallelograms to Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) Lesson 4: Off the Grid Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms |
| Lesson 10: Bases and Heights of Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Off the Grid Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms |
| Lesson 11: Formula for the Area of a Triangle | Unit 1 Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available) |
| Lesson 12: From Triangles to Trapezoids | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Off the Grid Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms |
| Lesson 13: Polygons | Unit 1 Lesson 2: Letters Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons Practice Day 1 (Print available) Unit 7 Lesson 11: Polygon Maker |
| Sub-Unit 2: Nets and Surface Area | |
| Lesson 14: What is Surface Area? | Unit 1 Lesson 9: Renata’s Stickers |
| Lesson 15: Nets and Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra Lesson 11:Nothing but Nets(Print available) Lesson 12: Face Value Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Nets and Surface Area of Prisms | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Face Value Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: Constructing a Rhombicuboctahedron | Unit 1 Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available) |
| Lesson 18: Simplifying Expressions for Squares and Cubes | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available) Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes |
| Lesson 19: Simplifying Expressions Even More Using Exponents | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 20: Designing a Suspended Tent |
Unit 2: Introducing Ratios
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 2: Introducing Ratios | Unit 2: Introducing Ratios |
| Lesson 1: Fermi Problems | |
| Sub-Unit 1: What are Ratios? | |
| Lesson 2: Introducing Ratios and Ratio Language | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Representing Ratios with Diagrams | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available) Lesson 3:Rice Ratios (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: A Recipe for Purple Oobleck | |
| Lesson 5: Kapa Dyes | |
| Sub-Unit 2:Equivalent Ratios | |
| Lesson 6: Defining Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 3: Rice Ratios (Print available) Lesson 4: Fruit Lab (Print available) Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Representing Equivalent Ratios with Tables | |
| Lesson 8: Reasoning with Multiplication and Division (optional) | |
| Lesson 9: Common Factors | |
| Lesson 10: Common Multiples | |
| Lesson 11: Navigating a Table of Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available) Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1 |
| Lesson 12: Tables and Double Number Line Diagrams | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available) Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1 |
| Lesson 13: Tempo and Double Number Lines | Unit 2 Lesson 5: Balancing Act Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available) |
| Sub-Unit 3: Solving Ratio Problems | |
| Lesson 14: Solving Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available) Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1 Lesson 10: Balloons Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available) |
| Lesson 15: Part-Part-Whole Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 12 Mixing Paint, Part 2 Lesson 13: City Planning |
| Lesson 16: Comparing Ratios | |
| Lesson 17: More Comparing and Solving | |
| Lesson 18: Measuring with Different-Sized Units | |
| Lesson 20: More Fermi Problems |
Unit 3: Rates and Percentages
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 3: Rates and Percentages | Unit 2: Introducing Ratios Unit 3: Unit Rates and percentages |
| Lesson 1: Choosing Representation for Student Council | Launch Lesson |
| Sub-Unit 1: Rates | |
| Lesson 2: How Much for One? | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains |
| Lesson 3: Constant Speed | |
| Lesson 4: Comparing Speeds | Unit 2 Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory |
| Lesson 5: Interpreting Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory |
| Lesson 6: Comparing Rates | |
| Lesson 7: Solving Rate Problems | Unit 3 Lesson 7: More Soft Serve |
| Sub-Unit 2: Percentages | |
| Lesson 8: What Are percentages? | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals |
| Lesson 9: Determining Percentages | |
| Lesson 10: Benchmark Percentages | Unit 3 Lesson 7: Lucky Duckies |
| Lesson 11: Finding This Percent of That | Unit 3 Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available) Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals Lesson 13: A Country as a Village |
| Lesson 12: This Percent of What | |
| Lesson 13: Solving Percentage Problems | Unit 3 Lesson: 10: What’s Missing (Print available) Lesson: 11: Cost Breakdown Lesson: 12: More Bicycle Goals Lesson: 13: A Country as a Village |
| Lesson 14: If Our Class Were the World | |
| Lesson 15: Voting for a School Mascot |
Unit 4: Dividing Fractions
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Seeing Fractions | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Interpreting Division Scenarios | |
| Lesson 3: Relating Multiplication and Division | |
| Lesson 4: Size of Divisor and Size of Quotient | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Cookie Cutter |
| Sub-Unit 2: Division with Fractions | |
| Lesson 5: How Many Groups | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner Lesson 4: Flower Planters Lesson 4: Garden Bricks (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Using Diagrams to Find the Number of Groups | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available) Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
| Lesson 7: Dividing with Common Denominators | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
| Lesson 8: How Much in Each Group? (Part 1) | Unit 4 Lesson 8: Potting Soil |
| Lesson 9: How Much in Each Group? (Part 2) | Unit 4 Lesson 8: Potting Soil |
| Lesson 10: Dividing by Unit and Non-Unit Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 7: Break It Down Lesson 8: Potting Soil Lesson 9: Division Challenges |
| Lesson 11: Using an Algorithm to Divide Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 9: Division Challenges Practice Day |
| Lesson 13: Fractional Lengths | Unit 4 Lesson 12: Puzzling |
| Lesson 14: Area with Fractional Lengths | Unit 4 Lesson 9: Puzzling Area (Print available) |
| Lesson 15: Volume of Prisms | Unit 4 Lesson 13: Volume Challenges (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Fish Tanks Inside of Fish Tanks | Unit 4 Lesson 10: Swap Meet |
| Lesson 17: Now, Where Was That Bus? | Unit 4 Lesson 10: Capstone |
Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base Ten
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Precision and World Records | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting Decimals | |
| Lesson 2: Speaking of Decimals… | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Adding and Subtracting Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound Lesson 4: Missing Digits |
| Lesson 4: X Games Medal Results | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams |
| Sub-Unit 2: Multiplying Decimals | |
| Lesson 5: Decimal Points in Products | Unit 5 Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication |
| Lesson 6: Methods for Multiplying Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas Lesson 7: Multiplication Methods (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Using Diagrams to Represent Multiplication | Unit 5 Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas |
| Lesson 8: Calculating Products of Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas |
| Sub-Unit 3: Dividing Decimals | |
| Lesson 9: Exploring Division | |
| Lesson 10: Using Long Division | Unit 5 Lesson 8: Division Diagrams Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available) Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Dividing Numbers That Result in Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available) Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available) |
| Lesson 12: Using Related Expressions to Divide with Decimals | |
| Lesson 13: Dividing Multi-Digit Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available) Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available) |
| Lesson 14: The So-called World’s Littlest Skyscraper |
Unit 6: Expressions and Equations
Unit 7: Rational Numbers
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
| Unit 7: Rational Numbers | Unit 1: Area and Surface Area Unit 7: Positive and Negative Numbers |
| Lesson 1: How Far? Which Way? | |
| Sub-unit 1: Negative Numbers and Absolute Value | |
| Lesson 2: Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig In Lesson 2: Digging Deeper |
| Lesson 3: Points on the Number Line | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Digging Deeper |
| Lesson 4: Comparing Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Comparing and Ordering Rational Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Using Negative Numbers to Make Sense of Contexts> | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Sub-Zero |
| Lesson 7: Absolute Value of Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line |
| Lesson 8: Comparing Numbers and Distance from Zero | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line |
| Sub-Unit 2: Inequalities | |
| Lesson 9: Writing Inequalities | |
| Lesson 10: Graphing Inequalities | |
| Lesson 11: Solutions to One or More Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel Lesson 7: Comparing Weights Lesson 8: Shira´s Solutions |
| Lesson 12: Interpreting Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel Lesson 7: Comparing Weights Lesson 8: Shira´s Solutions |
| Sub-Unit 3: The Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 13: Extending the Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 14: Points on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Sand Dollar Search Lesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane |
| Lesson 15: Interpreting Points on a Coordinate Plane | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Sand Dollar Search Lesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane Lesson 11: Polygon Maker |
| Lesson 16: Distances on a Coordinate Plane | Unit 7 Lesson 11: Polygon Maker Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: Shapes on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane Lesson 2: Letters Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available) Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms Unit 7 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) Lesson 11: Polygon Maker Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available) |
| Lesson 18: Lost and Found Puzzles | |
| Lesson 19: Drawing on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7 Lesson 11: Polygon Maker Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available) |
Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
| Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions | Unit 8: Describing Data |
| Lesson 1: Plausible Variation or New Species? | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Statistical Questions and Representing Data | |
| Lesson 2: Statistical Questions | Unit 8 Lesson 1: Screen Time Lesson 2: Dot Plots |
| Lesson 3: Interpreting Dot Plots | Unit 8 Lesson 2: Dot Plots Lesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) Lesson 4: Lots More Dots |
| Lesson 4: USing Dot Plots to Answer Statistical Questions | Unit 8 Lesson 2: Dot Plots Lesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) Lesson 4: Lots More Dots |
| Lesson 5: Interpreting Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Using Histograms to Answer Statistical Questions | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Describing Distributions on Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available) |
| Sub-Unit 2: Measures of Center | |
| Lesson 8: Mean as a Fair Share | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Snack Time |
| Lesson 9: Mean as a Balance Point | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Snack Time |
| Lesson 10: Median | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars Lesson 12: In the News |
| Lesson 11: Comparing Mean and Median | Unit 8 Lesson 12: In the News |
| Sub-Unit 3: Measures of Variability | |
| Lesson 12: Describing Variability | |
| Lesson 13: Variability and MAD | |
| Lesson 14: Variability and IQR | Unit 8 Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch |
| Lesson 15: Box Plots | Unit 8 Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Comparing MAD and IQR | |
| Lesson 17: Asian Elephant Populations |
Grade 7
Unit 1: Scale Drawings
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 1: Scale Drawings | Unit 1: Scale Drawings Unit 3: Measuring Circles Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages |
| Lesson 1: Scale-y Shapes | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Scaled Copies | |
| Lesson 2: What are Scaled Copies? | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines |
| Lesson 3: Corresponding Parts and Scale Factors | Unit 1 Lesson 2: Scaling Robots Unit 3 Lesson 1: Toothpicks |
| Lesson 4: Making Scaled Copies | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Make It Scale Unit 4 Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes |
| Lesson 5: The Size of the Scale Factor | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Tiles |
| Lesson 6: Scaling and Area | Unit 1 Lesson 5: Tiles Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Sub-Unit 2: Scale Drawings | |
| Lesson 7: Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 6: Introducing Scale Lesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) |
| Lesson 8: Creating Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 8: Scaling States Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available) |
| Lesson 9: Scale Drawings and Maps | |
| Lesson 10: Changing Scale in Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 8: Scaling States Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Scales without Units | |
| Lesson 12: Units in Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 8: Scaling States Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)Practice Day (Print available) |
| Lesson 13: Build Your Brand |
Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships
Unit 3: Measuring Circles
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 3: Measuring Circles | Unit 3: Measuring Circles |
| Lesson 1: The Wandering Goat | |
| Sub-unit 1: Circumference of a Circle | |
| Lesson 2: Exploring Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 2: Is it a Circle? Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 3: How Well Can You Measure? | |
| Lesson 4: Exploring Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 2: Is It a Circle? Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 5: Understanding π | |
| Lesson 6: Applying Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 2: Is It a Circle? Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 7: Circumference and Wheels | |
| Sub-Unit 2: Area of a Circle | |
| Lesson 8: Exploring the Area of a Circle | Unit 3 Lesson 5: Area Strategies Lesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available) Lesson 7: Why Pi? Lesson 8: Area Challenges Lesson 9: Circle vs. Square Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 9: Relating Area to Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 5: Area Strategies Lesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available) Lesson 7: Why Pi? Lesson 8: Area Challenges Lesson 9: Circle vs. Square Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 10: Applying Area to Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 6:Radius Squares (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Distinguishing Circumference and Area | Unit 3 Lesson 7: Why Pi? |
| Lesson 12: Capturing Space |
Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 4: Percentages | Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages |
| Lesson 1: (Re)Presenting the United States | |
| Lesson 2: Understanding Percentages and Decimals | |
| Lesson 3: Percent Increase and Decrease | Unit 4Lesson 4: More or Less |
| Lesson 4: Determining 100% | Unit 4Lesson 6: 100% (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Determining Percent Change | Unit 4Lesson 7: Percent Machines |
| Lesson 6: Percent Increase and Decrease With Equations | Unit 4Lesson 5: All the Equations |
| Lesson 7: Using Equations to Solve Percent Problems | Unit 4Lesson 5: All the Equations |
| Sub-Unit 2: Applying Percentages | |
| Lesson 8: Tax and Tip | Unit 4 Lesson 8: Tax and Tip Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available) Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available) Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems |
| Lesson 9: Percent Contexts | Unit 4 Lesson 8: Tax and Tip Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available) Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available) Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems |
| Lesson 10: Determining the Percentage | Unit 4 Lesson 4: More and Less |
| Lesson 11: Measurement Error | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder |
| Lesson 12: Error Intervals | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder |
| Lesson 13: Writing Better Headlines |
Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic | Unit 5: Rational Number Artithmetics |
| Lesson 1: Target: Zero | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 2: Interpreting Negative Numbers | |
| Lesson 3: Changing Temperatures | Unit 5 Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors Lesson 3: Bumpers Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Adding Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 5: Money and Debts | |
| Lesson 6: Representing Subtraction | Unit 5 Lesson 5: Number Puzzles |
| Lesson 7: Subtracting Rational Numbers (Part 1) | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Bumpers Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) Lesson 5: Number Puzzles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) |
| Lesson 8: Subtracting Rational Numbers (Part 2) | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Bumpers Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) Lesson 5: Number Puzzles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) |
| Lesson 9: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Bumpers Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) Lesson 5: Number Puzzles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Sub-Unit 2: Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 10: Position, Speed, and Time | Unit 5 Lesson 7: Back in Time |
| Lesson 11: Multiplying Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 7: Back in Time |
| Lesson 12: Multiply! | Unit 5 Lesson 7: Back in Time |
| Lesson 13: Dividing Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 7: Speeding Turtles |
| Lesson 14: Negative Rates | |
| Sub-Unit 3: Four Operations with Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 15: Expressions with Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Say It With Decimals | |
| Lesson 17: Solving Problems with Rational Numbers | Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 12: Arctic Ice Sea (Print available) Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) |
| Lesson 18: Solving Equations With Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 19: Representing Contexts With Equations | |
| Lesson 20: Summiting Everest |
Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities | Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities |
| Lesson 1: Keeping the Balance | |
| Lesson 2: Balanced and Unbalanced | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Toothpicks and Tiles |
| Lesson 2: Balanced and Unbalanced | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Toothpicks and Tiles |
| Lesson 3: Reasoning About Solving Equations (Part 1) | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts |
| Lesson 4: Reasoning About Solving Equations (Part 2) | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 3: Equations Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Dealing with Negative Numbers | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 3: Equations Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Dealing with Negative Numbers | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding (Print available) Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 6: Two Ways to Solve One Equation | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Seeing Struction (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Practice Solving Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 3: Equations Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available) |
| Sub-Unit 2: Solving Real-World Problems Using Two-Step Equations | |
| Lesson 8: Reasoning With Tape Diagrams | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts |
| Lesson 9: Reasoning About Equations and Tape Diagrams (Part 1) | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts |
| Lesson 10: Reasoning About Equations and Tape Diagrams (Part 2) | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts |
| Lesson 11: Using Equations to Solve Problems | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 3: Equations Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available) |
| Lesson 12: Solving Percent Problems in New Ways | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available) Unit 4 Lesson 7: Percent MachinesPractice Day 1 (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Sub-Unit 3: Inequalities | |
| Lesson 13: Reintroducing Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Toothpicks and Tiles |
| Lesson 14: Solving Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 5: Balancing Moves Lesson 6: Balancing Equations Lesson 13: I Saw the Signs |
| Lesson 15: Finding Solutions to Inequalities in Context | Unit 6 Lesson 13: I Saw the Signs Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Efficiently Solving Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 17: Interpreting Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 13: I Saw the Signs Lesson 14: Unbalanced Hangers Lesson 15: Budgeting (Print available) |
| Lesson 18: Modeling With Inequalities | |
| Sub-Unit 4: Equivalent Expressions | |
| Lesson 19: Subtraction in Equivalent Expressions |
Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms | Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms |
| Lesson 1: Shaping Up | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Angle Relationships | |
| Lesson 2: Relationships of Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Pinwheels Lesson 2: Friendly Angles Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams |
| Lesson 3: Supplementary and Complementary Angles (Part 1) | |
| Lesson 4: Supplementary and Complementary Angles (Part 2) | |
| Lesson 5: Vertical Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams Lesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 6: Using Equations to Solve for Unknown Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams Lesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 7: Like Clockwork | |
| Sub-Unit 2: Drawing Polygons with Given Conditions | |
| Lesson 8: Building Polygons (Part 1) | Unit 7 Lesson 6: Is It Enough? |
| Lesson 9: Building Polygons (Part 2) | Unit 7 Lesson 6: Is It Enough? |
| Lesson 10: Triangles with Three Common Measures | Unit 7 Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Lesson 11: Drawing Triangles (Part 1) | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Is It Enough? Lesson 7: More Than One Lesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 12: Drawing Triangles (Part 2) | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Is It Enough? Lesson 7: More Than One Lesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Sub-Unit 3: Solid Geometry | |
| Lesson 13: Slicing Solids | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Slicing Solids |
| Lesson 14: Volume of Right Prisms | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Simple Prisms |
| Lesson 15: Decomposing Bases for Areas | Unit 7 Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms |
| Lesson 16: Surface Area of Right Prisms | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Simple Prisms Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: Distinguishing Volume and Surface Area | |
| Lesson 18: Applying Volume and Surface Area | Unit 7 Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
Unit 8: Probability and Sampling
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 8: Probability and Sampling | Unit 8: Probability and Sampling |
| Lesson 1: The Invention of Fairness | |
| Lesson 2: Chance Experiments | |
| Lesson 3: What are Probabilities? | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson Lesson 3: Mystery Bag |
| Lesson 4: Estimating Probabilities Through Repeated Experiments | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Spin Class Lesson 5: Is It Fair? Lesson 6: Fair Games |
| Lesson 5: Code Breaking (Part 1) | |
| Lesson 6: Code Breaking (Part 2) | |
| Sub-Unit 2: Probabilities of Multi-Step Events | |
| Lesson 7: Keeping Track of All Possible Outcomes | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Spin Class Lesson 5: Is it Fair? Lesson 6: Fair Games |
| Lesson 8: Experiments With Multi-Step Events | |
| Lesson 9: Simulating Multi-Step Events | |
| Lesson 10: Designing Simulations | |
| Sub-Unit 3:Sampling | |
| Lesson 11: Comparing Two Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 12: Larger Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 13: What Makes a Good Sample? | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 14: Sampling in a Fair Way | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 15: Estimating Population Measures of Center | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? Lesson 10: Crab Island Lesson 11: Headlines Lesson 12: Flower Power |
| Lesson 16: Estimating Population Proportions | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? Lesson 10: Crab Island Lesson 11: Headlines Lesson 12: Flower Power |
| Lesson 17: Presentation of Findings |
Grade 8
Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence | Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence Unit 3: Proportional and Linear Relationships |
| Lesson 1: Tessellations | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Rigid Transformations | |
| Lesson 2: Moving in the Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers |
| Lesson 3: Symmetry and Reflection | |
| Lesson 4: Grid Moves | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Transformation Golf Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated Unit 3 Lesson 6: Translations |
| Lesson 5: Making the Moves | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated |
| Lesson 6: Coordinate Moves (Part 1) | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated |
| Lesson 7: Coordinate Moves (Part 2) | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated |
| Lesson 6: Describing Transformations | Unit 1 Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated Lesson 6: Connecting the Dots |
| Sub-Unit 2: Rigid Transformations and Congruence | |
| Lesson 9: No Bending or Stretching | Unit 1 Lesson 7: No Bending, No Stretching |
| Lesson 10: What is the Same? | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Are They the Same? Lesson 9: Are They Congruent? |
| Lesson 11: Congruent Polygons | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Are They the Same? Lesson 9: Are They Congruent? |
| Sub-Unit 4: Angles in a Triangle | |
| Lesson 13: Line Moves | |
| Lesson 14: Rotation Patterns | |
| Lesson 15: Alternate Interior Angles | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Adding the Angles in a Triangle | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: Parallel Lines and the Angles in a Triangle | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles |
| Lesson 18: Creating a Border Pattern Using Transformations |
Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 2: Dilations and Similarity | Unit 2: Dilations and Similarity |
| Lesson 1: Projecting and Scaling | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Dilations | |
| Lesson 2: Circular Grid | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf Lesson 3: Match My Dilation Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane |
| Lesson 3: Dilations on a Plane | |
| Lesson 4: Dilations on a Square Grid | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf Lesson 3: Match My Dilation Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane |
| Lesson 5: Dilations with Coordinates | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane |
| Sub-Unit 2: Similiarity | |
| Lesson 6: Similarity | Unit 2 Lesson 5: Transformations Golf with Dilations Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Similar Polygons | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) |
| Lesson 8: Similar Triangles | Unit 2 Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough? Lesson 8: Shadows |
| Lesson 9: Ratios of Side Lengths in Similar Triangles | |
| Lesson 12: Optical Illusions |
Unit 3: Linear Relationships
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 3: Proportional and Linear Relationships | Unit 3: Proportional and Linear Relationships Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems Unit 5: Functions and Volume |
| Lesson 1: Visual Patterns | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Proportional Relationships | |
| Lesson 2: Proportional Relationships | |
| Lesson 3: Understanding Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 4: Graphs of Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials Lesson 2: Water Tank Unit 5 Lesson 4: Window Frames |
| Lesson 5: Representing Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials Unit 5 Lesson 4: Window Frames Lesson 6: Graphing Stories Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Comparing Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Posters |
| Sub-Unit 2: Linear Relationships | |
| Lesson 7: Introduction to Linear Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials Lesson 4: Stacking Cups Unit 5 Lesson 6: Graphing Stories Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 8: Comparing Linear Relationships | |
| Lesson 9: More Linear Relationships | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Graphing Stories Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 10: Representations of Linear Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 5: Flags Lesson 6: Graphing Stories Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 11: Writing Equations for Lines Using Two Points | |
| Lesson 12: Translating y = mx + b | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Posters Lesson 6: Translations |
| Lesson 13: Slopes Don’t Have to be Positive | Unit 3 Lesson 5: Flags Lesson 6: Translations Lesson 7: Water Cooler Lesson 8: Landing Planes |
| Lesson 10: Calculating Slope | Unit 3 Lesson 7: Water Cooler Lesson 8: Landing Planes |
| Lesson 14: Writing Equations for Lines Using Two Points, Revisited | |
| Lesson 11: Equations of All Kinds of Lines | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Posters Lesson 4: Stacking Cups Lesson 5: Flags Lesson 6: Translations |
| Sub-Unit 3: Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 16: Solutions to Linear Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Posters Lesson 6: Translations Lesson 10: Solutions Unit 4 Lesson 3: Balanced Moves Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: More Solutions to Linear Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Stacking Cups Lesson 5: Flags Lesson 6: Translations Lesson 7: Water Cooler Lesson 10: Solutions |
| Lesson 18: Coordinating Linear Relationships | |
| Lesson 19: Rogue Planes |
Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 4: Linear Equations and Systems of Linear Equations | Unit 4: Linear Equations and Systems of Linear Equations |
| Lesson 1: Number Puzzles | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Number machines |
| Sub-Unit 1: Linear Equations in One Variable | |
| Lesson 2: Writing Expressions and Equations | |
| Lesson 3: Keeping the Balance | Unit 4 Lesson 2: Keep It Balanced |
| Lesson 4: Balanced Moves (Part 1) | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Balanced Moves |
| Lesson 5: Balanced Moves (Part 2) | Unit 4 Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Solving Any Linear Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available) Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: How Many Solutions? (Part 1) | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 8: How Many Solutions? (Part 2) | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 9: Strategic Solving | |
| Lesson 10: When Are They the Same | Unit 4 Lesson 8: When Are They the Same? |
| Sub-Unit 2: Systems of Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 11: On or Off the Line? | Unit 4 Lesson 9: On or Off the Line? |
| Lesson 12: On Both of the Lines | Unit 4 Lesson 10: On Both Lines |
| Lesson 13: Systems of Linear Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance |
| Lesson 14: Solving Systems of Equations (Part 1) | Unit 4 Lesson 14: All, Some, or None? Part 2 |
| Lesson 15: Solving Systems of Equations (Part 2) | Unit 4 Lesson 12: All, Some, or None? Part 2 |
| Lesson 16: Writing Systems of Linear Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 14: Strategic Solving, Part 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: Pay Gaps |
Unit 5: Functions and Volume
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 5: Functions and Volume | Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope Unit 3: Proportional and Linear Relationships Unit 5: Functions and Volume |
| Lesson 1: Pick a Pitch | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Representing and Interpreting Functions | |
| Lesson 2: Introduction to Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 3: Equations of Functions | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Window Frames |
| Lesson 4: Graphs of Functions (Part 1) | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Function or Not? |
| Lesson 5: Graphs of Functions (Part 2) | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Lesson 6: Graphs of Functions (Part 3) | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Graphing Stories |
| Lesson 7: Connecting Representations of Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available)Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 8: Comparing Linear Functions | |
| Lesson 9: Modeling with Linear Functions | |
| Lesson 10: Piecewise Linear Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 9: Piecing It Together |
| Sub-Unit 2: Cylinder, Cones, and Spheres | |
| Lesson 11: Filling Containers | |
| Lesson 12: The Volume of a Cylinder | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 11: Cylinders Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders |
| Lesson 13: Determining Dimensions of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) |
| Lesson 14: The Volume of a Cone | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 13: Cones |
| Lesson 15: Determining Dimensions of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders Lesson 13: Cones Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) |
| Lesson 16: Estimating a Hemisphere | |
| Lesson 17: The Volume of a Sphere | Unit 5 Lesson 15: Spheres |
| Lesson 18: Cylinders, Cones and Spheres | Unit 5 Lesson 15: Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 19: Scaling One Dimension | |
| Lesson 20: Scaling Two Dimensions | |
| Lesson 21: Packing Spheres |
Unit 6: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 6: Exponents and Scientific Notation | Unit 7: Exponents and Scienctific Notation |
| Lesson 1: Create a Sierpinski Triangle | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Exponent Rules | |
| Lesson 2: Reviewing Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles Lesson 2: Combining Exponents |
| Lesson 3: Multiplying Powers | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers |
| Lesson 4: Dividing Powers | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers |
| Lesson 5: Negative Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Zero and Negative Exponents |
| Lesson 6: Powers of Powers | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Different Bases, Same Exponent | |
| Lesson 8: Practice with Rational Bases | Unit 7 Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Sub-Unit 2: Scientific Notation | |
| Lesson 9: Representing Large Numbers on the Number Line | Unit 7 Lesson 8: Point Zapper |
| Lesson 10: Representing Small Numbers on the Number Line | Unit 7 Lesson 8: Point Zapper |
| Lesson 11: Applications of Arthithmetic with Powers of 10 | Unit 7 Lesson 8: Point Zapper Lesson 9: Use Your Powers |
| Lesson 12: Definition of Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System Lesson 11: Balance the Scale Lesson 13: Star Power |
| Lesson 13: Multiplying, Dividing, and Estimating with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 11: Balance the Scale Lesson 13: Star Power |
| Lesson 14: Adding and Subtracting with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 11: Balance the Scale Lesson 12: City Lights Lesson 13: Star Power |
| Lesson 15: Is a Smartphone Smart Enough to Go to the Moon? |
Unit 7: Irrationals and the Pythagorean Theorem
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 7: Irrationals and the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8: The Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers |
| Lesson 1: Sliced Bread | |
| Sub-Unit 1: Rational and Irrational Numbers | |
| Lesson 2: The Square Root | Unit 8 Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots |
| Lesson 3: The Ares of Squares and Their Side Lengths | Unit 8 Lesson 1: Tilted Squares Lesson 3: Between Squares |
| Lesson 4: Estimating Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Between Squares Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Lesson 5: The Cube Root | Unit 8 Lesson 5: Filling Cubes |
| Lesson 6: Rational and Irrational Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 14: Hit the Target |
| Lesson 7: Decimal Representations of Rational Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals |
| Lesson 8: Converting Repeating Decimals Into Fractions | Unit 8 Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions |
| Sub-Unit 2: The Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 9: Observing the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem |
| Lesson 10: Proving the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It |
| Lesson 11: Determining Unknown Side Lengths | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle |
| Lesson 12: Converse of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Make it Right |
| Lesson 13: Distances on the Coordinate Plane (Part 1) | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Pond Hopper |
| Lesson 13: Distances on the Coordinate Plane (Part 1) | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Pond Hopper |
| Lesson 14: Distances on the Coordinate Plane (Part 2) | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Pond Hopper |
| Lesson 15: Applications of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle Lesson 10: Taco Truck |
| Lesson 16: Pythagorean Triples |
Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers
| Amplify Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Unit 8: Associations in Data | Unit 6: Associations in Data |
| Lesson 1: Creating a Scatter Plot | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Click Battle |
| Sub-Unit 1: Associations in Data | |
| Lesson 2: Interpreting Points on a Scatter Plot | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 3: Observing Patterns in a Scatter Plot | Unit 6 Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City |
| Lesson 4: Fitting a Line to Data | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 5: Fit Fights |
| Lesson 5: Using a Linear Model | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes |
| Lesson 6: Interpreting Slope and y-intercept | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes |
| Lesson 7: Analyzing Bivariate Data | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Animal Brains |
| Lesson 8: Looking for Associations | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit |
| Lesson 9: Using Data Displays to Find Associations | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Finding Associations Lesson 11: Federal Budgets |
Grade 6
Unit 1: Numbers
| GO Math! | Amplify Classroom |
| Module 4: Operations with Fractions | |
| Lesson 4.1: Applying GCF and LCM to Fraction Operations | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
| Module 5: Operations with Decimals | |
| Lesson 5.2: Adding and Subtracting Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
| Lesson 5.4: Dividing Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
Unit 2: Number Operations
| Module 4: Operations with Fractions | |
| Lesson 4.1: Applying GCF and LCM to Fraction Operations | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
| Module 5: Operations with Decimals | |
| Lesson 5.2: Adding and Subtracting Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
| Lesson 5.4: Dividing Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
Unit 3: Proportionality, Ratios, and Rates
| Module 6: Representing Ratios and Rates | |
| Lesson 6.1: Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker |
| Lesson 6.2: Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Lesson 6.3: Using Ratios and Rates to Solve Problems | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Fruit Lab Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
| Module 7: Applying Ratios and Rates | |
| Lesson 7.1: Ratios, Rates, Tables, and Graphs | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Fruit Lab Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Module 8: Percents | |
| Lesson 8.1 Understanding Percent. | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
Unit 4: Equivalent Expressions
| Module 10: Generating Equivalent Algebraic Expressions | |
| Lesson 10.1: Modeling and Writing Expressions Lesson 10.2: Evaluating Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 10.3: Generating Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
Unit 5: Equations and Inequalities
| Module 11: Equations and Relationships | |
| Lesson 11.1: Writing Equations to Represent Situations Lesson 11.2: Addition and Subtraction Equations Lesson 11.3: Multiplication and Division Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight For It |
| Lesson 11.4: Writing Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
| Module 12: Relationships in Two Variables | |
| Lesson 12.2: Independent and Dependent Variables in Tables and Graphs | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Subway Fares Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 12.3: Writing Equations from Tables. | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Subway Fares Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 12.4: Representing Algebraic Relationships in Tables and Graphs | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Subway Fares Take Away (coming soon!) |
Unit 6: Relationships in Geometry
| GO Math! | Amplify Classroom |
| Module 13: Area and Polygons | |
| Lesson 13.1: Area of Quadrilaterals | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
| Lesson 13.2: Area of Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane |
| Lesson 13.4: Area of Polygons | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane |
| Module 14: Distance and Area in the Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 14.1: Distance in the Coordinate Plane Lesson 14.2: Polygons in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane |
Unit 7: Measurement and Data
| Module 16: Displaying, Analyzing, and Summarizing Data | |
| Lesson 16.1: Measures of Center | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Lesson 16.4: Dot Plots and Data Distribution | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 16.5: Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
Grade 7
Unit 1: The Number System
| GO Math! | Amplify Classroom |
| Module 1: Adding and Subtracting Integers | |
| Lesson 1.2: Adding Integers With Different Signs Lesson 1.3: Subtracting Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Module 2: Multiplying and Dividing Integers | |
| Lesson 2.1: Multiplying Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 2.2: Dividing Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Module 3: Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 3.2: Adding Rational Numbers Lesson 3.3: Subtracting Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own |
Unit 2: Ratios and Proportional Relationships
| Module 4: Rates and Proportionality | |
| Lesson 4.1: Unit Rates | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Lesson 4.2: Constant Rates of Change | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Lesson 4.3: Proportional Relationships and Graphs | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Module 5: Proportions and Percent | |
| Lesson 5.1: Percent Increase and Decrease | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics Lesson 5: Percent Machines |
| Lesson 5.3: Applications of Percent | Unit 4 Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems(coming soon!) |
Unit 3: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
| Module 6: Expressions and Equations | |
| Lesson 6.3: Writing Two-Step Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Module 6: Expressions and Equations | |
| Lesson 7.2: Writing Two-Step Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 7.3: Solving Two-Step Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Unit 4: Geometry
| Module 8: Modeling Geometric Figures | |
| Lesson 8.1: Similar Shapes and Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines Lesson 7: Will It Fit? Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? |
| Lesson 8.2: Geometric Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
| Lesson 8.4: Angle Relationships | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
| Module 9: Circumference, Area, and Volume | |
| Lesson 9.1: Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 9.2: Area of Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Area Challenges |
| Lesson 9.3: Area of Composite Figures | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Area Challenges |
Unit 5: Statistics
| Module 10: Random Samples and Populations | |
| Lesson 10.1: Populations and Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Module 11: Analyzing and Comparing Data | |
| Lesson 11.3: Using Statistical Measures to Compare Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Unit 6: Probability
| Module 13: Theoretical Probability and Simulations | |
| Lesson 13.1: Theoretical Probability of Simple Events | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
Grade 8
Unit 1: Real Numbers, Exponents, and Scientific Notation
| GO Math! | Amplify Classroom |
|---|---|
| Module 1: Real Numbers | |
| Lesson 1.3: Ordering Real Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Module 2: Exponents and Scientific Notation | |
| Lesson 2.1: Integer Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 2.4: Operations with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Unit 2: Proportional and Nonproportional Relationships and Functions
| Module 3: Proportional Relationships | |
| Lesson 3.1: Representing Proportional Relationships. | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 3.2: Rate of Change and Slope | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Module 4: Nonproportional Relationships | |
| Lesson 4.1: Representing Linear Nonproportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 4.2: Determining Slope and y-intercept | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 4.3: Graphing Linear Nonproportional Relationships using Slope and y-intercept. | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 4.4: Proportional and Nonproportional Situations | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Module 5: Writing Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 5.1: Writing Linear Equations from Situations and Graphs | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 5.3: Linear Relationships and Bivariate Data | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 6: Find the Fit |
| Module 6: Functions | |
| Lesson 6.1: Identifying and Representing Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Guess My Rule Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Lesson 6.3: Comparing Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Lesson 6.4: Analyzing Graphs | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
Unit 3: Solving Equations and Systems of Equations
| Module 7: Solving Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 7.1: Equations with the Variable on Both Sides | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 7.2: Equations with Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 7.3: Equations with the Distributive Property | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Module 8: Solving Systems of Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 8.1: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing. | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance Lesson 12: Line Zapper |
Unit 4: Transformational Geometry
| Module 9: Transformations and Congruence | |
| Lesson 9.1: Properties of Translations Lesson 9.2: Properties of Reflections Lesson 9.3: Properties of Rotations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Module 10: Transformations and Similarity | |
| Lesson 10.1: Properties of Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
| Lesson 10.3: Similar Figures | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
Unit 5: Measurement Geometry
| Module 11: Angle Relationships in Parallel Lines and Triangles | |
| Lesson 11.1: Parallel Lines Cut by a Transversal. | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
| Lesson 11.2: Angle Theorems for Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
| Lesson 11.3: Angle-Angle Similarity | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
| Module 12: Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 12.1: The Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle Lesson 10: Taco Truck |
| Module 13: Volume | |
| Lesson 13.1: Volume of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
| Lesson 13.2: Volume of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones |
Unit 6: Statistics
| Module 14: Scatter Plots | |
| Lesson 14.1: Scatter Plots and Association | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 14.2: Trend Lines and Predictions | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 6: Find the Fit |
| Module 15: Two-Way Tables | |
| Lesson 15.2: Two-Way Relative Frequency Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
Disclaimer
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Grade K
Unit 1: Count Sequence and Numbers to 5
Module 1: Represent Numbers to 5 with Objects
| Lesson 1: Represent 1 and 2 | Connecting Cubes |
| Lesson 2: Represent 3 and 4 | Skye’s Style Matching Groups Designing Shoes With Skye |
Unit 2: Count Sequence and Numbers to 10
Module 7: Represent Numbers 6 to 10 with Objects
| Module Opener | Investigate: Cafeteria Math Fingers as Math Tools |
| Lesson 2: Represent 8 and 9 | Moving and Grooving |
Module 10: Compare Numbers to 10
| Lesson 4: Compare Groups Within 10 by Counting | More, Fewer, or the Same Fingers and Counters |
| Lesson 5: Compare Groups Within 10 by Matching | Comparing Words Forest Friends |
Module 11: Add To and Take From Within 10
| Module Opener | Investigate How Many Objects? |
Module 12: Put Together and Take Apart Within 10
| Lesson 3: Solve Put Together Problems Within 10 | How Many Objects in Pictures? How Will You Count? What Does It Mean to Add? |
| Lesson 4: Solve Take Apart Problems Within 10 | What Does It Mean to Subtract? |
| Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems Within 10 | The Bus Depot |
Module 13: Ways to Make Numbers to 10
| Lesson 4: Ways to Make 10 | Harry’s Hamster Wheel Harry Explores Space |
| Lesson 5: Make 10 From a Given Number | Showing What We Know About 10 |
| Lesson 1: Ways to Make 6 and 7 | Harry Explores the Ocean |
Unit 3: Geometry
Module 14: Analyze and Compare Three-Dimensional Shapes
| Module Opener | What’s That Shape? |
| Lesson 5: Build Shapes | Building Solid Shapes |
Module 15: Describe Position of Objects
| Module Opener | Putting Solid Shapes Together |
Module 16: Analyze and Compare Two-Dimensional Shapes
| Lesson 7: Compare Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Shapes | So Much Sorting What’s That Shape Called? Another Shape |
Unit 4: Number and Operations in Base Ten
Module 17: Place Value Foundations-Represent Numbers to 20
| Lesson 3: Compose Ten Ones and Some More Ones to 19 | Investigate: Packing Snacks |
| Lesson 4: Represent Numbers to 20 | Getting Ready for the Game How Many on the Field? Pass, Shoot, Score |
Module 18: Place Value Foundations-Represent Number to 20 with a Written Numeral
| Lesson 1: Count and Write 11 to 14 | Jersey Jam! |
| Lesson 3: Count and Write 16-19 | People at the Park |
Grade 1
Unit 1: Ways to Add and Subtract
Module 2: Subtraction Strategies
| Lesson 2.1: Represent Subtraction | Packing a Picnic |
| Lesson 2.2: Count Back | What’s the Difference? |
| Lesson 2.3: Count on to Subtract | Leaping Lily Pads! |
Module 3: Properties of Operations
| Lesson 3.6: Determin Equatl and Not Equal | Replanting Huli |
Module 4: Apply Addition and Subtraction Relationships
| Lesson 4.2: Represent Related Facts | Same Number, Different Ways |
| Lesson 4.3: Identify Related Facts | Kitten Coaster |
| Lesson 4.6: Solve for Unknow Addend | Tutu’s Garden in Maui |
Module 5: Understand Add to and Take From Problems
| Lesson 5.4: Solve Add To and Take From Problems | A Community Working Together Helping Others Making 10 |
Module 6: Understand Put Together and Take Apart Problems
| Lesson 6.3: Represent Addend and Unknown Problems with Objects and Drawing | Investigate: Let’s Grow! |
Module 8: Data
| Lesson: 8.2 Represent Data with Picture Graphs | Shapes Ying Saw |
Unit 3: Numbers to 120
Module 10: Count and Represent Numbers
| Lesson 10.4: Decompose Numbers in Different Ways | Investigate: Game Points |
| Lesson 10.5: Represent, Read, and Write Numbers from 100 to 110 | From Head to Claw From Wing Tip to Wing Tip Measuring More Wingspans |
| Lesson 10.5: Represent, Read, and Write Numbers from 110 to 120 | From Head to Claw From Wing Tip to Wing Tip Measuring More Wingspans |
Unit 4: Addition and Subtractoin in Base Ten
Module 12: Understand Addition and Subtraction with Tens and Ones
| Lesson 12.1: Representing Adding Tens | Meeting Yara It’s a Match From Park to Table |
| Lesson 12.3: Add and Subtract Tens | How Many Cubes? Boris’s Thimbles How Many Tens? |
Module 13: Two-Digita Addition and Subtraction
| Lesson 13.1: Use Hundred Charts to Show Two-Digit Addtion and Subtraction. | Investigate: Squashes at the Playground |
| Lesson 13.2: Understand and Explain Place Value Addition | Town Helpers Making Squash Butter |
Unit 6: Measurment
Module 16: Fraction Foundations
| Lesson 16.1: TAke Apart Two-Dimensional Shapes | Fair and Square |
| Lesson 16.2: Identify Equal or Unequal Parts | One of the Parts, All of the Parts |
| Lesson 16.4: Partition Shapes into Fourths | A Bigger Part |
Grade 2
Unit 1: Numbers and Data
Module 1: Fluency for Addition and Subtraction Within 20
| Lesson 1.5: Use the Make a Ten Strategy to Add | Exploring Within 10 Ways to Make 10 |
Module 1: Fluency for Addition and Subtraction Within 21
| Lesson 1.6: Use a Tens Fact to Subtract | Exploring Within 10 Ways to Make 10 |
Module 2: Equal Groups
| Lesson 2.1: Identify Even and Odd Numbers | Can You Share? Is It Even or Odd? |
| Lesson 2.2: Write Equations to Represent Even Numbers | Everybody, Find A Partner! |
Module 3: Data
| Lesson 3.5: Draw bar graphs to Represent Data | Awesome Aquariums |
Unit 2: Place Value
Module 4: Understand Place Value
| Lesson 4.1: Group Tens as Hundreds | What Makes a Hundred? |
| Lesson 4.2: Understand Three-Digit Numbers | What’s the Value? |
| Lesson 4.4: Represent Numbers with Hundreds, Tens, and Ones | Mail Call! What’s Your Name? |
Module 5: Read, Write, and Show Numbers to 1000
| Lesson 5.3: Different Ways to Write Numbers | A New Representation |
| Lesson 5.4: Different Ways to Show Numbers | All the Ways! |
Module 6: Use Place Value
| Lesson 6.1: Count Within 1000 | Investigate Turtle Hurdle |
| Lesson 6.5: Use Symbols to Compare Numbers | Time to Line Up! |
Unit 3: Money and Time
Module 7: Coins
| Lesson 7.1: Relate Place Value to Coins | Investigate |
| Lesson 7.2 Identify and Find Value of Coins | Discovering Coins (Part 1) |
| Lesson 7.3: Compute the Value of Coin Combinations | How Much Money? |
| Lesson 7.4: Show Amounts in Different Ways | Discovering Coins (Part 2) The Toy Stand |
Module 8: Dollar Amounts
| Lesson 8.3: Solve Problems Involving Money | The Craft Stand at the Block Party |
Unit 5: Three-Digita Addition and Subtraction
Module 16: Three-Digit Addition
| Lesson 16.1: Use Drawing to Represent Three-Digit Addition | There’s Something About Berries |
| Lesson 16.2: Decomposte Three-Digit Addends | Baking With Skunk |
Unit 6: Measurement
Module 18: Lengths in Inches, Feet, and Yards
| Lesson 18.4: Make Line Ploits to Show Measurement Data | Messy Measurements Bracelets and Wristbands |
Module 20: Relate Addition and Subtraction to Length
| Lesson 20.1: Relate Inches to a Number Line | Investigate Time to Line Up! What’s That Number? |
| Lesson 20.2: Add and Subtract Lengths in Inches | Lengths of Jungle Animals |
| Lesson 20.3: Relate Centimeters to a Number Line | Investigate Time to Line Up! In Full Bloom |
Unit 7: Geometry and Fractions
Module 21: Two- and Three- Dimensional Shapes
| Lesson 21.2 Identify and Draw Three-Dimensional Shapes | More to Measure |
| Lesson 21.2: Identify and Draw Two-Dimensional Shapes | Frame It! Measure It, Draw It |
Grade 3
Unit 1: Understand Multiplication and Area
Module 1: Understand Multiplication
| Lesson 1.1: Count Equal Groups | Equal Groups |
| Lesson 1.3: Represent Multiplication with Arrays | Arrays of Flavor |
| Lesson 1.4: Understand the Commutative Property of Multiplication | Arrays of Flavor |
Module 2: Relate Multiplication and Area
| Lesson 2.1 Understand Area by Counting Unit Square | Investigate: Comparing Rugs Which Covers More Space? |
| Lesson 2.2: Measuring Area by Counting Unit Squares | Tiling Figures Area Hunt |
| Lesson 2.3: Relate Area to Addition and Multiplication | Rectangles and Arrays |
Unit 2: Multiplication and Division
Module 7: Relate Multiplication and Division
| Lesson 7.7: Build Fluency with Multiplication and Division | Relating Quotients to Familiar Products |
Module 8: Apply Multiplication and Division
| Lesson 8.3: Use Multiplication and Division to Solve Problem Situations | It’s Chili in Here! |
| Lesson 8.4: Solve Two-Step Problems | Division and Multiplication Equations |
Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction Strategies
Module 9: Addition and Subtraction Strategies
| Lesson 9.3: Use Properties to Add | How Would You Solve It? |
| Lesson 9.4: Use Mental Math to Assess Reasonableness | Adding Strategically |
Module 10: Addition and Subtraction Within 1000
| Lesson 10.1: Use Expanded Form to Add | What Is an Algorithm? |
| Lesson 10.2: Use Place Value to Add | Adding Your Way Using Fewer Digits |
| Lesson 10.5: Choose a Strategy to Add or Subtract | Determining Sums of 2 or More Addends |
Unit 4: Fractions
Module 13: Understand Fractions as Numbers
| Lesson 13.4: Represent and Name Fractions on a Number Line | Fractions on the Number Line |
| Lesson 13.5: Express Whole Numbers as Fractions | Cat Crossing |
| Lesson 13.6: Represent and Name Fractions Greater Than 1 | Location, Location, Location |
Unit 5: Measurement and Data
Module 18: Represent and Interpret Data
| Lesson 18.4: Make a Bar Graph | Puppy Pile 2, 5, or 10? Egg-cellent Pick |
| Lesson 18.5: Use Line Plots to Display Measurement Data | How Long Is It? More Precise Measurements Same Lengths, Different Names |
| Lesson 18.6: Make Line Plots to Display Measurement Data | The Plot Chickens Let’s Make a Line Plot |
Unit 6: Geometry
Module 19: Define Two-Dimensional Shapes
| Lesson 19.1: Describe Shapes | Piho’s Shapes |
| Lesson 19.4: Define Quadrilaterals | Rectangles, Squares, and Rhombuses |
Module 20: Categorize Two-Dimensional Shapes
| Lesson 20.1: Draw Quadrilaterals | More Quadrilaterals |
Grade 4
Unit 1: Place Value and Whole Number Operations
Module 3: Interpret and Solve Problem Situations
| Lesson 3.1: Explore Multiplicative Comparisons | Sticker Mania |
| Lesson 3.4: Use Comparison to Solve Problem Situations | Representing “Times as Many” Going Swimming |
Unit 2: Multiplication and Division Problems
Module 4: Mental Math and Estimation Strategies
| Lesson 4.3: Estimate Products by 1-Digit Numbers | A Reasonable Answer |
Module 5: Multiply by 1-Digit Numbers
| Lesson 5.1: Represent Multiplication | Investigate: Packing Lei |
| Lesson 5.2: Use Area Models and the Distributive Property to Multiply | Counting Flowers for Lei |
| Lesson 5.4: Multiplying Using Partial Products | Three of a Kind |
| Lesson 5.6: Multiplying 3-Digit and 4-Digit Numbers | A Lei Making Workshop |
Unit 3: Extend and Apply Multiplication
Module 8: Extend and Apply Multiplication
| Lesson 8.1: Multiply with Tens | Growing Flowers for the Lei |
| Lesson 8.3: Relate Area Model and Partial Products | Double Decomposition |
| Lesson 8.4: Multiplying Using Partial Products | Revisiting Strategies |
| Lesson 8.7: Solve Multi-step Problems and Assess Reasonableness | How Many Supplies? |
Unit 4: Fractions and Decimals
Module 10: Algebraic Thinking and Number Theory
| Lesson 10.1: Investigate Factors | Hamster Homes |
| Lesson 10.2: Identify Factors | Factor or Multiple? |
| Lesson 10.4: Identify Prime and Composite Numbers | A Number Game |
| Lesson 10.5 Generate and Analyze Number Patterns | How Does It Grow? |
Module 11: Fraction Equivalence and Comparison
| Lesson 11.1: Compare Fractions Using Viaula Models | Investigate: Building Your Own Number Line |
| Lesson 11.2: Compare Fractions Using Benchmarks | Fraction Strips |
| Lesson 11.6: Compare Fractions Using Common Denominators | Chop It |
| Lesson 11.7: Use Comparison to Order Fractions | All Kinds of Fractions |
Module 12: Relate Fractions and Decimals
| Lesson 12.1: Represent Tenths as Fractions and Decimals | A New Way to Write Tenths |
| Lesson 12.2 Represent Hundredths as Fractions and Decimals | A New Way to Write Hundredths |
| Lesson 12.3: Identify Equivalent Fractions and Decimals | Are They Equivalent? |
| Lesson 12.4: Compare Decimals | How Can You Compare? Robot Factory What’s the Order |
Module 13: Use Fractions to Understand Angles
| Lesson 13.2: Explore Angles | Angle Adventures |
| Lesson 13.3: Relate Angles to Fraction Part of a Circle | The Spin on Angles |
| Lesson 13.6: Join and Separate Angles | Angles in Motion |
Module 14: Understand Addition and Subtraction of Fractions with Like Denominators
| Lesson 14.2: Joining Parts of the Same Whole | Pizza Problems |
Module 15: Add and Subtract Fractions and Mixed Numbers with Like Denominators
| Lesson 15.1: Add and Subtract Fractions to Solve Problems | Math Pizzeria |
Unit 6: Two-Dimensional Figures and Symmetry
Module 18: Symmetry and Patterns
| Lesson 18.3: Generate and Identify Shape Patters | How Does It Grow? |
Grade 5
Unit 1: Whole Numbers, Expressions, and Volume
Module 1: Whole Number Place Value and Multiplication
| Lesson 1.3: Use a Pattern to Multiply by Multiplies of 10, 100, and 1000 | Partial Products Everywhere Monarch Butterflies All About That Base |
| Lesson 1.5: Multiply Multi-Digit Numbers | How Do They Compare? |
Module 2: Understand Division of Whole Numbers
| Lesson 2.4: Use Partial Quotients | Emptying the Water Tank |
Module 5: Volume
| Lesson 5.2: Understand Volume | Which is Largest |
| Lesson 5.3: Estimate Volume | Packing the Barge |
| Lesson 5.6: Find Volume of Composed Figures | Putting it Together Figures Made of Prisms |
Unit 3: Multiplying Fractions and Mixed Numbers
Module 8: Understand Multiplication of Fractions
| Lesson 8.1: Explore Groups of Equal Shares to Show Multiplication | Investigate: Sharing Sandwiches Investigate: Folding Paper |
| Lesson 8.2: Represent Multiplication of Whole Numbers by Fractions | Sharing More Sandwiches |
| Lesson 8.3: Represent Multiplication with Unit Fraction | One Part of One Part |
| Lesson 8.4: Represent Multiplication of Fractions | Dance Breaks Parts of Parts Making Food |
| Lesson 8.5: Use Representations of Area to Develop Procedures | One Part of One Part Installing Turf Rows and Columns |
| Lesson 8.6: Interpret Fraction Multiplication as Scaling | Chores at Animal Haven The Re-size-inator |
| Lesson 8.7: Multiplying Fractions | Messy Multiplication |
Module 9: Understand and Apply Multiplication of Mixed Numbers
| Lesson 9.3: Practice Multiplication with Fractions and Mixed Numbers | Messy Multiplication Applying Fraction Multiplication |
Unit 4: Divide Fractions and Convert Customary Units
Module 10: Understand Division with Whole Numbers and Unit Fractions
| Lesson 10.1: Interpret a Fraction as Division | Division Story Problems Making Generalizations |
Unit 5: Add and Subtract Decimals
Module 13: Decimal Place Value
| Lesson 13.1: Understand Thousandths | What Is One Thousandth? |
| Lesson 13.2: Read and Write Decimals to Thousandths | Say What? |
| Lesson 13.3: Round Decimals | Which Way Down the Mountain? Rounding Races |
| Lesson 13.4: Compare and Order Decimals | Investigate: Numbers Between Numbers The Claw Selling Collectibles |
Unit 6: Multiply Decimals
Module 15: Multiply Decimals and Whole Numbers
| Lesson 15.1: Understand Decimal Multiplication Patterns | Place Value Patterns Powers of 10 Parade |
Unit 7: Divide Decimals and Convert Customary Units
Module 17: Understand Decimal Division Patterns
| Lesson 17.1: Understand Decimal Division Patterns | Powers of 10 Parade |
Unit 8: Graphs, Patterns, and Geometry
Module 19: Graphs and Patterns
| Lesson 19.1: Describe a Coordinate System | Creating a Coordinate System |
| Lesson 19.2: Understand Ordered Pairs | Bullseye! |
| Lesson19.4: Generate and Identify Numerical Patterms | Coordinating Satellite Repairs |
Grade 6
Unit 1: Number Systems and Operations
Module 1: Integer Concepts
| Lesson 1: Identify and Interpret Integers | Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 2: Compare and Order Integers on a Number Line | Order in the Class |
Module 3: Fraction Division
| Lesson 1: Understand Fraction Division | Flour Planner Fill the Gap |
Module 4: Fluency with Multi-Digit Decimal Operations
| Lesson 1: Add and Subtract Multi-Digit Decimals | Dishing Out Decimals Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
| Lesson 4: Divide Multi-Digit Decimals | Movie Time |
Unit 2: Ratio and Rate Reasoning
Module 5: Ratio and Rates
| Lesson 1: Understand the Concept and Language of Ratios | Pizza Maker |
| Lesson 2: Represent Ratios and Rates with Tables and Graphs | Fruit Lab Disaster Preparation |
| Lesson 3: Compare Ratios and Rates | Model Trains |
| Lesson 4: Find and Apply Unit Rates | World Records |
| Lesson 5: Solve Ratio and Rate Problems Using Proportional Reasoning | Welcome to the Robot Factory More Soft Serve |
Module 6: Apply Ratios and Rates to Measurement
| Lesson 2: Use Rate Reasoning to Convert withing Measurement Systems | Soft Serve Many Measurements |
Module 7: Understand, Express, and Compare Percent Ratios
| Lesson 1: Understand, Express, and Compare Percent Ratios | Lucky Duckies |
Unit 3: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
Module 8: Numerical and Algebraic Expressions
Module 9: Solve Problems Using Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 1: Write Equations to Represent Situations | Weight for It Five Equations |
| Lesson 2: USe Additions and Subtraction Equations to Solve Problems | Hanging Around Hanging It Up |
| Lesson 3: Use Multiplication and Division Equations to Solve Problems | Hanging Around Hanging It Up |
| Lesson 4: Use One-Step Equations to Solve a Variety of Problems | Swap and Solve |
| Lesson 5: Write and Graph Inequalities | Tunnel Travels |
Module 10: Real-World Relationships Between Variables
| Lesson 1: Represent Equations in Tables and Graphs | Subway Fares |
| Lesson 2: Write Equations from Verbal Descriptions | Subway Fares |
Unit 4: Relationships in Geometry
Module 11: Polygons on the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 4: Find the Perimeter and Area on the Coordinate Plane | Shapes on a Plane |
Module 12: Area of Triangles and Special Quadrilaterals
| Lesson 1: Develop and Use the Formula for Area of Parallelograms | Exploring Parallelograms, Part 1 Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 Off the Grid, Part 1 |
| Lesson 2: Develop and Use the Formula for Area of Triangles | Exploring Triangles Triangles and Parallelograms Off the Grid, Part 2 |
| Lesson 3: Develop and Use the Formula for Area of Trapezoids | Pile of Polygons |
| Lesson 4: Find Area of Composite Figures | Puzzling Areas Letters |
Module 13: Surface Area and Volume
| Lesson 1: Explore Nets and Surface Area | Renata’s Stickers |
Unit 5: Data Collection and Analysis
Module 14: Data Collection and Displays
| Lesson 2: Display Data in Dot Plots | Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 3: Make Histograms and Frequency Tables | The Plot Thickens |
Module 15: Measure of Center
Grade 7
Unit 1: Proportional Relationships
Module 1: Identify and Represent Proportional Relationships
| Lesson 1: Explore Relationships | Paint |
| Lesson 2: Recognize Proportional Relationships in Tables | Two and Two |
| Lesson 3: Compute Unit Rates Involving Fractions | DinoPops |
| Lesson 4: Recognize Proportional Relationships in Graphs | Scale Factor Challenges |
| Lesson 5: Use Proportional Relationships to Solve Rate Problems | Scaling Robots |
| Lesson 6: Practice Proportional Reasoning with Scale Drawings | Scaling Machines Make it Scale Tiles Will It Fit |
Module 2: Proportional Reasoning with Percents
| Lesson 1: Percent Change | Mosaics Percent Machines |
| Lesson 2: Markups and Discounts | More and Less All the Equations |
| Lesson 3: Taxes and Gratuities | 100% |
| Lesson 5: Simple Interest | Back in My Day |
Unit 2: Rational Number Operations
Module 3: Understand Addition and Subtraction of Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Add or Subtract a Positive Integer on a Number line | Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 3: Use a Number Line to Add and Subtract Rational Numbers | Draw Your Own |
Module 4: Add and Subtract Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Compute Sums of Integers | More Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 2: Compute Differences of Integers | More Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 4: Apply Properties to Multi-step Addition and Subtraction Problems | Integer Puzzles |
Unit 3: Model with Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
Module 7: Solve Problems Using Expressions and Equations
| Lesson 1: Write Linear Expressions in Different Forms for Different Situations | Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 3: Write Two-Step Equations for Situations | Keeping it True |
| Lesson 5: Apply Two-Step Equations fo Find Angle Measures | Friendly Angles Missing Measures |
Module 8: Solve Problems Using Inequalities
| Lesson 1: Understand and Apply Properties to Solve One-Step Inequalities | I Saw the Signs |
| Lesson 2: Write Two-Step Inequalities for Situations | Unbalanced Hangers Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 3: Apply Two-Step Inequalities to Solve Problems | Budgeting Write Them and Solve Them |
Unit 4: Geometry
Module 9: Draw and Analyze Two-Dimensional Figures
| Lesson 2: Draw Circles and Other Figures | Can You Build It |
Module 10: Analyze Figures to Find Circumference and Area
| Lesson 1: Derive and Apply Formulas for Circumference | Measuring Around |
| Lesson 2: Derive and Apply a Formula for the Area of a Circle | Why Pi? |
| Lesson 4: Areas of Composite Figures | Area Challenges |
Unit 5: Sampling and Data Analysis
Module 13: Use Statistics and Graphs to Compare Data
| Lesson 3: Compare Means Using MAD and Repeated Sampling | Crab Island |
Module 14: Understand and Apply Experimental Probability
| Lesson 1: Understand Probability of an Event | How Likely |
| Lesson 2: Find Experimental Probability of Simple Events | Prob-bear-bilities |
Module 15: Find Theoretical Probability of Simple Events
| Lesson 1: Find Theoretical Probability of Simple Events | Is It Fair? |
Grade 8
Unit 1: Transformational Geometry
Module 1: Transformations and Congruence
| Lesson 1: Investigate Transformations | Transformers Spinning, Flipping, Sliding |
| Lesson 2: Explore Translations | Transformation Golf Moving Day Getting Coordinated, Part 1 Getting Coordinated, Part 2 |
| Lesson 3: Explore Reflections | Transformation Golf Moving Day Getting Coordinated, Part 1 Getting Coordinated, Part 2 |
| Lesson 4: Explore Rotations | Transformation Golf Moving Day Getting Coordinated, Part 1 Getting Coordinated, Part 2 |
| Lesson 5: Understand and Recognize Congruent Figures | Tessellate |
Module 2: Transformations and Similarity
| Lesson 1: Investigate Reductions and Enlargements | Sketchy Dilations |
| Lesson 2: Explore Dilations | Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 3: Understand and Recognize Similar Figures | Social Scavenger Hunt |
Unit 2: Linear Equations and Applications
Module 3: Solve Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Solve Multi-Step Linear Equations | Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 3: Apply Linear Equations |
Module 4: Angle Relationships
| Lesson 1: Develop Angle Relationships for Triangles | Puzzling It Out |
| Lesson 3: Explore Prarallel Lines Cut by a Transversal | Puzzling It Out |
Unit 3: Relationships and Functions
Module 5: Proportional Relationships
| Lesson 2: Derive y = mx | Turtle Time Trials |
|---|---|
| Lesson 3: Interpret and Graph Proportional Relationships | Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 4: Compare Proportional Relationships | Turtle Time Trials |
Module 6: Understand and Analyze Functions
| Lesson 1: Understand and Graph Functions | Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 2: Derive and Interpret y = mx + b | Flags Translations |
| Lesson 3: Interpret Rat of Change and Initial Value | Stacking Cups (Optional) |
| Lesson 4: Construct Functions | Water Cooler |
| Lesson 5: Compare Functions | Ups and Downs |
| Lesson 6: Describe and Sketch Nonlinear Functions | Turtle Crossing The Tortoise and the Hare |
Module 7: Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Represent Systems by Graphing | Make Them Balance |
| Lesson 2: Solve Systems by Graphing | Line Zapper |
Unit 4: Statistics and Probability
Module 8: Scatter Plots
| Lesson 1: Construct Scatter Plots and Examine Association | Robots Dapper Cats |
| Lesson 2: Draw and Analyze Trend Lines | Interpreting Scatter Plots Find the Fit (called Fit Fights in Desmos Math) |
| Lesson 3: Interpret Linear Data in Context | Interpreting Slopes Scatter Plot City Animal Brains |
Module 9: Two-Way Tables
| Lesson 1: Construct and Interpret Two-Way Frequency Tables | Finding Associations |
| Lesson 3: Interpret Two-Way Relative Freqency Tables | Finding Associations |
Unit 5: Real Numbers and the Pythagorean Theorem
Module 10: Real Numbers
| Lesson 2: Investigate Roots | Root Down |
Module 11: The Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 1: Prove the Pythagorean Theorem | Triangle Tracing Turtle |
| Lesson 3: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem | Taco Truck |
Unit 6: Exponents, Scientific Notation, and Volume
Module 12: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Lesson 1: Know and Apply Properties of Exponents | Circles Power Pairs |
| Lesson 2: Understand Scientific Notation | Specific and Scientific (formerly Solar System) |
| Lesson 3: Compute with Scientific Notation | Balance the Scale |
Module 13: Volume
Algebra 1
Intro/Launch
| Launch | Visual Patterns |
Unit 1: Real Numbers and Connections to Algebra
Module 2: Linear Equations and Inequalities in One Variable
| Lesson 2.2: Write and Solve Equations | Working Backwards Solving Strategies Same Position |
| Lesson 2.3: Rewrite Formulas and Solve Literal Equations | Various Variables |
| Lesson 2.4: Write and Solve Inequalities | Pizza Delivery |
Unit 2: Linear Functions and Equations
Module 3: Linear Equations in Two Variables
| Lesson 3.1: Linear Equations in Standard Form | Shelley the Snail Five Representations |
| Lesson 3.2: Slopes of Lines and Rates of Change | Plane, Train, and Automobile |
Module 4: Linear Functions and Models
| Lesson 4.3: Characteristics of Linear Functions | Craft-a-Graph |
Module 5: Relationships Among Linear Functions
| Lesson 5.3: Compare Linear Functions | Subway Seats |
| Lesson 5.4: Inverses of Linear Functions | Chip the Robot |
Unit 3: Build Linear Functions and Models
Module 6: Fit Linear Functions to Data
| Lesson 6.1: Scatter Plots, Correlation, and Fitted Lines | Correlation Coefficient How Hot Is It? City Slopes Behind the Headlines City Data |
| Lesson 6.2: Residualts and Best-Fit Lines | Residual Fruit Penguin Populations |
Module 7: Discrete Linear Functions
| Lesson 7.1: Arithmetic Sequences Defined Recursively | Sequence Carnival |
| Lesson 7.2: Arithmetic Sequences Defined Explicitly | More Visual Patterns |
Module 8: Piecewise-Defined Functions
Unit 4: Linear Systems
Module 9: Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 9.1: Solve Linear Systems by Graphing | Lizard Lines |
| Lesson 9.2: Solve Linear Systems by Substitution | Shape It Up |
Module 10: Linear Inequalities
| Lesson 10.2: Graph Systems of Linear Inequalities | Quilts Seeking Solutions |
Unit 5: Exponential Functions and Equations
Module 11: Exponential Functions and Models
| Lesson 11.1: Exponential Growth Functions | Carlos’s Fish |
Unit 6: Build Exponential Functions and Models
Module 13: Fit Exponential Functions to Data
| Lesson 13.1: Scatter Plots and Fitted Exponential Curves | Detroit’s Population, Part 1 Detroit’s Population, Part 2 |
Module 14: Discrete Exponential Functions
| Lesson 14.1: Geometric Sequences Defined Recursively | Sequence Carnival |
| Lesson 14.2: Geometric Sequences Defined Explicitly | More Visual Patterns |
Unit 8: Quadratic Functions and Equations
Module 17: Use Graphing and Factoring to Solve Quadratic Equations
| Lesson 17.1: Solve Quadratic Equations by Graphing Quadratic Functions | Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1 Quadratic Visual Patterns On the Fence Plenty of Parabolas |
| Lesson 17.3: Solve Quadratic Equations by Factoring ax^2+bx+c | Stomp Rockets Two for One Robot Launch |
| Lesson 17.4: Use Special Factoring Patterns to Solve Quadratic Equations | Parabola Zapper Shooting Stars |
Module 18: Use Square Roots to Solve Quadratic Equations
| Lesson 18.2: Solve Quadratic Equations by Completing the Square | Square Tactic |
| Lesson 18.3: Use the Quadratic Formula to Solve Equations | Stomp Rockets in Space |
Unit 9: Function Analysis
Module 20: Function Analysis
| Lesson 20.1: Choose Among Linear, Exponential, and Quadratic Models | Sorting Relationships |
Unit 10: Data Analysis
Module 22: Numerical Data
| Lesson 22.1: Data Distributions and Appropriate Statistics | Finding Desmo |
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Eureka Math® crosswalk to Amplify Desmos Math free lessons
Grade 6
Module 1: Ratios and Unit Rates
| Eureka Math | Amplify Classroom |
| Topic A Representing and Reasoning About Ratios | |
| Lesson 3: Equivalent Ratios Lesson 4: Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Fruit Lab |
| Topic C Unit Rates | |
| Lesson 16: From Ratio to Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Lesson 18: Finding a Rate by Dividing Two Quantities | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Lesson 24: Percent and Rates per 100 | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
Module 2: Arithmetic Operations Including Division of Fractions
| Topic A Dividing Fractions by Fractions | |
| Lesson 2: Interpreting Division of a Whole Number by a Fraction —Visual Models. | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner |
| Lesson 3: Interpreting and Computing Division of a Fraction by a Fraction—More Models Lesson 4: Interpreting and Computing Division of a Fraction by a Fraction—More Models | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
| Lesson 8: Dividing Fractions and Mixed Numbers | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
| Topic B Multi-Digit Decimal Operations—Adding, Subtracting, and Multiplying | |
| Lesson 9: Sums and Differences of Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
Module 3: Rational Numbers
| Topic B Order and Absolute Value | |
| Lesson 7: Ordering Integers and Other Rational Numbers Lesson 8: Ordering Integers and Other Rational Numbers Lesson 9: Comparing Integers and Other Rational Numbers | Unit 7Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
Module 4: Expressions and Equations
| Topic D Expanding, Factoring, and Distributing Expressions | |
| Lesson 9: The Relationship of Addition and Subtraction | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 10: Writing and Expanding Multiplication Expressions Lesson 11: Factoring Expressions Lesson 12: Distributing Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Topic F Writing and Evaluating Expressions and Formulas | |
| Lesson 18: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Addition and Subtraction Lesson 19: Substituting to Evaluate Addition and Subtraction Expressions Lesson 20: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Multiplication and Division Lesson 21: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Multiplication and Addition | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Topic G Solving Equations | |
| Lesson 23: True and False Number Sentences Lesson 24: True and False Number Sentences | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Lesson 25: Finding Solutions to Make Equations True | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Lesson 26: One-Step Equations—Addition and Subtraction | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Topic H Applications of Equations | |
| Lesson 33: From Equations to Inequalities Lesson 34: Writing and Graphing Inequalities in Real-World Problems | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
Module 5: Area, Surface Area, and Volume Problems
| Topic A: Area of Triangles, Quadrilaterals, and Polygons | |
| Lesson 1: The Area of Parallelograms Through Rectangle Facts | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
| Topic D Nets and Surface Area | |
| Lesson 18: Determining Surface Area of Three-Dimensional Figures | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Renata’s Stickers |
Module 6: Statistics
| Topic A Understanding Distributions | |
| Lesson 2: Displaying a Data Distribution Lesson 3: Creating a Dot Plot | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 4: Creating a Histogram Lesson 5: Describing a Distribution Displayed in a Histogram | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Topic C Summarizing a Distribution That Is Skewed Using the Median and the Interquartile Range | |
| Lesson 12: Describing the Center of a Distribution Using the Median | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Topic D Summarizing and Describing Distributions | |
| Lesson 18: Connecting Graphical Representations and Numerical Summaries | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Lesson 3: Creating a Dot Plot | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
Grade 7
Module 1: Ratios and Proportional Relationships
| Eureka Math | Amplify Classroom |
| Topic A Proportional Relationships | |
| Lesson 1: An Experience in Relationships as Measuring Rate | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Lesson 5: Identifying Proportional and Non-Proportional Relationships in Graphs Lesson 6: Identifying Proportional and Non-Proportional Relationships in Graphs | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
| Topic B Unit Rate and the Constant of Proportionality | |
| Lesson 8: Representing Proportional Relationships with Equations Lesson 9: Representing Proportional Relationships with Equations | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Lesson 10: Interpreting Graphs of Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
| Topic C Ratios and Rates Involving Fractions | |
| Lesson 11: Ratios of Fractions and Their Unit Rates Lesson 12: Ratios of Fractions and Their Unit Rates | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Lesson 15: Equations of Graphs of Proportional Relationships Involving Fractions | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
| Topic D Ratios of Scale Drawings | |
| Lesson 16: Relating Scale Drawings to Ratios and Rates | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines |
| Lesson 18: Computing Actual Lengths from a Scale Drawing | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
| Lesson 19: Computing Actual Areas from a Scale Drawing | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
Module 2: Rational Numbers
| Topic A Addition and Subtraction of Integers and Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 1: Opposite Quantities Combine to Make Zero | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 2: Using the Number Line to Model the Addition of Integers Lesson 3: Understanding Addition of Integers Lesson 4: Efficiently Adding Integers and Other Rational Numbers Lesson 5: Understanding Subtraction of Integers and Other Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 7: Addition and Subtraction of Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10; Integer Puzzles |
| Topic B Multiplication and Division of Integers and Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 10: Understanding Multiplication of Integers Lesson 11: Develop Rules for Multiplying Signed Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 15: Multiplication and Division of Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Module 3: Expressions and Equations
| Topic A Use Properties of Operations to Generate Equivalent Expressions | |
| Lesson 3: Writing Products as Sums and Sums as Products Lesson 4: Writing Products as Sums and Sums as Products | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Topic B Solve Problems Using Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities | |
| Lesson 8: Using If-Then Moves in Solving Equations Lesson 9: Using If-Then Moves in Solving Equations | Unit 6Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 10: Angle Problems and Solving Equations | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
| Lesson 12: Properties of Inequalities Lesson 13: Inequalities Lesson 14: Solving Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Topic C Use Equations and Inequalities to Solve Geometry Problems | |
| Lesson 16: The Most Famous Ratio of All | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 17: The Area of a Circle | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
| Lesson 18: More Problems on Area and Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
Module 4: Percent and Proportional Relationships
| Topic A Finding the Whole | |
| Lesson 1: Percent | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Lesson 2: Part of a Whole as a Percent | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Lesson 3: Comparing Quantities with Percent | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Lesson 4: Percent Increase and Decrease | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent MachinesLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems(coming soon!) |
| Lesson 5: Finding One Hundred Percent Given Another Percent | |
| Lesson 6: Fluency with Percents | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent MachinesLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems(coming soon!) |
| Topic B Percent Problems Including More Than One Whole | |
| Lesson 7: Markup and Markdown Problems | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent MachinesLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems(coming soon!) |
| Lesson 8: Percent Error Problems Lesson 9: Problem Solving When the Percent Changes | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent MachinesLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems(coming soon!) |
| Lesson 10: Simple Interest | |
| Lesson 11: Tax, Commissions, Fees, and Other Real-World Percent Applications | Unit 4 Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Topic C Scale Drawings | |
| Lesson 13: Changing Scales | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
| Lesson 14: Computing Actual Lengths from a Scale Drawing | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
| Topic D Population, Mixture, and Counting Problems Involving Percents | |
| Lesson 16: Population Problems | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Module 5: Statistics and Probability
| Topic A Calculating and Interpreting Probabilities | |
| Lesson 1: Chance Experiments | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
| Topic C Random Sampling and Estimating Population Characteristics | |
| Lesson 13: Populations, Samples, and Generalizing from a Sample to a Population | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 14: Selecting a Sample Lesson 15: Random Sampling Lesson 16: Methods for Selecting a Random Sample | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Topic D Comparing Populations | |
| Lesson 22: Using Sample Data to Compare the Means of Two or More Populations Lesson 23: Using Sample Data to Compare the Means of Two or More Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Module 6: Geometry
| Topic A Unknown Angles | |
| Lesson 1: Complementary and Supplementary Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles |
| Lesson 2: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations Lesson 3: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations Lesson 4: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
| Topic B Constructing Triangles | |
| Lesson 8: Drawing Triangles | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? |
| Lesson 11: Conditions on Measurements That Determine a Triangle | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? |
| Topic D Problems Involving Area and Surface Area | |
| Lesson 22: Area Problems with Circular Regions | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
Grade 8
Module 1: Integer Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Eureka Math | Amplify Classroom |
| Topic A Exponential Notation and Properties of Integer Exponents | |
| Lesson 1: Exponential Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles |
| Lesson 2: Multiplication of Numbers in Exponential Form Lesson 3: Numbers in Exponential Form Raised to a Power | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Topic B Magnitude and Scientific Notation | |
| Lesson 9: Scientific Notation Lesson 10: Operations with Numbers in Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Module 2: The Concept of Congruence
| Topic A Definitions and Properties of the Basic Rigid Motions | |
| Lesson 1: Why Move Things Around? Lesson 2: Definition of Translation and Three Basic Properties | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding |
| Lesson 3: Translating Lines | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding |
| Lesson 4: Definition of Reflection and Basic Properties Lesson 5: Definition of Rotation and Basic Properties Lesson 6: Rotations of 180 Degrees | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Topic B Sequencing the Basic Rigid Motions | |
| Lesson 9: Sequencing Rotations Lesson 10: Sequences of Rigid Motions | Unit 1 Lesson 13: Tessellate |
| Lesson 14: More on the Angles of a Triangle | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
Module 3: Similarity
| Topic A Dilation | |
| Lesson 1: What Lies Behind “Same Shape”? | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 2: Properties of Dilations Lesson 3: Examples of Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 4: Fundamental Theorem of Similarity Lesson 5: First Consequences of FTS | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
| Topic B Similar Figures | |
| Lesson 8: Similarity Lesson 9: Basic Properties of Similarity | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
| Topic C The Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 13: Proof of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle |
Module 4: Linear Equations
| Topic A Writing and Solving Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 4: Solving a Linear Equation | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 5: Writing and Solving Linear Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 6: Solutions of a Linear Equation | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Topic B Linear Equations in Two Variables and Their Graphs | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 10: A Critical Look at Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time TrialsLesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 11: Constant Rate | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 13: The Graph of a Linear Equation in Two Variables | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Topic C Slope and Equations of Lines | |
| Lesson 15: The Slope of a Non-Vertical Line | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 18: There Is Only One Line Passing Through a Given Point with a Given Slope | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 19: The Graph of a Linear Equation in Two Variables Is a Line | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 20: Every Line Is a Graph of a Linear Equation | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 22: Constant Rates Revisited | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Topic D Systems of Linear Equations and Their Solutions | |
| Lesson 25: Geometric Interpretation of the Solutions of a Linear System | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance Lesson 12: Line Zapper |
Module 5: Examples of Functions from Geometry
| Topic A Functions | |
| Lesson 1: The Concept of a Function | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 2: Formal Definition of a Function | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 3: Linear Functions and Proportionality | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 5: Graphs of Functions and Equations | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Lesson 6: Graphs of Linear Functions and Rate of Change | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 7: Comparing Linear Functions and Graphs | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Topic B Volume | |
| Lesson 10: Volumes of Familiar Solids—Cones and Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
Module 6: Linear Functions
| Topic A Linear Functions | |
| Lesson 2: Interpreting Rate of Change and Initial Value | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 4: Increasing and Decreasing Functions Lesson 5: Increasing and Decreasing Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle CrossingLesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Topic B Bivariate Numerical Data | |
| Lesson 6: Scatter Plots Lesson 7: Patterns in Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 8: Informally Fitting a Line | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 6: Find the Fit |
| Lesson 10: Linear Models Lesson 11: Using Linear Models in a Data Context | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Topic D Bivariate Categorical Data | |
| Lesson 14: Association Between Categorical Variables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
Module 7: Introduction to Irrational Numbers Using Geometry
| Topic A Square and Cube Roots | |
| Lesson 2: Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Lesson 4: Simplifying Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Topic C The Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 18: Applications of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Taco Truck |
Algebra 1
Module 1: Relationships Between Quantities and Reasoning with Equations and Their Graphs
Topic A: Introduction to Functions Studied this Year—Graphing Stories
| Lesson 1: Graphs of Piecewise Functions | Pumpkin Prices |
| Lesson 2: Graphs of Quadratic Functions | Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1 Quadratic Visual Patterns |
Topic C: Solving Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 10: True and False Equations | Same Position |
| Lesson 11: Solution Sets for Equations and Inequalities | Working Backwards Solving Strategies Shelley the Snail |
| Lesson 19: Rearranging Formulas | Subway Seats Various Variables |
| Lesson 21: Solution Sets to Inequalities with Two Variables | Pizza Delivery |
| Lesson 22 & Lesson 23: Solution Sets to Simultaneous Equations (and Inequalities) | Shape It Up Lizard Lines Quilts Seeking Solutions |
Module 2: Descriptive Statistics
Topic D: Numerical Data on Two Variables
| Lesson 14: Modeling Relationships with a Line | City Slopes Residual Fruit Penguin Populations |
| Lesson 19: Interpreting Correlation | Correlation Coefficient How Hot Is It? Behind the Headlines City Data |
Module 3: Linear and Exponential Functions
Topic A: Linear and Exponential Sequences
| Lesson 3: Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences | Sequence Carnival More Visual Patterns |
| Lesson 5: The Power of Exponential Growth | Carlos’s Fish |
Topic B: Describing Variability and Comparing Distributions
| Lesson 4: Summarizing Deviations from the Mean | Finding Desmo |
| Lesson 13: Interpreting the Graph of a Function | Craft-a-Graph |
| Lesson 14: Linear and Exponential Models – Comparing Growth Rates | Detroit’s Population, Part 1 Detroit’s Population, Part 2 |
Topic D: Using Functions and Graphs to Solve Problems
| Lesson 21: Comparing Linear and Exponential Models Again | Plane, Train, and Automobile |
| Lesson 21: Comparing Linear and Exponential Models Again | Carlos’s Fish |
Module 4: Polynomial and Quadratic Expressions, Equations, and Functions
Topic A: Quadratic Expressions, Equations, Functions, and Their Connection to Rectangles
| Lesson 8: Exploring the Symmetry in Graphs of Quadratic Functions | On the Fence Plenty of Parabolas Robot Launch |
| Lesson 9: Graphing Quadratic Functions from Factored Form, 𝑓(𝑥)=𝑎(𝑥−𝑚)(𝑥−𝑛) | Two for One Parabola Zapper Shooting Stars |
| Lesson 10: Interpreting Quadratic Functions from Graphs and Tables | Stomp Rockets |
Topic B: Using Different Forms for Quadratic Functions
| Lessons 11–12: Completing the Square | Square Tactic |
| Lesson 15: Using the Quadratic Formula | Stomp Rockets in Space |
Topic C: Function Transformations and Modeling
| Lesson 18: Graphing Cubic, Square Root, and Cube Root Functions | Sorting Relationships |
| Lesson 22: Comparing Quadratic, Square Root, and Cube Root Functions Represented in Different Ways | Sorting Relationships |
Disclaimer
This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Grade 6
Chapter 2: Fractions and Decimals
| Big Ideas | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 2: Dividing Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner |
| Lesson 4: Adding and Subtracting Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
| Lesson 5: Multiplying Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals |
| Lesson 6: Dividing Whole Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
| Lesson 7: Dividing Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
Chapter 3: Ratios and Rates
| Lesson 1: Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker Lesson 4: Fruit Lab Lesson 8: Products and SumsTake Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 3: Using Ratio Tables | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
| Lesson 4: Graphing Ratio Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
| Lesson 5: Rates and Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Lesson 6: Converting Measures | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements |
Chapter 4: Percents
| Lesson 1: Percent and Fractions | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
| Lesson 2: Percent and Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
Chapter 5: Algebraic Expressions and Properties
| Lesson 2: Writing Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and SumsTake Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 3: Properties of Addition and Multiplication | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and SumsTake Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 4: The Distributive Property | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and SumsTake Away (coming soon!) |
Chapter 6: Equations
| Lesson 1: Writing Equations in One Variable | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
Chapter 7: Area, Surface Area, and Volume
| Lesson 1: Areas of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
| Lesson 5: Surface Area of prisms | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Renata’s Stickers |
Chapter 8: Integers, Number Lines, and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 1: Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 2: Comparing and Ordering Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
| Lesson 3: Rational Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
| Lesson 7: Writing and Graphing Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
Chapter 9: Statistical Measures
| Lesson 1: Introduction to Statistics | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 2: Mean | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Lesson 3: Measures of Center | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Lesson 4: Measures of Variation | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
Chapter 10: Data Displays
| Lesson 2: Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Lesson 4: Choosing Appropriate Measures | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
Grade 7
Chapter 1: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers
| Big Ideas | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 2: Adding Integers Lesson 4: Subtracting Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 3: Adding Rational Numbers Lesson 5: Subtracting Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Chapter 2: Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Multiplying Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Chapter 3: Expressions
| Lesson 1: Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 2: Adding and Subtracting Linear Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 3: The Distributive Property | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
Chapter 4: Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 1: Solving Equations Using Addition or Subtraction Lesson 2: Solving Equations Using Multiplication or Division | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 4: Writing and Graphing Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 5: Solving Inequalities Using Addition or Subtraction Lesson 6: Solving Inequalities Using Multiplication or Division | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 7: Solving Two-Step Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Chapter 5: Ratios and Proportions
| Lesson 1: Ratio and Ratio Tables | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Lesson 3: Identifying Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 5: Graphs of Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
Chapter 6: Percents
| Lesson 1: Fraction, Decimals, and Percents | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Lesson 4: Percents of Increase and Decrease | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 5: Discounts and Markups | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
Chapter 7: Probability
| Lesson 1: Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
Chapter 8: Statistics
| Lesson 1: Samples and Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 2: Using Random Samples to Describe populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 3: Comparing Populations Lesson 4: Using Random Samples to Compare Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Chapter 9: Geometric Shapes and Angles
| Lesson 1: Circle and Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 2: Areas of Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
| Lesson 5: Finding Unknown Angle Measures | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
Grade 8
Chapter 1: Equations
| Big ideas | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 2: Solving Multi-Step Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 3: Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
Chapter 2: Transformations
| Lesson 1: Translations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 2: Reflections | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 3: Rotations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day Lesson 13: Tessellate |
| Lesson 5: Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 6: Similar Figures | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
Chapter 3: Angles and Triangles
| Lesson 2: Angles and Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
| Lesson 4: Using Similar Triangles | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
Chapter 4: Graphing and Writing Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Graphing Linear Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 2: Slope of a Line | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 3: Graphing Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 4: Graphing Linear Equations in Slope-Intercept Form | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
Chapter 5: Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance Lesson 12: Line Zapper |
Chapter 6: Data Analysis and Displays
| Lesson 1: Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 2: Lines of Fit | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats |
| Lesson 3: Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
Chapter 7: Functions
| Lesson 1: Relations and Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 2: Representations of Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
Chapter 8: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Lesson 1: Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 2: Products of Powers Property | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 6: Scientific Notation Lesson 7: Operations in Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Chapter 9: Real Numbers and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 1: Finding Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Lesson 3: Finding Cube Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
Chapter 10: Volume and Similar Solids
| Lesson 1: Volumes of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
| Lesson 2: Volumes of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones |
Algebra 1
| Launch | Visual Patterns |
Chapter 1: Solving Linear Equations
| Lesson 1.1: Solving Simple Equations | Working Backwards |
| Lesson 1.3: Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides | Solving Strategies Same Position |
| Lesson 1.5: Rewriting Equations and Formulas | Subway Seats Various Variables |
Chapter 2: Solving Linear Inequalities
| Lesson 2.4: Solving Multi-Step Inequalities | Pizza Delivery |
Chapter 3: Graphing Linear Functions
| Lesson 3.2: Linear Functions | Shelley the Snail |
| Lesson 3.5: Graphing Linear Equations in Slope Intercept Form | Five Representations |
Chapter 4: Writing Linear Functions
| Lesson 4.4: Scatter Plots and Lines of Fit | Correlation Coefficient How Hot Is It? City Slopes |
| Lesson 4.5: Analyzing Lines of Fit | Penguin Populations Behind the Headlines City Data Residual Fruit |
| Lesson 4.6: Arithmetic Sequences | More Visual Patterns Sequence Carnival |
| Lesson 4.7: Piecewise Functions | Pumpkin Prices |
Chapter 5: Solving Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 5.2: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution | Shape It Up |
| Lesson 5.4: Solving Special Systems of Linear Equations | Lizard Lines |
| Lesson 5.7: Systems of Linear Inequalities | Quilts Seeking Solutions |
Chapter 6: Exponential Functions and Sequences
| Lesson 6.3: Exponential Functions | Carlos’s Fish |
| Lesson 6.6: Geometric Sequences | More Visual Patterns Sequence Carnival |
Chapter 8: Graphing Quadratic Functions
| Lesson 8.1: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution | Craft-a-Graph Quadratic Visual Patterns |
| Lesson 8.4: Solving Special Systems of Linear Equations | On the Fence Stomp Rockets Plenty of Parabolas Robot Launch |
| Lesson 8.5: Systems of Linear Inequalities | Parabola Zapper Two for One Shooting Stars |
| Lesson 8.6: Systems of Linear Inequalities | Plane, Train, and Automobile Detroit’s Population, Part 1 Detroit’s Population, Part 2 Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1 Sorting Relationships |
Chapter 9: Solving Quadratic Equations
| Lesson 9.4: Solving Quadratic Equations by Completing the Square | Square Tactic |
| Lesson 9.5: Solving Quadratic Equations Using the Quadratic Formula | Stomp Rockets in Space |
Chapter 10: Radical Functions and Equations
| Lesson 10.4: Inverse of a Function | Chip the Robot |
Chapter 11: Data Analysis and Displays
| Lesson 11.1: Measures of Center and Variation | Finding Desmo |
Disclaimer
This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
GO Math!-NEW
Grade 6
Unit 1: Numbers
Unit 2: Number Operations
Unit 3: Proportionality, Ratios, and Rates
Unit 4: Equivalent Expressions
| Module 9: Generating Equivalent Numerical Expressions | |
| Lesson 9.1: Exponents | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Powers Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available) Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes |
| Lesson 9.2: Prime Factorization | |
| Lesson 9.3: Order of Operations | |
| Module 10: Generating Equivalent Algebraic Expressions | |
| Lesson 10.1: Modeling and Writing Expressions Lesson 10.2: Evaluating Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Vari-apples Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) |
| Lesson 10.3: Generating Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 7: Border Tiles Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) |
Unit 5: Equations and Inequalities
Unit 6: Relationships in Geometry
Unit 7: Measurement and Data
| Module 16: Displaying, Analyzing, and Summarizing Data | |
| Lesson 16.1: Measures of Center | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Lots More Dots Lesson 7: Snack Time Lesson 8: Pop It! Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson] Lesson 12: In the News Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) |
| Lesson 16.2: Mean Absolute Deviation | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Pop It! Lesson 9: Hoops Lesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available) Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 ( Print available) |
| Lesson 16.3: Box Plots | Unit 8 Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available) Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2 Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) |
| Lesson 16.4: Dot Plots and Data Distribution | Unit 8 Lesson 2: Dot Plots Lesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Lots More Dots Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) |
| Lesson 16.5: Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson] Lesson 6: DIY Histograms Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) |
Grade 7
Unit 1: The Number System
Unit 2: Ratios and Proportional Relationships
Unit 3: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
Unit 4: Geometry
Unit 5: Statistics
| Module 10: Random Samples and Populations | |
| Lesson 10.1: Populations and Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Headlines Lesson 12: Flower Power Lesson 13: Plots and Samples Lesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available) Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) |
| Lesson 10.2: Making Inferences from a Random Sample Lesson 10.3: Generating Random Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 13: Plots and Samples Lesson 15: Asthma Rate (Print available) |
| Module 11: Analyzing and Comparing Data | |
| Lesson 11.1: Comparing Data Displayed in Dot Plots | Unit 8 Lesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available) Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) |
| Lesson 11.2: Comparing Data Displayed in Box Plots | Unit 8 Lesson 13: Plots and Samples Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) |
| Lesson 11.3: Using Statistical Measures to Compare Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) |
Unit 6: Probability
| Module 12: Experimental Probability | |
|---|---|
| Lesson 12.1: Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 12.2: Experimental Probability of Simple Events | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Mystery Bag Lesson 4: Spin Class Lesson 5: Is It Fair? |
| Lesson 12.3: Experimental Probability of Compound Events | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Weather or Not |
| Lesson 12.4: Making Predictions with Experimental Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Mystery Bag Lesson 5: Is It Fair? |
| Module 13: Theoretical Probability and Simulations | |
| Lesson 13.1: Theoretical Probability of Simple Events | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 13.2: Theoretical Probability of Compound Events | Unit 8 Lesson 6: Fair Games |
| Lesson 13.3: Making Predictions with Theoretical Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available) |
| Lesson 13.4: Using Technology to Conduct a Simulation | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Weather or Not Lesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available) |
Grade 8
Unit 1: Real Numbers, Exponents, and Scientific Notation
Unit 2: Proportional and Nonproportional Relationships and Functions
Unit 3: Solving Equations and Systems of Equations
Unit 4: Transformational Geometry
Unit 5: Measurement Geometry
Unit 6: Statistics
| Module 14: Scatter Plots | |
| Lesson 14.1: Scatter Plots and Association | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Click Battle Lesson 2: Wing Span Lesson 3: Robots [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City Lesson 8: Animal Brains |
| Lesson 14.2: Trend Lines and Predictions | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Fit Fights [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Animal Brains |
| Module 15: Two-Way Tables | |
| Lesson 15.1: Two-Way Frequency Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit |
| Lesson 15.2: Two-Way Relative Frequency Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Federal Budgets |
The Science of Reading and the power of knowledge
The Science of Reading has shown repeatedly and definitively that background knowledge is much more than a nice-to-have when it comes to literacy. In fact, it’s a must.
One recent independent study led by Sonia Q. Cabell, Ph.D., and Hyejin Hwang, Ph.D., conducted two trials of more than 1,200 kindergarten students. Reading comprehension tests revealed that students who used a knowledge-building curriculum, such as Amplify CKLA, showed statistically significant positive effects on both social studies knowledge and vocabulary, even over just one semester.
So here’s what teachers need to know about the knowledge-building students require, starting early, to develop foundational literacy skills for life.
The power of knowledge and language comprehension, in action
Read the following passage.
Start by putting your clay on the bat as close to the center as possible, then turn your wheel on at full speed. After adding water often enough to keep the clay glossy, adjust it until it’s barely wobbling, then cone it up and center it further. Cone down and then open the clay. Lower your wheel speed to halfway and start pulling the walls. Compress the floor, and then start shaping. When you’re happy with your shape, use your wire tool to remove it from the bat, and set it aside to start drying before you trim, glaze, and fire it.
If you were ever trained in pottery, you probably understood a lot of that. If you weren’t, you could likely read the words and sense the tone, but most of the content would not make sense (Cone up? Cone down?) or stick in your mind at all.
That’s exactly how background knowledge powers reading comprehension.
The knowledge gap
Elementary students confront disparities in their background knowledge every day. Some have houses full of books and summers full of trips. One kid has a pet turtle, another celebrates Diwali, another grew up in the family restaurant. As you can probably imagine, they’d all get and retain a wide range of understanding from passages about, say, amphibians, alfredo sauce, and the Alps.
Not all foundational literacy instruction is built to access the knowledge students bring to the classroom, or to grow the knowledge they need to understand what they’re reading.
What’s more, having less background knowledge is correlated with socioeconomic status, with students who come from lower income families generally having less background knowledge than those who come from higher-income families. That’s how we know that knowledge is also a matter of fairness.
The role of writing instruction
Writing instruction grounded in the content of a knowledge-based curriculum can be a crucial contributor to knowledge-building, according to Wexler. It can help teachers:
- Identify which gaps in background knowledge are holding a given student back.
- Instruct students at higher grade levels, even if students reach those levels with gaps in background knowledge.
- Boost learning across subjects.
- Improve the quality of student writing itself, because it’s grounded in a topic they can say something about.
- Foster comprehension by familiarizing students with the complex syntax of written language in their own writing.
The power of knowledge to connect
Big picture: Connecting to a student’s background knowledge can help unlock their full potential as a reader, writer, and member of the classroom and school community.
Allison Rice, elementary ELA curriculum coach for Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, tells this story about a girl in her class: “All through Unit 1 and halfway through Unit 2, she had not really participated or spoken in class, until they got to the lesson on Diwali. She celebrates Diwali. And all of a sudden, she had 1,000 things to contribute. Then her parents came in, they had never been into the school, and they finally felt welcomed and comfortable enough to come in and share about their culture, and the whole grade level had a huge party.”
This student was able to use her culture—and her knowledge—to create community in her classroom. “Here’s this little girl,” says Rice, “who for the first time has felt seen and reflected.”
Literacy resources for teachers and more
Amplify Desmos Math lab classes
Hello math rock star!
Be one of the first to get your hands on our latest and most exciting new ideas for Amplify Desmos Math K–5 by joining our spring lab classes.
Spring lab classes are perfect for educators who:
- Love math
- Are interested in innovative new ways of teaching and learning, using print or digital tools for instruction
- Are excited about the opportunity to share feedback on early prototypes so you can have an impact on math education
- Have flexibility in their instructional calendar to try new things with their students this April, May and June
Sign up for our spring lab classes.
Flexible, social problem-solving experiences both online and off
Amplify Desmos Math makes productive discourse easier to facilitate and more accessible for students. The program provides teachers with easy-to-follow instructional supports that makes the program more effective and enjoyable for both you and your students.
Signs you might be an amazing lab class teacher:
- You love math.
- You know young people are capable of just about anything.
- You understand that giving candid feedback can help the next generation of students redefine what amazing looks like.
- We are looking for a diverse set of classrooms and districts, with a variety of technology used (remote, hybrid, 1:1, blended—you name it!) and demographics (urban, suburban, rural).
Lab class teachers will receive:
- Teacher and student prototype materials
- Training with an Amplify Desmos Math expert
- Compensation for your time
Amplify will collect feedback in a number of ways:
- Quick surveys
- Virtual interviews
Amplify may ask to visit your classroom if possible.
Want to learn more about how you could get involved with lab classes spring 2023? Sign up here.
Independent study finds that Amplify Science K–5 fulfills mission of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and supports literacy instruction
Brooklyn, NY (December 11, 2023) – Amplify, a publisher of next-generation curriculum and assessment programs, announced the results of an independent study by the nonprofit research, development, and service agency WestEd. The results show that Amplify Science K–5 improves students’ proficiency with science and enriches their science vocabulary knowledge and usage. In addition, it shows that by using an integrated science and literacy curriculum, teachers in the early grades can dedicate significantly more instructional time to science while fostering the development of students’ reading skills.
WestEd researchers found that:
- First grade students in classrooms that used Amplify Science significantly outperformed students in comparison classrooms on NGSS-focused three-dimensional learning and science vocabulary.
- Students in classrooms that used Amplify Science performed similarly to students in comparison classrooms on a standardized assessment of reading at the end of the school year.
The study is among the first randomized controlled trials of curriculum for the NGSS in K–3 classrooms. The research focused on science instruction in 82 first-grade classrooms across three districts serving diverse populations. The report noted that most of the participating schools were Title I schools.
Amplify Science is the leading phenomena-based curriculum for grades K–8. The program blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers. Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify. As the Lawrence’s first curriculum designed to address three-dimensional science standards, Amplify Science reflects state-of-the-art practices in science teaching and learning. Each unit of Amplify Science engages students in a relevant, real-world problem where they investigate scientific phenomena, engage in collaboration and discussion, and develop models or explanations in order to arrive at solutions.
“We are thrilled to share this efficacy study of our NGSS-designed Amplify Science curriculum,” said Matt Reed, vice president of science at Amplify. “Students deserve access to high-quality, engaging, and equitable science instructional materials in elementary school. And most importantly, those materials must actually work. We hope these findings encourage elementary schools to adopt programs like Amplify Science that meet this high bar while also supporting the school’s literacy goals.”
About Amplify
A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our core and supplemental programs in ELA, math and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively and for themselves. Our formative assessment products help teachers identify the targeted instruction students need to build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs and services provide educators with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves more than 15 million students in all 50 states and on six continents. For more information, visit Amplify.com.
About WestEd
WestEd is a nonpartisan, nonprofit agency that provides a range of services—research and evaluation, professional learning, technical assistance, and policy guidance—for education and other communities. Working to promote success for every learner is WestEd’s main goal, and a steadfast commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion is central to that work. To learn more, visit WestEd.org.
Contact: Kristine Frech; media@amplify.com
Reveal Math
Reveal Math
Grade 6
Module 1: Ratios and Rates
| Reveal Math | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Understand ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker |
| Lesson 2: Tables of Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
| Lesson 4: Compare Ratio Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Fruit Lab |
| Lesson 6: Convert Customary Measurement Units | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements |
| Lesson 7: Understand Rates and Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
Module 2: Fractions, Decimals, and Percents
| Lesson 1: Understand Percents | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
| Lesson 3: Relate Fractions, Decimals, and Percents | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
Module 3: Compute with Multi-Digit Numbers and Fractions
| Lesson 1: Divide Multi-Digit Whole Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
| Lesson 3: Divide Whole Numbers by Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner |
| Lesson 4: Divide Fractions by Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
| Lesson 5: Divide with Whole and Mixed Numbers | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
Module 4: Integers, Rational Numbers, and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 1: Represent Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 3: Compare and Order Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
Module 5: Numerical and Algebraic Expressions
| Lesson 3: Write Algebraic Expressions Lesson 4: Evaluate Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 6: Use the Distributive Property | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 7: Equivalent Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
Module 6: Relationships in Geometry
| Lesson 2: One-Step Addition Equations Lesson 3: One-Step Subtraction Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Lesson 6: Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
Module 7: Relationships Between Two Variables
| Lesson 4: Multiple Representations | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Subway Fares Take Away (coming soon!) |
Module 8: Area
| Lesson 1: Area of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms, Part 1 Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
Module 9: Volume and Surface Area
| Lesson 2: Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Renata’s Stickers |
Module 10: Statistical Measures and Displays
| Lesson 1: Statistical Questions | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 2: Dot Plots and Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Lesson 3: Measures of Center | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Lesson 7: Interpret Graphical Displays | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
Grade 7
Module 1: Proportional Relationships
| Reveal Math | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Unit Rates Involving Ratios of Fractions | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Lesson 3: Tables of Proportional Reasoning | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Lesson 4: Graphs of Proportional Reasoning | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
| Lesson 5: Equations of Proportional Reasoning | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
Module 2: Solve Percent Problems
| Lesson 1: Percent of Change | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 3: Tips and Markups | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines |
| Lesson 4: Discounts | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines |
Module 3: Operations with Integers
| Lesson 1: Add Integers Lesson 2: Subtract Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 3: Multiply Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 5: Apply Integers Operations | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Module 4: Operations with Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Add Integers Lesson 2: Subtract Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 3: Multiply Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 5: Apply Integers Operations | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Module 5: Simplify Algebraic Expressions
| Lesson 2: Add Linear Expressions Lesson 3: Subtract Linear Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 4: Solve Inequalities Using Addition or Subtraction | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Module 6: Write and Solve Equations
| Lesson 1: Write and Solve One-Step Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Module 7: Write and Solve Inequalities
| Lesson 6: Wirte and Solve Two-Step Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Module 8: Geometric Figures
| Lesson 1: Vertical and Adjacent Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
| Lesson 2: Complementary and Supplementary Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles |
| Lesson 3: Triangles | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? |
| Lesson 4: Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
Module 9: Measure Figures
| Lesson 1: Circumference of Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 2: Area of Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
Module 10: Probability
| Lesson 1: Find Likelihoods Lesson 2: Relative Frequency of Simple Events Lesson 3: Theoretical Probability of Events | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
Module 11: Sampling and Statistics
| Lesson 1: Biased and Unbiased Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 2: Make Predictions Lesson 3: Generate Multiple Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 4: Compare Two Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Grade 8
Module 1: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Reveal Math | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Powers and Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles |
| Lesson 2: Multiply and Divide Monomials | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 3: Power of Monomials | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 5: Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
| Lesson 6: Compute with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Module 2: Real Numbers
| Lesson 2: Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
Module 3: Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side
| Lesson 1: Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 2: Write and Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 5: Determine the Number of Solutions |
Module 4: Linear Relationships and Slope
| Lesson 1: Proportional Relationships and Slope | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 2: Slope of a Line | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 5: Slope-Intercept Form | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 6: Graph Linear Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
Module 5: Functions
| Lesson 1: Identify Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 6: Qualitative Graphs | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
Module 6: Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Solve Systems of Equations by Graphing | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance |
Module 7: Triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 2: Angle Relationships and Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
Module 8: Transformations
| Lesson 1: Translations Lesson 2: Reflections Lesson 3: Rotations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 4: Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
Module 9: Congruence and Similarity
| Lesson 3: Similarity and Transformations | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
Module 10: Volume
| Lesson 1: Volume of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
| Lesson 2: Volume of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones |
Module 11: Scatter Plots and Two-Way Tables
| Lesson 1: Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 2: Draw Lines of Fit | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 6: Find the Fit |
| Lesson 4: Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
| Lesson 5: Associations in Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
i-Ready Classroom-NEW
enVision-NEW
Big Ideas
Grade 6
Chapter 2: Fractions and Decimals
| Big Ideas | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 2: Dividing Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner |
| Lesson 4: Adding and Subtracting Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
| Lesson 5: Multiplying Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals |
| Lesson 6: Dividing Whole Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
| Lesson 7: Dividing Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
Chapter 3: Ratios and Rates
| Lesson 1: Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker Lesson 4: Fruit Lab Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 3: Using Ratio Tables | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
| Lesson 4: Graphing Ratio Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
| Lesson 5: Rates and Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Lesson 6: Converting Measures | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements |
Chapter 4: Percents
| Lesson 1: Percent and Fractions | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
| Lesson 2: Percent and Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
Chapter 5: Algebraic Expressions and Properties
| Lesson 2: Writing Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 3: Properties of Addition and Multiplication | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 4: The Distributive Property | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
Chapter 6: Equations
| Lesson 1: Writing Equations in One Variable | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
Chapter 7: Area, Surface Area, and Volume
| Lesson 1: Areas of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
| Lesson 5: Surface Area of prisms | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Renata’s Stickers |
Chapter 8: Integers, Number Lines, and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 1: Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 2: Comparing and Ordering Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
| Lesson 3: Rational Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
| Lesson 7: Writing and Graphing Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
Chapter 9: Statistical Measures
| Lesson 1: Introduction to Statistics | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 2: Mean | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Lesson 3: Measures of Center | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Lesson 4: Measures of Variation | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
Chapter 10: Data Displays
| Lesson 2: Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Lesson 4: Choosing Appropriate Measures | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
Grade 7
Chapter 1: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers
| Big Ideas | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 2: Adding Integers Lesson 4: Subtracting Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 3: Adding Rational Numbers Lesson 5: Subtracting Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Chapter 2: Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Multiplying Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Chapter 3: Expressions
| Lesson 1: Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 2: Adding and Subtracting Linear Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 3: The Distributive Property | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
Chapter 4: Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 1: Solving Equations Using Addition or Subtraction Lesson 2: Solving Equations Using Multiplication or Division | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 4: Writing and Graphing Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 5: Solving Inequalities Using Addition or Subtraction Lesson 6: Solving Inequalities Using Multiplication or Division | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 7: Solving Two-Step Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Chapter 5: Ratios and Proportions
| Lesson 1: Ratio and Ratio Tables | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Lesson 3: Identifying Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 5: Graphs of Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
Chapter 6: Percents
| Lesson 1: Fraction, Decimals, and Percents | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Lesson 4: Percents of Increase and Decrease | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 5: Discounts and Markups | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
Chapter 7: Probability
| Lesson 1: Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
Chapter 8: Statistics
| Lesson 1: Samples and Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 2: Using Random Samples to Describe populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 3: Comparing Populations Lesson 4: Using Random Samples to Compare Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Chapter 9: Geometric Shapes and Angles
| Lesson 1: Circle and Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 2: Areas of Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
| Lesson 5: Finding Unknown Angle Measures | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
Grade 8
Chapter 1: Equations
| Big ideas | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 2: Solving Multi-Step Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 3: Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
Chapter 2: Transformations
| Lesson 1: Translations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 2: Reflections | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 3: Rotations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day Lesson 13: Tessellate |
| Lesson 5: Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 6: Similar Figures | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
Chapter 3: Angles and Triangles
| Lesson 2: Angles and Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
| Lesson 4: Using Similar Triangles | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
Chapter 4: Graphing and Writing Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Graphing Linear Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 2: Slope of a Line | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 3: Graphing Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 4: Graphing Linear Equations in Slope-Intercept Form | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
Chapter 5: Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance Lesson 12: Line Zapper |
Chapter 6: Data Analysis and Displays
| Lesson 1: Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 2: Lines of Fit | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats |
| Lesson 3: Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
Chapter 7: Functions
| Lesson 1: Relations and Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 2: Representations of Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
Chapter 8: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Lesson 1: Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 2: Products of Powers Property | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 6: Scientific Notation Lesson 7: Operations in Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Chapter 9: Real Numbers and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 1: Finding Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Lesson 3: Finding Cube Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
Chapter 10: Volume and Similar Solids
| Lesson 1: Volumes of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
| Lesson 2: Volumes of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones |
Grade K
Unit 1: Math Is…
| Lesson 1-2: Math is Exploring and Thinking | Connecting Cubes |
Unit 4: Sort, Classify and Count Objects
| Lesson 4-1: Alike and Different | So Much Sorting |
| Lesson 4-2: Sort Objects into Groups | So Much Sorting |
| Lesson 4-3: Count Objects in Groups | What’s that Shape called? Another Shape |
Unit 5: 2-Dimensional Shapes
| Lesson 5-1: Triangles | What’s that Shape called? |
| Lesson 5-2: Squares and Rectangles | Another Shape |
| Lesson 5-4: Circles | What’s that Shape called? |
Unit 6: Understand Addition
| Lesson 6-1: Represent and Solve Add To Problems | How Many Objects? |
| Lesson 6-2: Represent and Solve More Add to Problems | What does it mean to add? |
| Lesson 6-3: Represent and Solve Put Together Problems | What does it mean to add? |
Unit 7: Understand Subtraction
| Lesson 7-1: Represent Take Apart Problems | What does it mean to subtract? |
| Lesson 7-2: Represent and Take From Problems | What does it mean to subtract? |
Unit 8: Addition and Subtraction Strategies
| Lesson 8-4: Ways to Decompose 6 and 7 | Harry Explores the Ocean |
| Lesson 8-6: Ways to Decompose 8 and 9 | Harry Explores the Ocean |
| Lesson 8-7: Ways to Make 10 | Harry Explores Space |
| Lesson 8-8: Ways to Decompose 10 | Showing What We Know About 10 |
Unit 13: Analyze, Compare and Compose Shapes
| Lesson 13-1: Compare and Contrast 2-Dimensional Shapes | What’s that Shape called? |
Unit 14: Compare Measurable Attributes
| Lesson 14-1: Describe Attributes of Objects | Another Shape |
Grade 1
Unit 2: Number Patterns
| Lesson 2-5: Patterns when Representing Objects in a Group | Meeting Yara |
Unit 3: Place Value
| Lesson 3-1: Numbers 11 to 19 | Same Number, Different Ways |
| Lesson 3-2: Understand 10s | Boris’s Thimbles |
| Lesson 3-4: Represent 2-Digits | Same Number, Different Ways |
| Lesson 3-5: Represent 2-Digits in Different Ways | Same Number, Different Ways |
Unit 4: Addition within 20: Facts and Strategies
| Lesson 4-1: Relate Counting to Addition | Investigate: Game Points Meeting Yara |
| Lesson 4-5: Make a Ten to Add | Making 10 |
| Lesson 4-9: Find an Unknown Number in an Addition Equation | A Community Working Together |
| Lesson 4-10: Understand The Equal Sign | Kitten Coaster |
| Lesson 4-11: True Addition Equations | Kitten Coaster Replanting Huli |
Unit 5: Subtraction within 20: Facts and Strategies
| Lesson 5-1: Relate Counting to Subtraction | Packing a Picnic |
Unit 7: Meanings of Addition
| Lesson 7-1: Represent and Solve Add to Problems | The Kalo Plants Tutu’s Garden in Maui |
| Lesson 7-2: Represent and Solve More Add to Problems | Helping Others |
Unit 8: Meanings of Subtraction
| Lesson 8-1: Represent and Solve Take From Problems | The Kalo Plants Tutu’s Garden in Maui |
| Lesson 8-2: Represent and Solve More Take From Problems | Helping Others |
Unit 13: Equal Shares
| Lesson 13-1: Understand Equal Shares | A Bigger Part |
| Lesson 13-2: Partition Shapes into Halves | Fair and Square |
| Lesson 13-3: Partition Shapes into Fourths | Fair and Square |
| Lesson 13-4: Describe the Whole | One of the Parts, All of the Parts |
| Lesson 13-5: Describe the Halves and Fourths of Shapes | One of the Parts, All of the Parts |
Grade 2
Unit 2: Place Value to 1,000
| Lesson 2-1: Understand Hundreds | What Makes a Hundred? |
| Lesson 2-2: Understand 3-digit numbers | What’s the Value? |
| Lesson 2-3: Read and Write Numbers to 1000 | All the Ways! |
| Lesson 2-4: Decompose 3-digit numbers | A New Representation |
Unit 3: Patterns within Numbers
| Lesson 3-1: Counting Patterns | Investigate: A Mistake in Mom’s Office |
| Lesson 3-2: Patterns when Skip Counting by 5? | What’s that Number? |
| Lesson 3-3: Patterns when Skip Counting by 10s and 100s | Looking for Patterns |
Unit 4: Meanings of Addition and Subtraction
| Lesson 4-7: Represent and Solve Compare Problems | Awesome Aquariums |
Unit 5: Strategies to Add Fluently Within 100
| Lesson 5-9: Add More Than Two Numbers | How Much Money? |
Unit 7: Measure and Compare Lengths
| Lesson 7-10: Solve Problems using Length | Lengths of Jungle Animals |
Unit 8: Measurement, Time and Money
| Lesson 8-1: Understand the Value of Coins | Discovering Coins (Part I) Discovering Coins (Part 2) |
| Lesson 8-2: Solving Money Problems Using Coins | How Much Money? |
Unit 9: Strategies to Add 3-Digit Numbers
| 9-2: Represent Addition with 3-Digit Numbers | There’s Something About Berries |
| 9-3: Represent Addition with 3-Digit Numbers With Regrouping | Baking with Skunk |
Unit 11: Data Analysis
| Lesson 11-5: Understand Line Plots | Messy Measurements |
| Lesson 11-6: Show Data on a Line Plot | Bracelets and Wristbands |
Grade 3
Unit 2: Use Place Value Fluently to Add and Subtract within 1001
| Lesson 2-3: Estimate Sums and Differences | Adding Strategically |
| Lesson 2-6: Use Partial Sums to Add | What is an Algorithm |
| Lesson 2-10: Fluently Add Within 1,000 | How Would You Solve It? Determining the Sum of 2 or More Addends |
Unit 3: Multiplication and Division
| Lesson 3-1: Understand Equal Groups | Equal Groups |
| Lesson 3-3: Understand the Commutative Property | Arrays of Flavor |
| Lesson 3-7: Find the Unknown | It’s Chilli In Here! |
Unit 4: Use Patterns to Multiply by 0,1, 2, 5 and 11
| Lesson 4-6: Solve Problems Using Equal Groups | Division and Multiplication Equations |
Unit 6: Connect Area and Multiplication
| Lesson 6-1: Understand Area | Tiling Figures |
| Lesson 6-2: Count Unit Squares to Determine Area | Rectangles and Arrays Unit 2: Lesson 4: Area Hunt |
Unit 7: Fractions
| Lesson 7-5: Represent Whole Numbers as Fractions | Cat Crossing |
| Lesson 7-6: Represent a Greater Than One on a Number Line | Fractions on the Number Line |
Unit 9: Use Multiplication to Divide
| Lesson 9-1: Use Multiplication to Solve Division Problems | Relating Quotients to Familar Products |
Unit 12: Measurement and Data
| Lesson 12-10: Measure to Halves or Fourths of an Inch | How Long Is It? More Precise Measurements |
| Lesson 12-11: Show Measurement Data on a Line Plot | The Plot Chickens |
Unit 13: Describe and Analyze 2-Dimensional Shapes
| Lesson 13-1: Describe and Classify Polygons | Piho’s Shapes |
| Lesson 13-2: Classify Quadrilaterals | Rectangles, Squares and Rhombuses |
Grade 4
Unit 4: Multiplication as Comparison
| Lesson 4-1: Understanding Comparing with Multiplication | Representing “Times as Many” |
| Lesson 4-2: Represent Comparison Problems | Sticker Mania |
| Lesson 4-3: Solve Comparison Problems Using Multiplication | Going Swimming |
Unit 5: Numbers and Number Patterns
| Lesson 5-1: Understand Factors of a Number | Hamster Homes |
| Lesson 5-3: Understand Multiples | Factor or Multiple |
| Lesson 5-4: Number or Shape Patterrns | How Does it Grow? |
| Lesson 5-5: Generate a Pattern | How Does it Grow? |
Unit 6: Multiplication Strategies with Multi-Digit Numbers
| Lesson 6-2: Estimate Products | A Reasonable Answer |
| Lesson 6-4: Multiply 2-Digit by 1-Digit Factors | Counting Flowers for Lei |
| Lesson 6-5: Multiply Multi-Digit 1-Digit Factors | A Lei Making Workshop |
| Lesson 6-7: Multiply 2-Digit Factors | Double Decomposition |
Unit 9: Addition and Subtractions Meanings and Strategies with Fractions
| Lesson 9-2: Represent Adding Fractions | Pizza Problems |
| Lesson 9-3: Add Fractions with Like Denominators | Pizza Problems |
| Lesson 9-4: Represent Subtracting Fractions | Pizza Problems |
| Lesson 9-5: Subtract Fractions with Like Denominators | Pizza Problems |
| Lesson 9-6: Solve Problems Using Fractions | Pizza Problems |
Unit 10: Addition and Subtraction Strategies with Mixed Numbers
| Lesson 10-1: Understand Decomposing Mixed Numbers | Math Pizzeria |
Unit 11: Multiply Fractions by Whole Numbers
| Lesson 11-1: Represent Multiplication of a Unit Fraction by a Whole Number | Equal Groups of Fractions |
Unit 12: Decimal Fractions
| Lesson 12-2: Understand Decimal Notation | A New Way to Write Tenths A New Way to Write Hundredths |
| Lesson 12-3: Compare Decimals | Can You Compare? |
Grade 5
Unit 2: Volume
| Lesson 2-2: Use Unit Cubes to Determine Volume | Putting It Together |
| Lesson 2-3: Use Formula to Determine Volume | Putting It Together |
| Lesson 2-4: Determine the Volume of Composite Figures | Figures Made of Prisms |
Unit 3: Place Value and Number Relationships
| Lesson 3-1: Generalize Place Value | Place Value Patterns |
| Lesson 3-4: Compare Decimals | Selling Collectibles |
| Lesson 3-5: Use Place Value to Round Decimals | Which Way Down the Mountain? |
Unit 5: Multiply Multi-Digit Whole Numbers
| Lesson 5-1: Understand Powers and Exponents | Monarch Butterflies |
| Lesson 5-2: Patterns When Multiplying a Whole Number by Powers of 10 | All About that Base |
| Lesson 5-5: Use Partial Products to Multiply Multi-Digit Factors | How Do They Compare? |
| Lesson 5-6: Relate Partial Products to an Algorithm | Patrial Products Everywhere |
| Lesson 5-7: Multiply Multi-Digit Factors Fluently | Patrial Products Everywhere |
Unit 6: Multiply Decimals
| Lesson 6-1: Patterns when Multiplying Decimals by Powers of 10 | Powers of 10 Parade |
Unit 7: Divide Whole Numbers
| Lesson 7-5: Use Partial Quotients to Divide | Emptying the Water Tank |
Unit 8: Divide Decimals
| Lesson 8-1: Division Patterns with Decimals and Patterns of 10 | Powers of 10 Parade |
Unit 10: Multiply Fractions
| Lesson 10-3: Represent Multiplication of a Fraction By A Fraction | Making Food |
| Lesson 10-4: Multiply a Fraction By A Fraction | Making Food |
| Lesson 10-5: Determine the Area of Rectanges with Fractional Side Lengths | Installing Turf |
| Lesson 10-6: Represent Multiplication of Mixed Numbers | Installing Turf |
| Lesson 10-7: Multiply Mixed Numbers | Installing Turf |
Unit 13: Geometry
| Lesson 13-2: Plot Ordered Pairs on the Coordinate Plane | Bullseye! |
Grade 6
Module 1: Ratios and Rates
| Reveal Math | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Understand ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker |
| Lesson 2: Tables of Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
| Lesson 4: Compare Ratio Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Fruit Lab |
| Lesson 6: Convert Customary Measurement Units | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements |
| Lesson 7: Understand Rates and Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
Module 2: Fractions, Decimals, and Percents
| Lesson 1: Understand Percents | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
| Lesson 3: Relate Fractions, Decimals, and Percents | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
Module 3: Compute with Multi-Digit Numbers and Fractions
| Lesson 1: Divide Multi-Digit Whole Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
| Lesson 3: Divide Whole Numbers by Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner |
| Lesson 4: Divide Fractions by Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
| Lesson 5: Divide with Whole and Mixed Numbers | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
Module 4: Integers, Rational Numbers, and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 1: Represent Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 3: Compare and Order Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
Module 5: Numerical and Algebraic Expressions
| Lesson 3: Write Algebraic Expressions Lesson 4: Evaluate Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 6: Use the Distributive Property | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 7: Equivalent Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
Module 6: Relationships in Geometry
| Lesson 2: One-Step Addition Equations Lesson 3: One-Step Subtraction Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Lesson 6: Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
Module 7: Relationships Between Two Variables
| Lesson 4: Multiple Representations | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Subway Fares Take Away (coming soon!) |
Module 8: Area
| Lesson 1: Area of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms, Part 1 Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
Module 9: Volume and Surface Area
| Lesson 2: Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Renata’s Stickers |
Module 10: Statistical Measures and Displays
| Lesson 1: Statistical Questions | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 2: Dot Plots and Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Lesson 3: Measures of Center | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Lesson 7: Interpret Graphical Displays | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
Grade 7
Module 1: Proportional Relationships
| Reveal Math | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Unit Rates Involving Ratios of Fractions | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Lesson 3: Tables of Proportional Reasoning | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Lesson 4: Graphs of Proportional Reasoning | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
| Lesson 5: Equations of Proportional Reasoning | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
Module 2: Solve Percent Problems
| Lesson 1: Percent of Change | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 3: Tips and Markups | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines |
| Lesson 4: Discounts | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines |
Module 3: Operations with Integers
| Lesson 1: Add Integers Lesson 2: Subtract Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 3: Multiply Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 5: Apply Integers Operations | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Module 4: Operations with Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Add Integers Lesson 2: Subtract Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 3: Multiply Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 5: Apply Integers Operations | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Module 5: Simplify Algebraic Expressions
| Lesson 2: Add Linear Expressions Lesson 3: Subtract Linear Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 4: Solve Inequalities Using Addition or Subtraction | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Module 6: Write and Solve Equations
| Lesson 1: Write and Solve One-Step Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Module 7: Write and Solve Inequalities
| Lesson 6: Wirte and Solve Two-Step Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Module 8: Geometric Figures
| Lesson 1: Vertical and Adjacent Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
| Lesson 2: Complementary and Supplementary Angles | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles |
| Lesson 3: Triangles | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? |
| Lesson 4: Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
Module 9: Measure Figures
| Lesson 1: Circumference of Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 2: Area of Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
Module 10: Probability
| Lesson 1: Find Likelihoods Lesson 2: Relative Frequency of Simple Events Lesson 3: Theoretical Probability of Events | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
Module 11: Sampling and Statistics
| Lesson 1: Biased and Unbiased Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 2: Make Predictions Lesson 3: Generate Multiple Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 4: Compare Two Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Grade 8
Module 1: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Reveal Math | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Powers and Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles |
| Lesson 2: Multiply and Divide Monomials | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 3: Power of Monomials | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 5: Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
| Lesson 6: Compute with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Module 2: Real Numbers
| Lesson 2: Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
Module 3: Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side
| Lesson 1: Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 2: Write and Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 5: Determine the Number of Solutions |
Module 4: Linear Relationships and Slope
| Lesson 1: Proportional Relationships and Slope | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 2: Slope of a Line | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 5: Slope-Intercept Form | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 6: Graph Linear Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
Module 5: Functions
| Lesson 1: Identify Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 6: Qualitative Graphs | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
Module 6: Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Solve Systems of Equations by Graphing | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance |
Module 7: Triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 2: Angle Relationships and Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
Module 8: Transformations
| Lesson 1: Translations Lesson 2: Reflections Lesson 3: Rotations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 4: Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
Module 9: Congruence and Similarity
| Lesson 3: Similarity and Transformations | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
Module 10: Volume
| Lesson 1: Volume of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
| Lesson 2: Volume of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones |
Module 11: Scatter Plots and Two-Way Tables
| Lesson 1: Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 2: Draw Lines of Fit | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 6: Find the Fit |
| Lesson 4: Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
| Lesson 5: Associations in Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
Disclaimer
This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Grade 6
Unit 1: Area and Surface Area
| Lesson 2: Finding Area by Decomposing and Rearranging | Shapes on a Plane |
| Lesson 3: Reasoning to Find Area | Letters |
| Lesson 4: Parallelograms | Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
| Lesson 5: Bases and Heights of Parallelograms | Exploring Parallelograms, Part 1 |
| Lesson 6: Areas of Parallelograms | Off the Grid, Part 1 |
| Lesson 7: From Parallelograms to Triangles | Triangles and Parallelograms |
| Lesson 8: Areas of Trianlge | Exploring Triangles |
| Lesson 10: Bases and Heights of Triangles | Off the Grid, Part 2 |
| Lesson 11: Polygons | Pile of Polygons |
| Lesson 15: More Nets, More Surface Area | Renata’s Stickers |
Unit 2: Introducing Rations
| Lesson 3: Recipes | Pizza Maker |
| Lesson 5: Defining Equivalent Ratios | Fruit Lab |
| Lesson 12: Navagating a Table of Equivalent Rations | Disaster Preparation |
Unit 3: Unit Rates and Percentages
| Lesson 1: Anchoring Units of Measure | Many Measurements |
| Lesson 4: Comparing Speeds and Price | World Records |
| Lesson 5: Interpreting Rates | Soft Serve |
| Lesson 6: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit Rates | Welcome to the Robot Factory |
| Lesson 8: Solving Rate Problems | More Soft Serve |
| Lesson 9: More about Constant Speed | Model Trains |
| Lesson 11: Representing Percentages with Double Number Line Diagrams | Lucky Duckies |
Unit 4: Dividing Fractions
| Lesson 4: How Many Groups? (Part 1) | Flour Planner |
| Lesson 6: Using Diagrams to Find the Number of Groups | Fill the Gap |
| Lesson 13: Rectangles with Fractional Side Lengths | Puzzling Areas |
Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base 10
| Lesson 1: Using Decimals in Shopping Context | Dishing Out Decimals |
Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base 11
| Lesson 2: Using Diagrams to Represent Addition and Subtraction | Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base 12
| Lesson 15: Making and Measuring Boxes | Movie Time |
Unit 6: Expressions and Equations
| Lesson 1: Tape Diagrams and Equations | Five Equations Weight for It |
| Lesson 3: Staying in Balance | Hanging Around |
| Lesson 4: Practice Solving Equations | Hanging It Up |
| Lesson 5: Represent Situations with Equations | Swap and Solve |
| Lesson 9: The Distributive Property: Part 1 | Products and Sums |
| Lesson 17: Two Related Quantaties, Part 2 | Subway Fares |
Unit 7: Rational Numbers
| Lesson 3: Comparing Positive and Negative Numbers | Order in the Class |
| Lesson 5: Using Negative Numbers to Make Sense in Context | Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 8: Writing and Graphing Inequalities | Tunnel Travels |
Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions
| Lesson 5: Using Dot Plots to Answer Statistical Questions | Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 6: Interpreting Histograms | The Plot Thickens |
| Lesson 11: Variability and MAD | Hoops |
| Lesson 13: Median | Toy Cars |
Grade 7
Unit 1: Scale Drawing
| Lesson 1: What are scaled copies? | Scaling Machines |
| Lesson 2: Correspond Parts and Scale Factors | Make it Scale |
| Lesson 3: Making Scaled Copies | Scaling Robots |
| Lesson 5: The Size of the Scale Factor | Scale Factor Challenges |
| Lesson 6: Scaling Area | Tiles |
| Lesson 6: Scaling Area | Will It Fit |
Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships
| Lesson 1: One of These Things is Not Like the Other | Paint |
| Lesson 5: Two Equations for Each Relationship | Two and Two |
| Lesson 10: Introducing Graphs of Proportional Relationships | DinoPops |
Unit 3: Measuring Circles
| Lesson 2: Exploring Circles | Measuring Around |
| Lesson 7: Exploring the Area of a Circle | Why Pi? |
| Lesson 9: Applying Area of a Circle | Area Challenges |
Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages
| Lesson 6: Increasing and Decreasing | Mosaics 100% |
| Lesson 7: One Hundred Percent | More and Less Back in My Day |
| Lesson 8: Percent Increase and Decrease with Equations | All the Equations |
| Lesson 11: Percentage Contexts | Percent Machines |
Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic
| Lesson 3: Changing Elevation | Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 5: Representing Subtraction | More Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 6: Finding Differences | Draw Your Own |
| Lesson 13: Expressions with Rational Numbers | Integer Puzzles |
Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
| Lesson 9: Dealing with Negative Numbers | Keeping it True |
| Lesson 13: Reintroducing Inequalities | I Saw the Signs |
| Lesson 14: Finding Solutions to Inequalities in Context | Unbalanced Hangers |
| Lesson 15: Efficiently Solving Inequalities | Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 16: Interpreting Inequalities | Budgeting |
| Lesson 17: Modeling with Inequalities | Write Them and Solve Them |
| Lesson 20: Combining Like Terms (Part 1) | Collect the Squares |
Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms
| Lesson 2: Adjacent Angles | Friendly Angles |
| Lesson 5: Using Equations to Solve For Unknown Angles | Missing Measures |
| Lesson 7: Building Polygons (Part 2) | Can You Build It |
Unit 8: Probability and Sampling
| Lesson 1: Mystery Bags | How Likely |
| Lesson 3: What are Probabilities? | Prob-bear-bilities |
| Lesson 4: Estimating Probabilities through Repeated Experiments | Is It Fair? |
| Lesson 13: What Make a Good Sample? | Crab Island |
Grade 8
Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence
| Lesson 1: Moving the Plane | Transformers |
| Lesson 2: Naming the Moves | Spinning, Flipping, Sliding |
| Lesson 3: Grid Moves | Moving Day |
| Lesson 4: Making Moves | Transformation Golf |
| Lesson 5: Coordinate Moves | Getting Coordinated, Part 1 |
| Lesson 6: Describing Transformations | Getting Coordinated, Part 2 |
| Lesson 16: Parallel Lines and Angles in a Triangle | Puzzling It Out |
| Lesson 17: Rotate and Tesselate | Tessellate |
Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope
| Lesson 1: Projecting and Scaling | Sketchy Dilations |
| Lesson 3: Dilations with No Grid | Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 7: Similar Polygons | Social Scavenger Hunt |
Unit 3: Linear Relationships
| Lesson 1: Understanding Proportional Relationships | Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 5: Introductions to Linear Relationships | Flags |
| Lesson 6: More Linear Relationships | Stacking Cups (Optional) |
| Lesson 8: Translating y=mx+b | Translations |
| Lesson 9: Slopes Don’t Have to Be Positive | Water Cooler |
| Lesson 10: Calculating Slope | Ups and Downs |
Unit 4: Linear Equations and Systems
| Lesson 5: Solve Any Linear Equation | Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 12: Systems of Equations | Make Them Balance |
| Lesson 13: Solving Systems of Equations | Line Zapper |
Unit 5: Functions and Volume
| Lesson 1: Inputs and Outputs | Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 5: More graphs of Functions | Turtle Crossing |
| Lesson 6: Even More Graphs of Functions | The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Lesson 13: The Volume of a Cylinder | Cylinders |
| Lesson 15: The Volume of a Cone | Cones |
Unit 6: Associations and Data
| Lesson 3: What a Point on a Scatter Plot Means | Robots |
| Lesson 4: Fitting a Line to Data | Dapper Cats |
| Lesson 5: Describing Trends in Scatter Plots | Interpreting Scatter Plots |
| Lesson 6: Slope of a Fitted Line | Find the FIt (called Fit Fights in Desmos Math) |
| Lesson 7: Observing More Patterns in Scatter Plots | Scatter Plot City |
| Lesson 8: Analyzing Bivariate Data | Interpreting Slopes |
| Lesson 9: Looking for Association | Animal Brains |
| Lesson 10: Using Data Displays to Find Association | Finding Associations |
Unit 7: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Lesson 1: Exponent Review | Circles |
| Lesson 6: What about Other Bases? | Power Pairs |
| Lesson 12: Applicatios of Arithmetic with Powers of 10 | Balance the Scale |
| Lesson 13: Definition of Scientific Notation | Specific and Scientific (formerly Solar System) |
Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers
| Lesson 5: Square Roots on the Number Line | Root Down |
| Lesson 7: Finding Side Lengths of Triangles | Triangle Tracing Turtle |
| Lesson 11: Applications of the Pythagorean Theorem | Taco Truck |
Algebra 1
Intro/Launch
| Launch | Visual Patterns |
Unit 1: One Variable Statistics
| Lesson 12: Standard Deviation | Finding Desmo |
Unit 2: Linear Equations and Systems
| Lesson 4: Equations and Their Solutions | Working Backwards Solving Strategies Same Position |
| Lesson 5: Equations and Their Graphs | Shelley the Snail Five Representations |
| Lesson 6: Equivalent Equations | Subway Seats |
| Lesson 7: Explaining Steps for Rewriting Equations | Various Variables |
| Lesson 12: Writing and Graphing Systems of Linear Equations | Lizard Lines |
| Lesson 13: Solving Systems by Substitution | Shape It Up |
Unit 3: Two Variable Statistics
| Lesson 5: Fitting Lines | City Slopes Penguin Populations |
| Lesson 6: Residuals | Residual Fruit |
| Lesson 7: Correlation Coefficient | Correlation Coefficient City Data |
| Lesson 8: Using the Correlation Coefficient | How Hot Is It? |
| Lesson 9: Causal Relationships | Behind the Headlines |
Unit 4: Linear Inequalities and Systems
| Lessons 4-6: Graphing Linear Inequalities in Two Variables | Pizza Delivery |
| Lesson 7: Solutions to Systems of Linear Inequalities in Two Variables | Quilts Seeking Solutions |
| Lesson 8: Solving Problems with Systems of Linear Inequalities in Two Variables | Carlos’s Fish |
Unit 5: Functions
| Lesson 1: Describing and Graphing Situations | Craft-a-Graph |
| Lesson 7: Using Graphs to Find Average Rate of Change | Plane, Train, and Automobile |
| Lesson 12: Piecewise Functions | Pumpkin Prices |
| Lesson 15: Inverse Functions | Chip the Robot |
Unit 6: Introduction to Exponential Functions
| Lesson 19: Which One Changes Faster? | Detroit’s Population, Part 1 Detroit’s Population, Part 2 |
Unit 7: Introduction to Quadratic Functions
| Lesson 1: A Different Kind of Change | Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1 Quadratic Visual Patterns |
| Lesson 10: Graphs of Quadratic Functions in Standard and Factored Forms | On the Fence Stomp Rockets Plenty of Parabolas Two for One |
| Lesson 11: Graphing Quadratics from the Factored Form | Parabola Zapper Shooting Stars |
| Lesson 14: Quadratic Graphs that Represent Situations | Robot Launch |
Unit 8: Quadratic Equations
| Lesson 2: When and Why Do We Write Quadratic Equations? | Sorting Relationships |
| Lesson 12-14: Completing the Square | Square Tactic |
| Lesson 24: Using Quadratic Equations to Model Situation and Solve Problems | Stomp Rockets in Space |
Disclaimer
This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Grade K
Unit 1: Position, Length, Height, and Sorting
| Lesson 2: Describe and Compare Length and Height, Session 3 | Connecting Cubes |
Unit 2: Numbers to 5, Shapes and Weight
| Lesson 4: Count, Show and Write Numbers to 5, Session 2 | Skye’s Style |
| Lesson 5: Compare Numbers to 5, Session 4 | Matching Groups |
| Lesson 5: Compare Numbers to 5, Session 5 | Designing Shoes With Skye |
| Lesson 6: Three-Dimensional Shapes and Weight, Session 1 | What’s That Shape? |
| Lesson 6: Three-Dimensional Shapes and Weight, Session 2 | Building Solid Shapes |
| Lesson 6: Three-Dimensional Shapes and Weight, Session 5 | Putting Solid Shapes Together |
Unit 3: Addition and Subtractions with 5 and Shapes,
| Lesson 8: Two-Dimensional Shapes, Session 1 | So Much Sorting |
| Lesson 8: Two-Dimensional Shapes, Session 2 | What’s That Shape Called? Another Shape |
Unit 4: Numbers to 10 and Shapes
| Lesson 11: Count, Show, and Write Numbers to 10, Session 1 | Investigate: Cafeteria Math Fingers as Math Tools |
| Lesson 12: Compare Numbers to 10, Session 1 | Moving and Grooving Fingers and Counters |
| Lesson 12: Compare Numbers to 10, Session 2 | More, Fewer, or the Same Comparing Words |
| Lesson 12: Compare Numbers to 10, Session 5 | Forest Friends |
| Lesson 14: Compose and Decompose 10, Session 2 | Harry’s Hamster Wheel |
| Lesson 14: Compose and Decompose 10, Session 3 | Harry Explores Space |
| Lesson 14: Compose and Decompose 10, Session 4 | Showing What We Know About 10 |
| Lesson 14: Compose and Decompose 10, Session 5 | Harry Explores the Ocean |
Unit 6: Addition and Subtraction Within 10
| Lesson 20: Add Within 10, Session 1 | Investigate: Casey’s Town What Does It Mean to Add? |
| Lesson 20: Add Within 10, Session 2 | How Many Objects? |
| Lesson 20: Add Within 10, Session 3 | How Many Objects in Pictures? How Will You Count? |
| Lesson 21: Subtract Within 10, Session 1 | What Does It Mean to Subtract? |
| Lesson 22: Add and Subtract to Solve Wold Problems, Session 1 | The Bus Depot |
Unit 7: Teen Numbers and Shapes
| Lesson 23: Compose and Decompose Teen Numbers with Tools and Drawings, Session 2 | Investigate: Packing Snacks Getting Ready for the Game Pass, Shoot, Score |
| Lesson 23: Compose and Decompose Teen Numbers with Tools and Drawings, Session 3 | How Many on the Field? |
| Lesson 25: Compose and Decompose Teen Numbers with Symbols, Session 2 | Jersey Jam! People at the Park |
Grade 1
Unit 1: Relating Addition and Subtraction
| Lesson 2: Add and Subtract Within 10, Session 1 | What’s the Difference? Leaping Lily Pads! Investigate: Let’s Grow! |
| Lesson 2: Add and Subtract Within 10, Session 3 | Packing a Picnic |
| Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 2 | Tutu’s Garden in Maui |
| Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 2 | Replanting Huli |
| Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 3 | The Kalo Plants |
| Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 4 | A Community Working Together |
| Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 5 | Helping Others |
Unit 2: Addition and Subtraction Within 20
| Lesson 6: Teen Numbers, Session 2 | Same Number, Different Ways |
| Lesson 7: Add Three Numbers, Session 2 | Making 10 Kitten Coaster |
Unit 4: Using Tens and Ones to Organize and Count
| Lesson 15: Tens and Ones, Session 1 | Investigate: Game Points |
| Lesson 15: Tens and Ones, Session 3 | Meeting Yara It’s a Match |
| Lesson 16: Numbers to 120, Session 1 | How Many Cubes? Boris’s Thimbles |
| Lesson 21: Add Two-Digit Numbers, Session 1 | How Many Tens? Investigate: Squashes at the Playground |
| Lesson 21: Add Two-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | Town Helpers |
| Lesson 21: Add Two-Digit Numbers, Session 3 | Making Squash Butter |
Unit 5: Operations with Tens and Ones
| Lesson 19: Addition with Two-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | From Park to Table |
Unit 6: Geometry and Measurement
| Lesson 22: Shapes, Session 1 | Shapes Ying Saw |
| Lesson 23: Break Shapes Into Equal Parts, Session 2 | Fair and Square One of the Parts, All of the Parts |
| Lesson 23: Break Shapes Into Equal Parts, Session 5 | A Bigger Part |
Grade 1 (ADM G2)
Unit 1: Relating Addition and Subtraction
| Lesson 1: Partner Pairs for 10, Session 3 | Ways to Make 10 |
| Lesson 2: Add and Subtract Within 10, Session 3 | Exploring Within 10 |
Grade 2
Unit 1: Numbers Within 20
| Lesson 2: Using Mental Math Strategies to Subtract, Session 1 | Awesome Aquariums |
Unit 2: Numbers Within 100
| Lesson 10: Solve Word Problems Involving Money, Session 1 | Investigate |
| Lesson 10: Solve Word Problems Involving Money, Session 2 | Discovering Coins (Part 1) The Toy Stand |
| Lesson 10: Solve Word Problems Involving Money, Session 3 | How Much Money? Discovering Coins (Part 2) |
| Lesson 10: Solve Word Problems Involving Money, Session 4 | The Craft Stand at the Block Party |
Unit 3: Numbers Within 1000
| Lesson 12: Three-Digit Numbers, Session 1 | Investigate: A Mistake in Mom’s Office What Makes a Hundred? |
| Lesson 12: Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | Looking for Patterns |
| Lesson 13: Read and Write Three-Digit Numbers, Session 1 | What’s the Value? |
| Lesson 13: Read and Write Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | Mail Call! |
| Lesson 13: Read and Write Three-Digit Numbers, Session 3 | A New Representation What’s Your Name? All the Ways! |
| Lesson 15: Mental Addition and Subtraction, Session 2 | Turtle Hurdle |
| Lesson 16: Add Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | There’s Something About Berries |
| Lesson 18: Using Addition and Subtraction Strategies with Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | Baking With Skunk |
Unit 4: Length
| Lesson 25: Solving Problems About Length, Session 2 | Lengths of Jungle Animals |
| Lesson 27: Sorting and Organizing Data, Session 1 | Messy Measurements |
| Lesson 27: Sorting and Organizing Data, Session 3 | Bracelets and Wristbands |
| Lesson 26: Add and Subtract on the Number Line, Session 1 | Investigate Time to Line Up! In Full Bloom |
| Lesson 26: Add and Subtract on the Number Line, Session 2 | What’s That Number? |
| Lesson 26: Add and Subtract on the Number Line, Session 3 | Greater Than, Less Than, or Equal to |
Unit 5: Shapes and Arrays
| Lesson 28: Recognize and Draw Shapes, Session 2 | Frame It! |
| Lesson 28: Recognize and Draw Shapes, Session 3 | Measure It, Draw It |
| Lesson 32: Even and Odd Numbers, Session 1 | Can You Share? |
| Lesson 32: Even and Odd Numbers, Session 2 | Everybody, Find A Partner! |
| Lesson 32: Even and Odd Numbers, Session 3 | Is It Even or Odd? |
Grade 2 (ADM G3)
Unit 2: Numbers Within 100
| Lesson 6: Adding Two-Digit Numbers, Session 1 | Panda Patterns |
| Lesson 12: Understand Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | Investigate: Creating a Photo Gallery |
| Lesson 16: Add Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | How Would You Solve It? Adding Your Way What Is an Algorithm? |
| Lesson 16: Add Three-Digit Numbers, Session 3 | Using Fewer Digits Determining Sums of 2 or More Addends |
| Lesson 16: Add Three-Digit Numbers, Session 3 | Adding Strategically |
Unit 4: Length
| Lesson 27: Read and Make Line Plots, Session 2 | The Plot Chickens Let’s Make a Line Plot |
Grade 3
Unit 2: Multiplication and Division
| Lesson 4: Understand the Meaning of Multiplication, Session 1 | Equal Groups |
| Lesson 6: Multiply with 3, 4, and 6, Session 2 | Rectangles and Arrays |
| Lesson 8: Use Order and Grouping to Multiply, Session 2 | Arrays of Flavor |
| Lesson 11: Understand How Multiplication and Division Are Connected, Session 1 | It’s Chili in Here! |
| Lesson 12: Multiplication and Division Facts, Session 3 | Relating Quotients to Familiar Products |
Unit 3: Multiplication
| Lesson 19: Scaled Graphs, Session 1 | Puppy Pile |
| Lesson 19: Scaled Graphs, Session 4 | 2, 5, or 10? |
| Lesson 14: Understand Area, Session 1 | Tiling Figures |
| Lesson 14: Understand Area, Session 2 | Which Covers More Space? |
| Lesson 15: Multiply to Find Area, Session 3 | Area Hunt |
| Lesson 17: Solve One-Step Word Problems Using Multiplication and Division, Session 2 | Division and Multiplication Equations |
Unit 4: Fractions
| Lesson 21: Understand Fractions on a Number Line, Session 1 | Cat Crossing |
| Lesson 21: Understand Fractions on a Number Line, Session 2 | Fractions on the Number Line |
| Lesson 21: Understand Fractions on a Number Line, Session 3 | Location, Location, Location |
Unit 6: Shapes
| Performance Task | Investigate: Comparing Rugs |
| Lesson 30: Understand Categories of Shapes, Session 1 | Piho’s Shapes |
| Lesson 31: Classify Quadrilaterals, Session 1 | Rectangles, Squares, and Rhombuses |
| Lesson 31: Classify Quadrilaterals, Session 3 | More Quadrilaterals |
Grade 4
Unit 2: Operations
| Lesson 6: Understand Multiplication as a Comparison, Session 1 | Sticker Mania |
| Lesson 6: Understand Multiplication as a Comparison, Session 2 | Representing “Times as Many” Going Swimming |
| Lesson 8: Multiples and Factors, Session 1 | Hamster Homes |
| Lesson 8: Multiples and Factors, Session 3 | Factor or Multiple? |
| Lesson 8: Multiples and Factors, Session 4 | A Number Game |
| Lesson 9: Number and Shape Patterns, Session 1 | How Does It Grow? |
Unit 3: Multi-Digit Operations and Measurement
| Lesson 11: Multiply by One-Digit Numbers, Session 1 | Investigate: Packing Lei Counting Flowers for Lei |
| Lesson 11: Multiply by One-Digit Numbers, Session 3 | A Lei Making Workshop A Reasonable Answer Three of a Kind |
| Lesson 12: Multiply by Two-Digit Numbers, Session 2 | Growing Flowers for the Lei Double Decomposition |
| Lesson 12: Multiply by Two-Digit Numbers, Session 3 | Revisiting Strategies How Many Supplies? |
Unit 4: Fractions, Decimals, and Measurement
| Lesson 17: Understand Equivalent Fractions, Session 1 | Investigate: Building Your Own Number Line Fraction Strips |
| Lesson 18: Understand Equivalent Fractions, Session 3 | Chop It All Kinds of Fractions |
| Lesson 19: Fraction Addition and Subtraction, Session 1 | Pizza Problems |
| Lesson 20: Add and Subtract Fractions, Session 4 | Math Pizzeria |
| Lesson 24: Multiply Fractions by Whole Numbers, Session 2 | Equal Groups of Fractions |
| Lesson 25: Fractions as Tenths and Hundredths, Session 3 | Investigate: Different Units |
| Lesson 26: Relate Decimals and Fractions, Session 2 | A New Way to Write Tenths A New Way to Write Hundredths |
| Lesson 26: Relate Decimals and Fractions, Session 4 | Are They Equivalent? |
| Lesson 27: Compare Decimals, Session 2 | How Can You Compare? |
| Lesson 27: Compare Decimals, Session 3 | Robot Factory |
| Lesson 27: Compare Decimals, Session 4 | What’s the Order |
Unit 5: Geometry and Measurement
| Lesson 30: Points, Lines, Rays, and Angles, Session 3 | Angle Adventures |
| Lesson 31: Angles, Session 1 | The Spin on Angles |
| Lesson 32: Add and Subtract with Angles, Session 3 | Angles in Motion |
Grade 5
Unit 1: Whole Number Operations and Applications
| Lesson 2: Find Volume Using Unit Cubes, Session 1 | Which is Largest |
| Lesson 2: Find Volume Using Unit Cubes, Session 2 | Packing the Barge |
| Lesson 3: Find Volume Using Formulas, Session 3 | Putting it Together Figures Made of Prisms |
| Lesson 4: Multiply Multi-Digit Numbers, Session 1 | Partial Products Everywhere |
| Lesson 4: Multiply Multi-Digit Numbers, Session 4 | How Do They Compare? |
| Lesson 5: Divide Multi-Digit Numbers, Session 4 | Emptying the Water Tank |
Unit 2: Decimals and Fractions
| Lesson 6: Understand Decimal Place Value, Session 1 | Investigate: Numbers Between Numbers |
| Lesson 6: Understand Decimal Place Value, Session 2 | What Is One Thousandth? |
| Lesson 8: Read and Write Decimals, Session 1 | Say What? Place Value Patterns |
| Lesson 9: Compare and Round Decimals, Session 2 | Selling Collectibles |
| Lesson 9: Compare and Round Decimals, Session 3 | The Claw Which Way Down the Mountain? |
| Lesson 9: Compare and Round Decimals, Session 4 | Rounding Races |
| Lesson 7: Understand Powers of 10, Session 1 | Monarch Butterflies All About That Base Powers of 10 Parade |
Unit 3: More Decimals & Fractions
| Lesson 18: Fractions as Division, Session 1 | Investigate: Sharing Sandwiches Division Story Problems Making Generalizations Investigate: Folding Paper |
| Lesson 18: Fractions as Division, Session 2 | Sharing More Sandwiches Dance Breaks |
| Lesson 19: Multiplication by a Fraction, Session 2 | Parts of Parts |
| Lesson 20: Multiply Fractions to Find Area, Session 2 | One Part of One Part |
| Lesson 20: Multiply Fractions to Find Area, Session 3 | Making Food |
| Lesson 22: Multiply Fractions in Word Problems, Session 3 | Installing Turf Rows and Columns |
| Lesson 22: Multiply Fractions in Word Problems, Session 4 | Messy Multiplication Applying Fraction Multiplication |
| Lesson 21: Exploring Multiplication as Scaling, Session 1 | Chores at Animal Haven The Re-size-inator |
Unit 5: Algebraic Thinking and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 31: Understand the Coordinate Plane, Session 1 | Bullseye! |
| Lesson 31: Understand the Coordinate Plane, Session 2 | Creating a Coordinate System Coordinating Satellite Repairs |
Grade 6
Unit 1: Expressions and Equations: Area, Algebraic Expressions, and Exponents
| iReady Classroom | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Find the Area of a Parallelogram | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
Unit 2: Decimals and Fractions: Base-Ten Operations, Division with Fractions, and Volume
| Lesson 7: Add, Subtract, and Multiply Multi-Digit Decimals | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals |
| Lesson 8: Divide Whole Numbers and Multi-Digit Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
| Lesson 9: Understand Division with Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner |
| Lesson 10: Divide Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 6: Fill the Gap |
Unit 3: Ratio Reasoning: Ratio Concepts and Equivalent Ratios
| Lesson 12: Understand Ratio Concepts | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker |
| Lesson 13: Find Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Fruit Lab Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
Unit 4: Ratio Reasoning: Unit Rates and Percent
| Lesson 15: Understand Rate Concepts | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements |
| Lesson 16: Use Unit Rates to Solve Problems | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Lesson 17: Understand Percents | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
Unit 5: Algebraic Thinking: Equivalent Expressions and Equations with Variables
| Lesson 19: Write and Identify Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums Take Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 22: Analyze Two-Variable Relationships | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Subway Fares Take Away (coming soon!) |
Unit 6: Positive and Negative Numbers: Absolute Value, Inequalities, and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 23: Understand Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 24: Order Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
| Lesson 26: Write and Graph One-Variable Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
Unit 7: Statistical Thinking: Data Distributions and Measures of Center and Variability
| Lesson 30: Use Dot Plots and Histograms to Describe Data Distributions | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Lesson 31: Interpret Median and Interquartile Range in Box Plots | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
Grade 7
Unit 1: Proportional Relationships: Ratios, Rates, and Circles
| iReady Classroom | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 2: Find Unit Rates Involving Ratios and Fractions | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Lesson 4: Represent Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Lesson 5: Solve Proportional Relationship Problems | |
| Lesson 6: Solve Area and Circumference Problems Involving Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Measuring Around Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
Unit 2: Numbers and Operations: Add and Subtract Rational Numbers
| Lesson 7: Understand Addition with Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 8: Add with Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 9: Understand Subtraction with Negative Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 10: Add and Subtract Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
Unit 3: Numbers and Operations: Multiply and Divide Rational Numbers
| Lesson 14: Use the Four Operations with Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Unit 4: Algebraic Thinking: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
| Lesson 19: Write and Solve Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Unit 5: Proportional Reasoning: Percents and Statistical Samples
| Lesson 20: Solve Problems Involving Percents | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 22: Understand Random Sampling | Unit 8 Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
| Lesson 24: Compare Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Unit 6: Geometry: Solids, Triangles, and Angles
| Lesson 28: Find Unknown Angle Measures | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
Unit 7: Probability: Theoretical Probability, Experimental Probability, and Compound Events
| Lesson 30: Understand Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
Grade 8
Unit 1: Geometric Figures: Rigid Transformations and Congruence
| iReady Classroom | Amplify Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Understand Rigid Transformations and Their Properties | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding |
| Lesson 2: Work with Single Rigid Transformations in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Moving Day |
Unit 2: Geometric Figures: Transformations, Similarity, and Angle Relationships
| Lesson 4: Understand Dilations and Similarity | Unit 2 Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 6: Describe Angle Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
| Lesson 7: Describe Angle Relationships in Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
Unit 3: Linear Relationships: Slope, Linear Equations, and Systems
| Lesson 8: Graph Proportional Relationships and Define Slope | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 13: Solve Systems of Linear Equations Algebraically | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance Lesson 12: Line Zapper |
Unit 4: Functions: Linear and Nonlinear Relationships
| Lesson 15: Understand Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 16: Use Functions to Model Linear Relationships | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
Unit 5: Integer Exponents: Properties and Scientific Notation
| Lesson 19: Apply Exponent Properties for Positive Integer Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 22: Work with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Unit 6: Real Numbers: Rational Numbers, Irrational Numbers, and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 23: Find Square Roots and Cube Roots to Solve Problems | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Lesson 25: Find Rational Approximations of Irrational Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Taco Truck |
| Lesson 27: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle |
| Lesson 28: Solve Problems with Volumes of Cylinders, Cones, and Spheres | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Cylinders Lesson 13: Cones |
Unit 7: Statistics: Two-Variable Data and Fitting a Linear Model
| Lesson 29: Analyze Scatter Plots and Fit a Linear Model to Data | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 6: Find the Fit |
Disclaimer
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Eureka Math²
Level K
Module 1: Counting and Cardinality
Topic A: Classify to Make Categories and Count
| Lesson 1: Compare objects based on their attributes. | Connecting Cubes |
| Lesson 3: Classify objects into two categories and count. | Skye’s Style |
Topic B: Answer How Many Questions with Up to 5 Objects
| Lesson 3: Sort by Same Color | Matching Groups |
Topic C: Write Numerals and Create Sets of Up to 5 Objects
| Lesson 10: Count out a group of objects to match a numeral. | Designing Shoes with Skye |
Topic E: Answer How Many Questions with Up to 10 Objects
| Lesson 19: Organize, count, and represent a collection of objects. | Investigate: Cafeteria Math |
| Lesson 20: Count objects in 5-group and array configurations and match to a numeral. | Fingers as Math Tools |
| Lesson 23: Conserve number regardless of the order in which objects are counted. | Moving and Grooving |
Module 2: Two- and Three- Dimensional Shapes
Topic A: Analyze and Name Two-Dimensional Shapes
| Lesson 1: Find and describe attributes of flat shapes. | So Much Sorting |
| Lesson 2: Classify shapes as triangles or nontriangles. | What’s That Shape Called? |
| Lesson 3: Classify shapes as circles, hexagons, or neither. | What’s That Shape Called? |
| Lesson 4: Classify shapes as rectangles or nonrectangles, with square rectangles as a special case. | Another Shape |
Module 3: Comparison
Topic C: Compare Sets Within 10
| Lesson 12: Relate more and fewer to length. | More, Fewer, or the Same Forest Friends |
| Lesson 13: Compare sets by using more than, fewer than, and the same number as. | Fingers and Counters Comparing Words |
Module 4: Composition and Decomposition
Topic A: Explore Composition and Decomposition
| Lesson 1: Compose flat shapes and count the parts. | Investigate: Casey’s Town |
| Lesson 2: Decompose flat shapes and count the parts. | How Many Objects? |
| Lesson 3: Decompose a group to identify parts and total. | How Many Objects in Pictures? |
Topic B: Record Composition and Decomposition
| Lesson 5: Sort to decompose a number in more than one way. | How Will You Count? |
| Lesson 6: Decompose a number in more than one way and record. | Harry Explores the Ocean |
Module 5: Addition and Subtraction
Topic A: Represent Addition
| Lesson 1: Represent add to with result unknown story problems by using drawings and numbers. | What Does It Mean to Add? |
Topic B: Represent Subtraction
| Lesson 8: Understand taking away as a type of subtraction. | What Does It Mean to Subtract? |
Topic C: Make Sense of Problems
| Lesson 15: Identify the action in a problem to represent and solve it. | The Bus Depot |
Level 1
Module 1: Counting, Comparison, and Addition
Topic A: Count and Compare with Data
| Lesson 2: Organize and represent data to compare two categories. | Shapes Ying Saw |
Module 2: Addition and Subtraction Relationships
Topic A: Reason About Take From Situations
| Lesson 1: Represent result unknown problems and record as addition or subtraction number sentences. | Packing for a Picnic |
| Lesson 3: Subtract 1 or subtract 1 less than the total. | What’s the Difference? Leaping Lily Pads! |
Topic B: Relate and Distinguish Addition and Subtraction
| Lesson 5: Use the Read–Draw–Write process to solve result unknown problems. | Investigate: Let’s Grow! |
| Lesson 6: Represent and solve related addition and subtraction result unknown problems. | Tutu’s Garden in Maui |
| Lesson 7: Count on or count back to solve related addition and subtraction problems. | The Kalo Plants |
Topic C: Find an Unknown Part in Change Unknown Problems
| Lesson 8: Interpret and find an unknown change. | Replanting Huli |
| Lesson 11: Represent and solve take from with change unknown problems. | Helping Others A Community Working Together |
Module 3: Properties of Operations to Make Easier Problems
Topic B: Make Easier Problems to Add
| Lesson 9: Make ten with either addend. | Making 10 Kitten Coaster |
Topic D: Reason about Ten as a Unit to Add or Subtract
| Lesson 16: Identify ten as a unit. | Same Number, Different Ways |
Module 5: Place Value Concepts to Compare, Add, and Subtract
Topic A: Grouping Units in Tens and Ones
| Lesson 2: Count a collection and record the total in units of tens and ones. | Investigate: Game Points Meeting Yara |
| Lesson 4: Represent a number in multiple ways by trading 10 ones for a ten. | It’s a Match |
| Lesson 6: Add 10 or take 10 from a two-digit number. | How Many Cubes? |
Topic D: Addition and Subtraction of Tens
| Lesson 15: Count on and back by tens to add and subtract. | Boris’s Thimbles |
| Lesson 16: Use related single-digit facts to add and subtract multiples of ten. | How Many Tens? |
Level 2
Module 1: Place Value Concepts Through Metric Measurement and Data · Place Value, Counting, and Comparing Within 1,000
Topic A: Representing Data to Solve Problems
| Lesson 3: Use information presented in a bar graph to solve put together and take apart problems. | Exploring Within 10 Ways to Make 10 |
| Lesson 4: Use information presented in a bar graph to solve compare problems. | Awesome Aquariums |
Topic C: Estimate, Measure, and Compare Lengths
| Lesson 12: Model and reason about the difference in length. | Lengths of Jungle Animals |
Topic D: Solve Compare Problems by Using the Ruler as a Number Line
| Lesson 15: Use a measuring tape as a number line to add efficiently. | Investigate: Where Am I? Time to Line Up! What’s That Number? |
| Lesson 17: Represent and solve comparison problems by using measurement contexts. | Greater Than, Less Than, or Equal to |
Module 2: Addition and Subtraction Within 200
Topic A: Simplifying Strategies for Addition
| Lesson 1: Reason about addition with four addends. | Investigate: Activities at the Block Party |
Module 5: Money, Data, and Customary Measurement
Topic A: Problem Solving with Coins and Bills
| Lesson 1: Organize, count, and represent a collection of coins. | Discovering Coins (Part 1) Discovering Coins (Part 2) |
| Lesson 2: Use the fewest number of coins to make a given value. | How Much Money? |
| Lesson 5: Use different strategies to make 1 dollar or to make change from 1 dollar. | The Toy Stand |
| Lesson 3: Solve one- and two-step word problems to find the total value of a group of coins. | The Craft Stand at the Block Party |
Topic B: Use Customary Units to Measure and Estimate Length
| Lesson 12: Identify unknown numbers on a number line by using the interval as a reference point. | In Full Bloom |
Topic C: Use Measurement and Data to Solve Problems
| Lesson 15: Use measurement data to create a line plot. | Messy Measurements |
| “Lesson 16: Create a line plot to represent data and ask and answer questions. 60 min | Bracelets and Wristbands |
Level 3
Module 1: Multiplication and Division with Units of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10
Topic A: Conceptual Understanding of Multiplication
| Lesson 2: Interpret equal groups as multiplication. | Equal Groups |
Topic C: Properties of Multiplication
| Lesson 10: Demonstrate the commutative property of multiplication using a unit of 2 and the array model. | Arrays of Flavor |
Topic D: Two Interpretations of Division
| Lesson 15: Model division as an unknown factor problem. | It’s Chili in Here |
Module 2: Place Value Concepts Through Metric Measurement
Topic A: Understanding Place Value Concepts Through Metric Measurement
| Lesson 1: Connect the composition of 1 kilogram to the composition of 1 thousand. | Investigate: Create a Photo Gallery |
Topic C: Simplifying Strategies to Find Sums and Differences
| Lesson 13: Collect and represent data in a scaled bar graph and solve related problems. | Puppy Pile |
| Lesson 14: Use place value understanding to add and subtract like units. | Adding Your Way |
| Lesson 15: Use the associative property to make the next ten to add. | Panda Patterns |
| Lesson 16: Use compensation to add. | How Would You Solve It? |
Topic D: Two- and Three-Digit Measurement Addition and Subtraction
| Lesson 20: Add measurements using the standard algorithm to compose larger units once. | What is an Algorithm? Using Fewer Digits |
| Lesson 21: Add measurements using the standard algorithm to compose larger units twice. | Determining Sums of 2 or More Addends Adding Strategically |
Module 3: Multiplication and Division with Units of 0, 1, 6, 7, 8, and 9
Topic B: Multiplication and Division Concepts with an Emphasis on the Unit of 7
| Lesson 11: Use the break apart and distribute strategy to divide with units of 7. | Relating Quotients to Familiar Products |
| Lesson 12: Solve one-step word problems involving multiplication and division. | Division and Multiplication Equations |
Module 4: Multiplication and Area
Topic A: Foundations for Understanding Area
| Lesson 2: Recognize area as an attribute of polygons. | Investigate: Comparing Rugs Which Covers More Space? |
| Lesson 3: Tile polygons to find their areas. | Tiling Figures Area Hunt |
Topic B: Concepts of Area Measurement
| Lesson 6: Tile rectangles with squares to make arrays and relate the side lengths to area. | Rectangles and Arrays |
| Lesson 7: Draw rows and columns to complete a rectangular array and determine its area. | Area Hunt |
Module 6: Geometry, Measurement, and Data
Topic D: Collecting and Displaying Dat
| Lesson 23: Solve problems by creating scaled picture graphs and scaled bar graphs. | 2, 5, or 10? |
Level 4
Module 1: Place Value Concepts for Addition and Subtraction
Topic A: Multiplication as Multiplicative Comparison
| Lesson 1: Interpret multiplication as multiplicative comparison. | How Does It Grow? |
Module 2: Place Value Concepts for Multiplication and Division
Topic E: Factors and Multiples
| Lesson 24: Recognize that a number is a multiple of each of its factors. | Hamster Homes Factor or Multiple? |
| Lesson 25: Explore properties of prime and composite numbers up to 100 by using multiples. | A Number Game |
Module 4: Foundations for Fraction Operations
Lesson 1: Decompose whole numbers into a sum of unit fractions.
| Lesson 1: Decompose whole numbers into a sum of unit fractions. | Investigate: Building Your Own Number Line |
| Lesson 3: Decompose fractions into a sum of fractions. | Math Pizzeria |
| Lesson 4: Represent fractions by using various fraction models. | Fraction Strips Chop It |
| Lesson 5: Rename fractions greater than 1 as mixed numbers. | All Kinds of Fractions |
Topic D: Add and Subtract Fractions
| Lesson 21: Solve addition and subtraction word problems and estimate the reasonableness of the answers. | Pizza Problems |
Topic F: Repeated Addition of Fractions as Multiplication
| Lesson 32: Multiply a fraction by a whole number by using the associative property. | Equal Groups of Fractions |
Module 5: Place Value Concepts for Decimal Fractions
Topic A: Exploration of Tenths
| Lesson 1: Organize, count, and represent a collection of money. | Investigate: Different Units |
| Lesson 3: Represent tenths as a place value unit. | A New Way to Write Tenths |
| Lesson 4: Write mixed numbers in decimal form with tenths. | A New Way to Write Tenths |
Topic B: Tenths and Hundredths
| Lesson 5: Decompose 1 one and express hundredths in fraction form and decimal form. | Are They Equivalent? |
| Lesson 6: Represent hundredths as a place value unit. | A New Way to Write Hundredths |
| Lesson 7: Write mixed numbers in decimal form with hundredths. | A New Way to Write Hundredths |
Topic C: Comparison of Decimal Numbers
| Lesson 10: Use pictorial representations to compare decimal numbers. | How Can You Compare? |
| Lesson 11: Compare and order decimal numbers. | Robot Factory What’s the Order? |
Level 5
Module 1: Place Value Concepts for Multiplication and Division with Whole Numbers
Topic B: Multiplication of Whole Numbers
| Lesson 8: Multiply two- and three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers by using the distributive property. | Partial Products Everywhere |
| Lesson 9: Multiply two- and three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers by using the standard algorithm. | How Do They Compare? |
Topic C: Division of Whole Numbers
| Lesson 15: Divide three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers in problems that result in two-digit quotients. | Emptying the Water Tank |
Module 2: Addition and Subtraction with Fractions
Topic A: Fractions and Division
| Lesson 1: Interpret a fraction as division. | Investigate: Sharing Sandwiches Sharing More Sandwiches Dance Breaks |
| Lesson 3: Represent fractions as division by using models. | Making Generalizations |
| Lesson 4: Solve word problems involving division and fractions. | Division Story Problems |
Module 3: Multiplication and Division with Fractions
Topic B: Multiplication of Fractions
| Lesson 7: Multiply fractions less than 1 by unit fractions pictorially. | Investigate: Folding Paper |
| Lesson 8: Multiply fractions less than 1 pictorially. | Parts of Parts One Part of One Part Rows and Columns |
| Lesson 9: Multiply fractions by unit fractions by making simpler problems. | Messy Multiplication |
| Lesson 10: Multiply fractions greater than 1 by fractions. | Making Food Installing Turf |
| Lesson 11: Multiply fractions. | Applying Fraction Multiplication Chores at Animal Haven The Re-size-inator |
Module 5: Addition and Multiplication with Area and Volume
Topic C: Volume Concepts
| Lesson 17: Find the volume of right rectangular prisms by packing with unit cubes and counting. | Which is Largest |
| Lesson 18: Find the volume of right rectangular prisms by packing with improvised units. | Packing the Barge |
Topic D: Volume and the Operations of Multiplication and Addition
| Lesson 25: Find the volumes of solid figures composed of right rectangular prisms. | Putting It Together Figures Made of Prisms |
Level 6
Module 1: Ratios, Rates, and Percents
Topic A: Ratios
| Lesson 2: Introduction to Ratios | Pizza Maker |
Topic B: Collections of Equivalent Ratios
| Lesson 6: Ratios Tables and Double Number Lines | Fruit Lab |
| Lesson 9: Multiplication Patterns in Ratio Relationships | Disaster Preparation |
Topic D: Rates
| Lesson 16: Speed | World Records |
| Lesson 17: Rates | Many Measurements Soft Serve |
| Lesson 18: Comparing Rates | Welcome to the Robot Factory |
| Lesson 19: Unit Rates to Convert Units | Model Trains More Soft Serve |
| Lesson 20: Solving Rate Problems | Lucky Duckies |
Module 2: Operations with Fractions and Multi-Digit Numbers
Topic B: Dividing Fractions
| Lesson 6: Dividing a Whole Number by a Fraction | Flour Planner |
| Lesson 8: Dividing Fractions by Making Common Denominators | Fill the Gap |
Topic C: Dividing Fractions Fluently
| Lesson 9: Dividing Fractions by Using Tape Diagrams | Puzzling Areas |
Topic D: Decimal Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication
| Lesson 13: Decimal Addition and Subtraction | Dishing Out Decimals |
| Lesson 16: Applications of Decimal Operations | Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
Topic F: Decimal Division
| Lesson 21: Dividing a Decimals by a Whole Number | Movie Time |
| Lesson 22: Dividing a Decimal by a Decimal Greater than 1 | Movie Time |
| Lesson 23: Dividing a Decimal by a Decimal Less than 1 | Movie Time |
Module 3: Rational Numbers
Topic A: Integers and Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Positive and Negative Numbers | Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 3: Rational Numbers | Order in the Class |
Module 4: Expressions and One-Step Equations
Topic B: Expressions and Real-World Problems
| Lesson 9: Addition and Subtraction Expressions from the Real-World | Subway Fares |
Topic C: Equivalent Expressions Using the Properties of Operations
| Lesson 13: The Distributive Property | Products and Sums |
Topic D: Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 17: Equations and Solutions | Five Equations |
| Lesson 18: Inequalities and Solutions | Hanging It Up Tunnel Travels |
| Lesson 19: Solving Equations with Addition and Subtraction | Weight for It |
| Lesson 20: Solving Equations with Multiplication and Division | Hanging Around |
| Lesson 21: Solving Problems with Equations | Swap and Solve |
Module 5: Area, Surface Area, and Volume
Topic A: Areas of Polygons
| Lesson 1: The Area of a Parallelogram | Exploring Parallelograms, Part 1 |
| Lesson 2: The Area of a Right Triangle | Off the Grid, Part 2 |
| Lesson 3: The Area of a Triangle | Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 Off the Grid, Part 1 |
| Lesson 4: Areas of Triangles in Real-World Situations | Exploring Triangles |
Topic B: Problem Solving with Area
| Lesson 5: Perimeter and Area in the Coordinate Plane | Shapes on a Plane |
| Lesson 6: Problem Solving with Area in the Coordinate Plane | Letters |
| Lesson 7: Areas of Trapezoids and Other Polygons | Triangles and Parallelograms |
| Lesson 8: Areas of Composite Rigures in Real-World Situations | Pile of Polygons |
Topic C: Nets and Surface Area
| Lesson 12: From Nets to Surface Area | Renata’s Stickers |
Module 6: Statistics
Topic A: Understanding Distributions
| Lesson 2: Describing a Data Distribution | Hoops |
| Lesson 3: Creating a Dot Plot | Minimum Wage |
| Lesson 4: Creating a Histogram | The Plot Thickens |
Topic B: Mean and Mean Absolute Deviation
| Lesson 7: Using the Mean to Describe Center | Toy Cars |
Level 7
Module 1: Ratios and Proportional Relationships
Topic A: Understanding Proportional Relationships
| Lesson 1: An Experiment with Ratios and Rates | Paint |
| Lesson 2: Exploring Tables and Proportional Relationships | Two and Two |
| Lesson 4: Exploring Graphs of Proportional Relationships | DinoPops |
Topic C: Scale Drawing and Proportional Relationships
| Lesson 14: Extreme Bicycles | Scaling Machines |
| Lesson 15: Scale Drawing | Scaling Robots |
| Lesson 16: Using Scale Factor | Scale Factor Challenges |
| Lesson 17: Finding Actual Distances from Scale | Make it Scale |
| Lesson 18: Relating Areas of Scale Drawing | Tiles Will It Fit |
Module 2: Operations with Rational Numbers
Topic A: Adding Rational Numbers
| Lesson 2: Adding Integers | Floats and Anchors |
Topic B: Subtracting Rational Numbers
| Lesson 8: Subtracting Integers, Part 1 | More Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 10: Subtracting Rational Numbers, Part 1 | Draw Your Own |
Topic E: Numberical Expressions with Rational Numbers
| Lesson 25: Writing and Evaluating Expressions with Rational Numbers | Integer Puzzles |
Module 3: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
Topic A: Equivalent Expressions
| Lesson 1: Equivalent Expressions | Collect the Squares |
Topic B: Unknown Angle Measurements
| Lesson 7: Angle Relationships and Unknown Angle Measures | Friendly Angles |
Topic C: Solving Equations
| Lesson 11: Dominoes and Dominoes | Keeping it True |
Topic D: Inequalities
| Lesson 18: Understanding Inequalities and Their Solutions | I Saw the Signs |
| Lesson 19: Using Equations to Solve Inequalities | Unbalanced Hangers |
| Lesson 20: Preserving and Reversing | Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 21: Solving Two-Step Inequalities | Budgeting |
| Lesson 22: Solving Problems Involving Inequalities | Write Them and Solve Them |
Module 4: Geometry
Topic A: Constructing Geometric Figures
| Lesson 3: Side Lengths of a Triangle | Can You Build It |
| Lesson 4: Angles of a Triangle | Friendly Angles |
Topic C: Circumference and Areas of Circles
| Lesson 10: The Outside of a Cicle | Measuring Around |
| Lesson 11: The Inside of a Circle | Why Pi? |
| Lesson 14: Composite Figures with Circular Regions | Area Challenges |
Module 5: Percent and Applications of Percent
Topic A: Proportion and Percent
| Lesson 3: Percent as a Rate per 100 | Mosaics |
| Lesson 4: Proportion and Percent | More and Less |
Topic C: More of Less Than 100%
| Lesson 10: Percent Increase | All the Equations |
Topic D: Applications of Percent
| Lesson 16: Markups and Discount | 100% |
| Lesson 18: Simple Interest – Solving for Unknown Values | Percent Machines |
Topic E: Problems Involving Percent
| Lesson 20: Making Money, Day 1 | Back in My Day |
Module 6: Probability and Populations
Topic A: Calculating and Interpreting Probabilities
| Lesson 2: Empirical Probability | How Likely |
| Lesson 4: Theoretical Probability | Prob-bear-bilities |
Topic B: Estimating Probabilities
| Lesson 7: The Law of Large Numbers | Is It Fair? |
Topic C: Random Sampling
| Lesson 11: Populations and Samples | Crab Island |
Level 8
Module 1: Scientific Notation, Exponents, and Irrational Numbers
Topic A: Introduction to Scientific Notation
| Lesson 2: Comparing Large Numbers | Specific and Scientific (formerly Solar System) |
| Lesson 4: Adding and Subtracting Numbers Written in Scientific Notation | Balance the Scale |
Topic B: Properties and Definitions of Exponents
| Lesson 6: More Properties of Exponents | Circles |
| Lesson 7: Making Sense of the Exponent 0 | Power Pairs |
Topic D: Perfect Squares, Perfect Cubes, and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 18: The Pythagorean Theorem | Triangle Tracing Turtle |
| Lesson 19: Using the Pythagorean Theorem | Taco Truck |
| Lesson 23: Ordering Irrational Numbers | Root Down |
Module 2: Rigid Motions and Congruent Figures
Topic A: Rigid Motion and Their Properties
| Lesson 1: Motions in the Plane | Transformers Moving Day |
| Lesson 2: Translations | Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Moving Day |
| Lesson 4: Translations and Reflections on the Coordinate Plane | Getting Coordinated, Part 1 |
| Lesson 6: Rotations on the Coordinate Plane | Getting Coordinated, Part 2 |
Topic B: Rigid Motions and Congruent Figures
| Lesson 8: Sequencing the Rigid Motions | Transformation Golf |
Topic C: Angle Relationships
| Lesson 12: Lines Cut by a Transversal | Puzzling It Out |
Module 3: Dilations and Similar Figures
Topic A: Dilations
| Lesson 1: Exploring Dilations | Sketchy Dilations |
| Lesson 3: Reductions and More Enlargments | Dilation Mini Golf |
Topic B: Properties of Dilations
| Lesson 5: Figures and Dilations | Social Scavenger Hunt |
Module 4: Linear Equations in One and Two Variables
Topic A: Linear Equations in One Variable
| Lesson 3: Solving Linear Equations with Rational Coefficients | Equation Roundtable |
Topic D: Slope of a Line
| Lesson 16: Proportional Relationships and Slope | Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 17: Slopes of Rising Lines | Flags Ups and Downs |
| Lesson 18: Slopes of Falling Lines | Flags Water Cooler Ups and Downs |
Topic E: Different Forms of a Linear Equation
| Lesson 20: Slope-Intercept form of the Equation of a Line | Stacking Cups (Optional) |
| Lesson 21: Slopes and Parallel Lines | Translations |
Module 5: Systems of Linear Equations
Topic A: Solving Systems of Linear Equations Graphically
| Lesson 1: Solving Problems with Equations and Their Graphs | Make Them Balance |
Topic B: Solving Systems of Linear Equations Algebraically
| Lesson 6: Solving Systems of Linear Equations without Graphing | Line Zapper |
Module 6: Functions and Bivariate Statistics
Topic A: Functions
| Lesson 1: Motion and Speed | Turtle Crossing |
| Lesson 2: Definition of a Function | Guess My Rule |
Topic B: Linear and Nonlinear Functions
| Lesson 9: Increasing and Decreasing Functions | The Tortoise and the Hare |
Topic C: Bivariate Numerical Data
| Lesson 11: Scatter Plots | Robots Dapper Cats |
| Lesson 12: Patterns in Scatter Plots | Interpreting Scatter Plots |
| Lesson 13: Informally Fitting a Line to Data | Find the Fit (called Fit Fights in Desmos Math) |
| Lesson 14: Determining an Equation of a Line Fit to Data | Interpreting Slopes |
| Lesson 15: Linear Model | Animal Brains |
| Lesson 16: Using the Investigative Process | Scatter Plot City |
| Lesson 17: Analyzing the Modle | Scatter Plot City |
Topic D: Bivariate Categorical Data
| Lesson 18: Bivariate Categorical Data | Finding Associations |
Topic E: Volume
Algebra 1
Module 1: Expressions, Equations and Inequalities in One Variable
| Lesson 1: The Growing Pattern of Ducks | More Visual Patterns |
| Lesson 8: Solution Sets for Equations and Inequalities in One Variable | Same Position |
| Lesson 9: Solving Linear Equations in One Variable | Working Backwards Solving Strategies |
| Lesson 12: Rearranging Formulas | Subway Seats Various Variables Shelley the Snail Five Representations |
| Lesson 13: Solving Linear Inequalities in One Variable | Pizza Delivery |
| Lesson 21: Describing Variability in a Univariate Distribution with Standard Deviation | Finding Desmo |
Module 2: Equations and Inequalities in Two Variables
| Lesson 1: Solution Sets of Linear Equations in Two Variables | Subway Seats Various Variables Shelley the Snail Five Representations |
| Lesson 6: Applications of Linear Equations and Inequalities | Subway Seats Various Variables Shelley the Snail Five Representations Pizza Delivery |
| Lesson 8: Systems of Linear Equations in Two Variables | Shape It Up Lizard Lines |
| Lesson 12: Solution Sets of Systems of Linear Inequalities | Quilts |
| Lesson 13: Graphing Solution Sets of Systems of Linear Inequalities | Seeking Solutions |
| Lesson 16: Using Lines to Model Bivariate Quantitative Data | City Data |
| Lesson 17: Modeling Relationships with a Line | Penguin Populations |
| Lesson 18: Calculating and Analyzing Residuals | Residual Fruit |
| Lesson 20: Interpreting Correlation | Correlation Coefficient How Hot Is It? City Slopes |
| Lesson 21: Analyzing Bivariate Quantitative Data | Behind the Headlines |
Module 3: Functions and Their Representations
| Lesson 7: Exploring Key Features of a Function and Its Graph | Craft-a-Graph |
| Lesson 17: Piecewise Linear Functions in Context | Pumpkin Prices |
Module 4: Quadratic Functions
| Topic A: Quadratic Functions and Their Graphs | Robot Launch |
| Lesson 1: Falling Objects | Quadratic Visual Patterns |
| Lesson 2: Projectile Motion | Stomp Rockets |
| Lesson 3: Analyzing Functions That Model Projectile Motion | Stomp Rockets in Space |
| Lesson 4: Graphs of Quadratic Functions | On the Fence Plenty of Parabolas |
| Lesson 5: Solving Equations that Contain Factored Expressions | Shooting Stars |
| Lesson 11: Graphing Quadratic Functions from Factored Form | Two for One Parabola Zapper |
| Lesson 14: Solving Quadratic Equations by Completing the Square | Square Tactic |
| Lesson 27: Search and Rescue Helicopter | City Data |
Module 5: Linear and Exponential Functions
| Topic A: Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences | More Visual Patterns Sequence Carnival |
| Lesson 8: Exponential Functions | Carlos’s Fish |
| Topic A: Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences | Sequence Carnival |
| Topic A: Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences | Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1 |
| Lesson 18: Modeling Populations | Sorting Relationships |
| Lesson 20: Comparing Growth of Functions | Plane, Train, and Automobile Sorting Relationships |
Module 6: Modeling with Functions
| Topic A: Modeling Bivariate Quantitative Data | City Data |
| Topic B: Developing Models for Contexts | Detroit’s Population, Part 1 Detroit’s Population, Part 2 |
Grade 6
Chapter 1: Use Positive Rational Numbers
| enVision Math | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Fluently Add, Subtract, and Multiply Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
| Lesson 2: Fluently Divide Whole Numbers and Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
| Lesson 4: Understand Division with Fractions | Unit 4 Lesson 13: Movie Time |
| Lesson 6: Divide Mixed Numbers | Unit 4 Lesson 6 Fill the Gap |
| Lesson 7: Solve Problems with Rational Numbers | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Flour Planner |
Chapter 2: Integers and Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Understand Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig It? |
| Lesson 2: Represent Rational Numbers on the Number Line | Unit 7 Lesson 4: Order in the Class |
Chapter 3: Numeric and Algebraic Expressions
| Lesson 4: Write Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and SumsTake Away (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 6: Generate Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and SumsTake Away (coming soon!) |
Chapter 4: Represent and Solve Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 1: Understand Equations and Solutions | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It |
| Lesson 6: Understand and Write Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels |
| Lesson 9: Use Patterns to Write and Solve Equations Lesson 10: Relate Tables, Graphs, and Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Subway FaresTake Away (coming soon!) |
Chapter 5: Understand and Use Ratio and Rate
| Lesson 1: Understand Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker |
| Lesson 2: Generate Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Fruit Lab |
| Lesson 4: Represent and Graph Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation |
| Lesson 5: Understand Rates and Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
| Lesson 6: Compare Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 6: Soft Serve |
Chapter 6: Understand and Use Percent
| Lesson 1: Understand Percent | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies |
Chapter 7: Solve Area, Surface Area, and Volume Problems
| Lesson 1: Find Areas of Parallelograms and Rhombuses | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms, Part 1 Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 |
| Lesson 5: Represent Solid Figures Using Nets | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Renata’s Stickers |
Chapter 8: Display, Describe, and Summarize data
| Lesson 2: Summarize data Using Mean, Median, and Mode | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars |
| Lesson 4: Display Data in Frequency Tables and Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens |
| Lesson 7: Summarize Data Distributions | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Minimum Wage |
Grade 7
Chapter 1: Rational Number Operations
| enVision Math | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 1: Relate Integers and Their Opposites | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors |
| Lesson 3: Add Integers Lesson 4: Subtract Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 5: Add and Subtract Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Draw Your Own Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 6: Multiply Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 7: Multiply Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
| Lesson 9: Divide Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles |
Chapter 2: Analyze and Use Proportional Relationships
| Lesson 3: Understand Proportional Relationships: Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint |
| Lesson 4: Describe Proportional Relationships: Constant of Proportionality | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Two and Two |
| Lesson 5: Graph Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops |
Chapter 3: Analyze and Solve Percent Problems
| Lesson 1: Analyze Percents of Numbers Lesson 2: Connect Percent and Proportion | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics |
| Lesson 4: Solve Percent Change and Percent Error Problems | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
| Lesson 5: Solve Markup and Markdown Problems | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Percent Machines Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!) |
Chapter 4: Generate Equivalent Expressions
| Lesson 3: Simplify Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 4: Expand Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
| Lesson 6: Add Expressions Lesson 7: Subtract Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares |
Chapter 5: Solve Problems Using Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 4: Solve Inequalities Using Addition or Subtraction Lesson 5: Solve Inequalities Using Multiplication or Division | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
| Lesson 6: Solve Two-Step Inequalities Lesson 7: Solve Multi-Step Problems | Unit 6 Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep |
Chapter 6: Use Sampling to Draw Inferences About Populations
| Lesson 1: Populations and Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 2: Draw Inferences from Data | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
| Lesson 3: Make Comparative Inferences About Populations Lesson 4: Make More Comparative Inferences About Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island |
Chapter 7: Probability
| Lesson 1: Understand Likelihood and Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities |
Chapter 8: Solve Problems Involving Geometry
| Lesson 1: Solve Problems Involving Scale Drawings | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines Lesson 7: Will It Fit? |
| Lesson 3: Draw Triangles with Given Conditions | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Can You Build It? |
| Lesson 4: Solve Problems Using Angle Relationships | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Friendly Angles Lesson 4: Missing Measures |
| Lesson 5: Solve Problems Involving Circumference of a Circle | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Measuring Around |
| Lesson 6: Solve Problems Involving Area of a Circle | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Area Challenges |
Grade 8
Chapter 1: Real Numbers
| enVision Math | Desmos Classroom |
| Lesson 4: Evaluate Square Roots and Cube Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Root Down |
| Lesson 6: Use Properties of Integer Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs |
| Lesson 9: Understand Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific Lesson 11: Balance the Scale |
Chapter 2: Analyze and Solve Linear Equations
| Lesson 3: Solve Multi-Step Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable |
| Lesson 5: Compare Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials |
| Lesson 6: Connect proportional Relationships and Slope | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
| Lesson 8: Understand the y-intercept of a Line | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Flags |
Chapter 3: Use Functions to Model Relationships
| Lesson 1: Understand Relations and Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing Lesson 2: Guess My Rule |
| Lesson 2: Connect Representations of Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare |
| Lesson 5: Intervals of Increase and Decrease | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing |
Chapter 4: Investigate Bivariate Data
| Lesson 1: Construct and Interpret Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots |
| Lesson 2: Analyze Linear Association | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats Lesson 6: Find the Fit |
| Lesson 5: Interpret Two-Way Relative Frequency Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Finding Associations |
Chapter 5: Analyze and Solve Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 2: Solve Systems by Graphing | Unit 4 Lesson 11: Make Them Balance Lesson 12: Line Zapper |
Chapter 6: Congruence and Similarity
| Lesson 1: Analyze Translations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 2: Analyze Reflections Lesson 3: Analyze Rotations | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding Lesson 4: Moving Day |
| Lesson 6: Describe Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf |
| Lesson 7: Understand Similar Figures | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt |
| Lesson 9: Interior and Exterior Angles of Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out |
Chapter 7: Understand and Apply the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 1: Understand the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle |
| Lesson 3: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to Solve Problems | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Taco Truck |
Chapter 8: Solve Problems Involving Surface Area and Volume
| Lesson 2: Find Volume of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 11: Cylinders |
| Lesson 3: Find Volume of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones |
Algebra 1
| Launch | Visual Patterns |
Topic 1: Solving Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 1-2: Solving Linear Equations | Working Backwards |
| Lesson 1-3: Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides | Solving Strategies Same Position |
| Lesson 1-4: Literal Equations and Formulas | Subway Seats Various Variables |
| Lesson 1-5: Solving Inequalities in One Variable | Pizza Delivery |
Topic 2: Linear Functions
| Lessons 2-1 to 2-3 Forms of Linear Equations | Subway Seats Five Representations |
Topic 3: Linear Functions
| Lesson 3-2: Linear Functions | Shelley the Snail Chip the Robot |
| Lesson 3-4: Arithmetic Sequences | Sequence Carnival More Visual Patterns |
| Lesson 3-6: Analyzing Lines of Fit | Correlation Coefficient How Hot Is It? City Slopes Residual Fruit Penguin Populations Behind the Headlines City Data |
Topic 4: Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 4-1: Solving Systems of Equations by Graphing | Lizard Lines |
| Lesson 4-2: Solving Systems of Equations by Substitution | Shape It Up |
| Lesson 4-5: Systems of Linear Inequalities | Quilts Seeking Solutions |
Topic 5: Piecewise Functions
| Lesson 5-2: Piecewise-Defined Functions | Pumpkin Prices |
Topic 6: Exponents and Exponential Functions
| Lesson 6-2: Exponential Functions | Carlos’s Fish Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1 |
| Lesson 6-4: Geometric Sequences | Sequence Carnival More Visual Patterns |
Topic 8: Quadratic Functions
| Lesson 8-1: Key Features of a Quadratic Function | Quadratic Visual Patterns |
| Lesson 8-2: Quadratic Functions in Vertex Form | On the Fence Plenty of Parabolas |
| Lesson 8-5: Linear, Exponential and Quadratic Models | Detroit’s Population, Part 1 Detroit’s Population, Part 2 Sorting Relationships |
| Lesson 8-3: Quadratic Functions in Standard Form | Robot Launch |
| Lesson 8-4: Modeling with Quadratic Functions | Stomp Rockets |
Topic 9: Solving Quadratic Equations
| Lesson 9-2: Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring | Two for One Parabola Zapper Shooting Stars |
| Lesson 9-5: Completing the Square | Square Tactic |
| Lesson 9-6: The Quadratic Formula and the Discriminant | Stomp Rockets in Space |
Topic 10: Working with Functions
| Lesson 10-1: The Square Root function | Plane, Train, and Automobile |
| Lesson 10-3: Analyzing Functions Graphically | Craft-a-Graph |
| Lesson 10-7: Inverse Functions | Chip the Robot |
Topic 11: Statistics
| Lesson 11-4: Standard Deviation | Finding Desmo |
Disclaimer
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Grade 6
Module 1: Composing and Decomposing
Topic 1: Factors and Multiples
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Taking Apart Numbers and Shapes | Products and Sums |
| MATHbook | Lesson 5: Yours IS to Reason Why! | Fill the Gap |
Topic 2: Area, Volume, and Surface Area
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: All About That Base….and Height | Exploring Triangles Triangles and Parallelograms |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Slicing and Dicing: Composit Figure | Shapes on a Plane Letters |
Topic 3: Decimals
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: You Have a Point | Dishing Out Decimals |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Get In Line | Decimal Diagrams and Algorithms |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Dividend In the House | Movie Time |
Topic 4: Fraction by Fraction Division
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Representing Fraction Division | Flour Planner |
Topic 5: Area of Triangles and Quadrilaterals
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Developing Area Formulas | Exploring Parallelograms, Part 1 |
| MATHia | Lesson 3: Calculating Areas of Various Figures | Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2 Off the Grid, Part 1 Off the Grid, Part 2 |
Topic 6: Composite Figures
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Calculating Area of Composite Figures | Pile of Polygons |
Topic 8: Surface Area of Regulat Prisms and Pyramids
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Determing Surface Area Using Nets | Renata’s Stickers |
Module 2: Relating Quantitites
Topic 1: Ratios
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Going Strong | Pizza Maker |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Different but the Same | Pizza Maker |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: A trip to the Moon | Fruit Lab |
Topic 2: Percents
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Warming the Bench | Lucky Duckies |
Topic 3: Using Tables to Represent Equivalent Ratios
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Many ways to Measure | Many Measurements Model Trains |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: What is the Best Buy? | World Records |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: A Trip to the Moon | Welcome to the Robot Factory |
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Using Tables to Determine Equivalent Ratios | Disaster Preparation |
| MATHia | Lesson 3: Problem Solving with Equivalent Rations and Rates using Tables | Disaster Preparation |
Topic 9: Introduction to Unit Rate
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Determining and Comparing Rates | Soft Serve More Soft Serve |
Module 3: Determining Unknown Values
Topic 2: Equations
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Double Talk | Weight for It |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Play It in Reverse | Weight for It |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: One, None, or a Ton | Tunnel Travels |
| MATHbook | Lesson 5: Getting Real | Five Equations Swap and Solve |
Topic 3: Graphing Quantitative Relationships
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Planes, Trains, and Paychecks | Subway Fares |
Topic 6: Solving One-Step Addition and Subtraction Equations
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Exploring One-Step Equations with Double-Number Lines | Hanging Around |
Topic 7: Solving One-Step Multiplication and Division Equations
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Using Double Number Lines to Solve One-Step Multiplicaiton Equations | Hanging Around |
Topic 8: Solving One-Step Equations with Decimals and Fractions
| MATHia | Lessons 1-4: | Hanging Around |
Module 4: Moving Beyond Positive Quantities
Topic 1: Signed Numbers
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Signed Numbers | Can You Dig It? |
Topic 1: Introduction to Negative Numbers
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Representing Integers on Number Lines | Order in the Class |
Module 5: Describing Variability of Quantities
Topic 1: The Statical Process
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Skyscrapers | The Plot Thickens |
Topic 2: Numerical Summaries of Data
Topic 2: Analyzing Numeric Data Displays
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Creating Dot Plots | Minimum Wage |
Grade 7
Module 1: Thinking Proportionally
Topic 1: Circles and Ratios
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Pi: The Ultimate Ratio | Measuring Around |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: That’s a Spicy Pizza! | Why Pi? |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Circular Reasoning | Area Challenges |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Pound for Pount, Inch for Inch | Scaling Machines Tiles Scaling Robots |
Topic 2: Proportionality
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Poultry in Motion | Paint |
| MATHbook | Lesson 6: Minding Your Ps and Qs | Two and Two |
Topic 3: Proportional Relationships
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Markups and Markdowns | All the Equations 100% |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: More Ups and Downs | Mosaics More and Less |
Topic 3: Scale and Scale Drawing
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Critical Attributes of Similar Figures | Scale Factor Challenges |
| MATHia | Lesson 3: Calculating Measurements Using Scale | Make it Scale Will It Fit |
Topic 4: Ratio Representations
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Determining Characteristics of Graphs of Proportional Relationships | DinoPops |
Topic 11: Introducing Proportions to Solve Percent Problems
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Solving Simple Percent Problems | Back in My Day |
Topic 13: Percent Increase and Percent Decrease
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Calculating Percent Change and Final Amounts | Percent Machines |
Module 2: Operating with Signed Numbers
Topic 1: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Math Football | Floats and Anchors |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Walk the Line | More Floats and Anchors |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: What’s the Difference? | More Floats and Anchors |
Topic 5: Rewriting Expressions
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Evaluating Simple Numberic Expressions with Integers | Integer Puzzles |
Topic 6: Using Number Properties to Interpret Expressions with Signed Numbers
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Operating with Signed Decimals | Draw Your Own |
Module 3: Reasoning Algebraically
Topic 1: Two-Step Expressions and Equations
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Formally Yours | Keeping it True |
Topic 2: Multiple Representations of Equations and Inequalities
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Solving Inequalities with Inverse Operations | Unbalanced Hangers |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Deep Dive | Budgeting Write Them and Solve Them |
Topic 1: Rewriting Algebraic Expressions
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Rewriting Algebraic Expressions Involving Integer Coefficients | Collect the Squares |
Topic 8: Solving Inequalities with Inverse Operations
| MATHia | Lesson 3: Solving Two-Step Inequalities | I Saw the Signs Shira the Sheep |
Module 4: Analyzing Populations and Probabilities
Topic 1: Introduction to Probability
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Rolling, Rolling, Rolling… | How Likely Prob-bear-bilities |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Give the Model a Chance | Is It Fair? |
Topic 3: Drawing Inferences
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Tiles, Gumballs, and Pumpkins | Crab Island |
Module 5: Constructing and Measuring
Topic 1: Angles and Triangles
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Special Delivery | Friendly Angles |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Consider Every Side | Can You Build It |
Topic 1: Special Angle Relationships
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Exploring Angle Relationships | Missing Measures |
| MATHia | Lesson 3: Solving for Angle Measures | Missing Measures |
Grade 8
Module 1: Transforming Geometric Objects
Topic 1: Rigit Motion Transformaitons
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Patty Paper, Patty Paper | Transformers |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Slides, Flips, and Spins | Spinning, Flipping, Sliding |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Lateral Moves | Getting Coordinated, Part 1 Getting Coordinated, Part 2 |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Mirror, Mirror | Getting Coordinated, Part 1 Getting Coordinated, Part 2 |
| MATHbook | Lasson 5: Half Turnsa and Quarter Turns | Getting Coordinated, Part 1 Getting Coordinated, Part 2 |
| MATHbook | Lesson 6: Every Which Way | Transformation Golf |
Topic 2: Dilations
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Pinch-Zoom Geometry | Sketchy Dilations |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Rising, Running, Stepping, Scaling | Dilation Mini Golf |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: From Here to There | Social Scavenger Hunt |
Topic 3: Line and Angle Relationships
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Crisscrsoss Applesauce | Puzzling It Out |
Topic 1: Rigid Motion in the Coordinate Plane
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Experimenting with Rigid Motion | Moving Day |
Module 2: Modeling Linear Relationships
Topic 1: From Proportions to Linear Relationships
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill | Turtle Time Trials |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Up, Down, and All Around | Translations |
Topic 2: Modeling Linear Relationships
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Been There, Done That, Got the T-shirt | Water Cooler |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Dining, Dancing, Driving | Flags Ups and Downs |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Derby Day | Stacking Cups (Optional) |
Topic 3: Systems of Linear Equations
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Crossing Paths | Make Them Balance |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: The Road Less Traveled | Line Zapper |
Topic 11: Solving Linear Equations with Variables on Both Sides
| MATHia | Lesson 3: Solving with Variables on Both Sides with Rationals | Equation Roundtable |
Module 3: Developing Function Foundations
Topic 1: Introduction to Functions
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Patterns, Sequences, Rules… | Guess My Rule |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Once Upon a Graph | Turtle Crossing |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Over the River and Through the Woods | The Tortoise and the Hare Scatter Plot City Interpreting Slopes |
Topic 2: Patterns in Bivariate Data
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: Pass the Squeeze | Robots |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Off the Chain | Dapper Cats |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: Mia is Growing Like a Weed | Find the FIt (called Fit Fights in Desmos Math) |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: The Stroop Test | Interpreting Scatter Plots |
| MATHbook | Lesson 5: Would You Rather…? | Finding Associations |
Topic 4: Drawing Lines of Best Fit
| MATHia | Lesson 1: Estimating Lines of Best Fit | Interpreting Slopes |
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Using Lines of Best Fit | Animal Brains |
Module 4: Expanding Number Systems
Topic 2: Pythagorean Theorem
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: The Right Connection | Triangle Tracing Turtle |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: Catty Corner | Taco Truck |
Topic 1: The Real Number System
| MATHia | Lesson 2: Graphing Real Numbers on the Number Line | Root Down |
Module 5: Applying Powers
Topic 1: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| MATHbook | Lesson 1: It’s a Generational Thing | Circles |
| MATHbook | Lesson 2: Show What You Know | Power Pairs |
| MATHbook | Lesson 3: The Big and Small of It | Specific and Scientific (formerly Solar System) |
| MATHbook | Lesson 4: How Much Larger? | Balance the Scale |
Topic 2: Volume of Curved Figures
Algebra 1
Module 1: Searching for Patterns
Topic 1: Quantities and Relationships
| Lesson 3: f of x, Recognizing Functions and Function Families | Craft-a-Graph Pumpkin Prices |
Topic 2: Sequences
| Lesson 1: Is there a Pattern Here? | Visual Patterns Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1 |
| Lesson 2: The Password is Operations! | Sequence Carnival Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 2 |
| Lesson 3: Did You Mean: Recursion? | More Visual Patterns |
Topic 3: Linear Regressions
| Lesson 1: Like a Glove | Penguin Populations |
| Lesson 2: Gotta Keep It Correlatin’ | Correlation Coefficient How Hot Is It? Behind the Headlines City Data |
| Lesson 3: The Residual Effect | Residual Fruit |
| Lesson 4: To Fit or Not To Fit? That Is the Question! | City Slopes |
Module 2: Exploring Constant Change
Topic 1: Linear Functions
| Lesson 1: Connecting the Dots | Plane, Train, and Automobile |
Topic 2: Solving Linear Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 1: Strike a Balance | Working Backwards Solving Strategies Same Position |
| Lesson 2: It’s Literally About Literal Equations | Subway Seats Various Variables Shelley the Snail Five Representations |
| Lesson 3: Not All Statements Are Made Equal | Pizza Delivery |
Topic 3: Systems of Equations and Inequalities
| Lesson 1: Double the Fun | Shape It Up Lizard Lines |
| Lesson 3: Throwing Shade | Seeking Solutions |
| Lesson 4: Working with Constraints | Quilts |
Module 3: Investigating Growth and Decay
Topic 1: Introduction to Exponential Functions
| Lesson 2: The Power Within | Carlos’s Fish |
Topic 2: Using Exponential Equations
| Lesson 4: BAC is BAD News | Detroit’s Population, Part 1 Detroit’s Population, Part 2 |
Module 4: Describing Distributions
Topic 1: One-Variable Statistics
| Lesson 2: A Skewed Reality | Finding Desmo |
Module 5: Maximizing and Minimizing
Topic 1: Introduction to Quadratic Functions
| Lesson 1: Up and Down or Down and Up | Quadratic Visual Patterns On the Fence Stomp Rockets Plenty of Parabolas Robot Launch |
| Lesson 2: Endless Forms Most Beautiful | Parabola Zapper Two for One Shooting Stars |
| Lesson 4: You Lose Some, You Lose Some | Sorting Relationships |
Topic 2: Solving Quadratic Equations
| Lesson 4: The Missing Link | Square Tactic |
| Lesson 5: The Quadratic Formula | Stomp Rockets in Space |
Disclaimer
This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Grade 6
Unit 1: Expressions and Equations: Area, Algebraic Expressions, and Exponents
| iReady Classroom | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Find the Area of a Parallelogram | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Off the Grid |
| Lesson 2: Find the Area of Triangles and Other Polygons | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Off the Grid, Part 2 Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Use Nets to Find Surface Area | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Work with Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Vari-apples |
| Lesson 5: Write and Evaluate Expressions with Exponents | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Hanging it Up Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Find Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple | Unit 5 Lesson 14: Common Multiples Lesson 15: Common Factors Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Unit 2: Decimals and Fractions: Base-Ten Operations, Division with Fractions, and Volume
Unit 3: Ratio Reasoning: Ratio Concepts and Equivalent Ratios
| Lesson 12: Understand Ratio Concepts | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 13: Find Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 3: Rice Ratios (Print available) Lesson 4: Fruit Lab [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Balancing Act Lesson 9: Disaster Preparation [Free lesson] Lesson 10: Balloons Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 14: Use Part-to-Part and Part-to-Whole Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1 Lesson 12: Mixing Paint, Part 2 Lesson 13: City Planning |
Unit 4: Ratio Reasoning: Unit Rates and Percent
| Lesson 15: Understand Rate Concepts | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Counting Classrooms Lesson 3: Pen Pals |
| Lesson 16: Use Unit Rates to Solve Problems | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Welcome to Robot Factory Lesson 7: More Soft Serve Practice Day 1 (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 17: Understand Percents | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals Practice Day 2 |
| Lesson 18: Use Percents to Solve Problems | Unit 3 Lesson 10: What’s Missing Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals Lesson 13: A Country as a Village |
Unit 5: Algebraic Thinking: Equivalent Expressions and Equations with Variables
| Lesson 19: Write and Identify Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 7: Border Tiles Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 20: Understand Solutions of Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available) |
| Lesson 21: Write and Solve One-Variable Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Hanging Around Lesson 4: Hanging it Up Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available) |
| Lesson 22: Analyze Two-Variable Relationships | Unit 6 Lesson 13: Turtles All the Way Lesson 14: Representing Relationships Lesson 15: Connecting Relationships Lesson 16: Subway Fares [Free lesson] Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Unit 6: Positive and Negative Numbers: Absolute Value, Inequalities, and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 23: Understand Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig It [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Sub-Zero |
| Lesson 24: Order Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Digging Deeper Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 25: Understand Absolute Value | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 26: Write and Graph One-Variable Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 6: Tunnel Travels [Free lesson] Lesson 7: Comparing Weights Lesson 8: Shira’s Solutions |
| Lesson 27: Understand the Four-Quadrant Coordinate Plane | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Sand Dollar Search Lesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane Lesson 11: Polygon Maker Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 28: Solve Problems in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7 Lesson 12: Graph Telephone Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Unit 7: Statistical Thinking: Data Distributions and Measures of Center and Variability
| Lesson 29: Understand Statistical Questions and Data Distributions | Unit 8 Lesson 1: Screen Time |
| Lesson 30: Use Dot Plots and Histograms to Describe Data Distributions | Unit 8 Lesson 2: Dot Plots Lesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Lots More Dots Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson] Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 31: Interpret Median and Interquartile Range in Box Plots | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson] Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch Lesson 14: Car, Plan, Bus, or Train? Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2 Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 32: Interpret Mean and Mean Absolute Deviation | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Snack Time Lesson 8: Pop it! Lesson 9: Hoops Lesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 33: Use Measures of Center and Variability to Summarize Data | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available) |
Grade 7
Unit 1: Proportional Relationships: Ratios, Rates, and Circles
Unit 2: Numbers and Operations: Add and Subtract Rational Numbers
| Lesson 7: Understand Addition with Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 8: Add with Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson] Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors Lesson 3: Bumpers |
| Lesson 9: Understand Subtraction with Negative Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 10: Add and Subtract Positive and Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson] Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors Lesson 3: Bumpers Lesson 5: Number Puzzles Practice Day 1 (Print available) Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures |
Unit 3: Numbers and Operations: Multiply and Divide Rational Numbers
| Lesson 11: Understand Multiplication with Negative Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Floating in Groups Lesson 7: Back in Time |
| Lesson 12: Multiply and Divide with Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles |
| Lesson 13: Express Rational Numbers as Terminating or Repeating Decimals | Unit 4 Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available) |
| Lesson 14: Use the Four Operations with Negative Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Unit 4: Algebraic Thinking: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
| Lesson 15: Write Equivalent Expressions Involving Rational Numbers | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding Lesson 9: Always-Equal Machine |
| Lesson 16: Understand Reasons for Rewriting Expressions | |
| Lesson 17: Understand Multi-Step Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 5: Balancing Moves |
| Lesson 18: Write and Solve Multi-Step Equations | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Balancing Equations Lesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available) Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 19: Write and Solve Inequalities | Unit 6 Lesson 14: Unbalanced Hangers Lesson 15: Budgeting (Print available) Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson] Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Unit 5: Proportional Reasoning: Percents and Statistical Samples
| Lesson 20: Solve Problems Involving Percents | Unit 4 Lesson 7: Percent Machines [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Tax and Tip Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 21: Solve Problems Involving Percent Change and Percent Error | Unit 4 Lesson 5: All the Equations Lesson 6: 100% (Print available) Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available) Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available) Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder Practice Day (Print available) |
| Lesson 22: Understand Random Sampling | Unit 8 Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Mystery Bag |
| Lesson 23: Reason about Random Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 6: Fair Games Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 24: Compare Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Headlines Lesson 12: Flower Power Lesson 13: Plots and Samples Lesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available) Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Unit 6: Geometry: Solids, Triangles, and Angles
| Lesson 25: Solve Problems Involving Area and Surface Area | Unit 7 Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available) |
| Lesson 26: Solve Problems Involving Volume | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Simple Prisms Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 27: Describe Plane Sections of Three-Dimensional Figures | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Slicing Solids |
| Lesson 28: Find Unknown Angle Measures | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Pinwheels Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 29: Draw Plane Figures with Given Conditions | Unit 7 Lesson 6: Is It Enough Lesson 7: More Than One? Lesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
Unit 7: Probability: Theoretical Probability, Experimental Probability, and Compound Events
| Lesson 30: Understand Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 31: Solve Problems Involving Experimental Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Spin Class Lesson 5: Is It Fair? |
| Lesson 32: Solve Problems Involving Probability Models | Unit 8 Lesson 6: Fair Games |
| Lesson 33: Solve Problems Involving Compound Events | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Weather or Not Lesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
Grade 8
Unit 1: Geometric Figures: Rigid Transformations and Congruence
| iReady Classroom | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Understand Rigid Transformations and Their Properties | Unit 1 Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Transformation Golf |
| Lesson 2: Work with Single Rigid Transformations in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 8: No Bending, No Stretching Lesson 9: Are They Congruent? Practice Day (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Work with Sequences of Transformations and Congruence | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Transformation Golf |
Unit 2: Geometric Figures: Transformations, Similarity, and Angle Relationships
| Lesson 4: Understand Dilations and Similarity | Unit 2 Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Match My Dilation |
| Lesson 5: Perform and Describe Transformations Involving Dilations | Unit 2 Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane (Print available) Lesson 5: Transformations Golf With Dilations |
| Lesson 6: Describe Angle Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 7: Describe Angle Relationships in Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available) Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out [Free lesson] Unit 2 Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough? Lesson 8: Shadows |
Unit 3: Linear Relationships: Slope, Linear Equations, and Systems
Unit 4: Functions: Linear and Nonlinear Relationships
| Lesson 15: Understand Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Function or Not? |
| Lesson 16: Use Functions to Model Linear Relationships | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Window Frames Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Graphing Stories |
| Lesson 17: Compare Different Representations of Functions Lesson 18: Analyze Functional Relationships Qualitatively | Unit 5 Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson] |
Unit 5: Integer Exponents: Properties and Scientific Notation
| Lesson 19: Apply Exponent Properties for Positive Integer Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Combining Exponents Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers |
| Lesson 20: Apply Exponent Properties for All Integer Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Zero and Negative Exponents Lesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 21: Express Numbers Using Integer Powers of 10 | Unit 7 Lesson 7: Scales and Weights Lesson 8: Point Zapper Lesson 9: Use Your Powers |
| Lesson 22: Work with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Balance the Scale [Free lesson] Lesson 12: City Lights Lesson 13: Star Power |
Unit 6: Real Numbers: Rational Numbers, Irrational Numbers, and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 23: Find Square Roots and Cube Roots to Solve Problems | Unit 8 Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots Lesson 3: Between Squares Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Filling Cubes |
| Lesson 24: Express Rational Numbers as Fractions and Decimals | Unit 8 Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions |
| Lesson 25: Find Rational Approximations of Irrational Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 26: Understand the Pythagorean Theorem and its Converse | Unit 8 Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem |
| Lesson 27: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Make It Right Lesson 11: Pond Hopper Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 28: Solve Problems with Volumes of Cylinders, Cones, and Spheres | Lesson 10: Volume Lab Lesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson] Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders Lesson 13: Cones [Free lesson] Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) Lesson 15: Spheres |
Unit 7: Statistics: Two-Variable Data and Fitting a Linear Model
| Lesson 29: Analyze Scatter Plots and Fit a Linear Model to Data | Unit 6 Lesson 3: Robots [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson] Practice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Fit Fight [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 30: Write and Analyze an Equation for Fitting a Linear Model to Data | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes Lesson 7: Scatter Plot CityLesson 8: Animal Brains Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 31: Understand Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 32: Construct and Interpret Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Federal Budgets Practice Day 3 |
Grade 6
Module 1: Ratios and Rates
Module 2: Fractions, Decimals, and Percents
| Lesson 1: Understand Percents | Unit 3Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals |
| Lesson 2: Percents Greater Than 100% and Less Than 1% | |
| Lesson 3: Relate Fractions, Decimals, and Percents | Unit 5Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Grocery Prices (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Find the Percent of a Number | Unit 3Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available)Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown |
| Lesson 5: Estimate the Percent of a Number | |
| Lesson 6: Find the Whole | Unit 3Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available) |
Module 3: Compute with Multi-Digit Numbers and Fractions
| Lesson 1: Divide Multi-Digit Whole Numbers | Unit 5Lesson 8: Division DiagramsLesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)Lesson 11: Movie Time [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Budget Vehicles (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Compute with Multi-Digit Decimals | |
| Lesson 3: Divide Whole Numbers by Fractions | Unit 4Lesson 1: Cookie CutterLesson 2: Making Connections (Print available)Lesson 3: Flour Planner [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Flower PlantersPractice Day |
| Lesson 4: Divide Fractions by Fractions | Unit 4Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Break It DownLesson 8: Potting SoilLesson 9: Division ChallengesLesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Divide with Whole and Mixed Numbers | Unit 4Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson] |
Module 4: Integers, Rational Numbers, and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 1: Represent Integers | Unit 7Lesson 1: Can You Dig It [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Sub-Zero |
| Lesson 2: Opposites and Absolute Value | Unit 7Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line |
| Lesson 3: Compare and Order Integers | Unit 7Lesson 2: Digging DeeperLesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 4: Rational Numbers | Unit 7Lesson 2: Digging Deeper |
| Lesson 5: The Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 9: Sand Dollar SearchLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane |
| Lesson 6: Graph Reflections of Points | |
| Lesson 7: Absolute Value and Distance | Unit 7Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line |
Module 5: Numerical and Algebraic Expressions
| Lesson 1: Powers and Exponents | Unit 6Lesson 10: PowersLesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Numerical Expressions | Unit 6Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Write Algebraic Expressions Lesson 4: Evaluate Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6Lesson 6: Vari-applesLesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available)Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes |
| Lesson 5: Factors and Multiples | Unit 5Lesson 15: Common FactorsLesson 14: Common Multiples |
| Lesson 6: Use the Distributive Property | Unit 6Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Equivalent Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 6: Vari-apples |
Module 6: Relationships in Geometry
| Lesson 1: Use Substitution to Solve One-Step Equations | |
| Lesson 2: One-Step Addition Equations Lesson 3: One-Step Subtraction Equations | Unit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: One-Step Multiplication Equations | Unit 6Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available)Lesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and Solve |
| Lesson 5: One-Step Division Equations | Unit 6Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel [Free lesson] Lesson 7: Comparing Weights Lesson 8: Shira’s Solutions |
Module 7: Relationships Between Two Variables
| Lesson 1: Relationships Between Two Variables Lesson 2: Write Equations to Represent Relationships Represented in Tables | Unit 6Lesson 13: Turtles All the WayLesson 14: Representing RelationshipsLesson 15: Connecting Representations (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Graphs of Relationships | Unit 6Lesson 14: Representing Relationships |
| Lesson 4: Multiple Representations | Unit 6Lesson 13: Turtles All the WayLesson 14: Representing RelationshipsLesson 15: Connecting Representations (Print available)Lesson 16: Subway fares (Print available) [Free lesson]Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 8: Area
| Lesson 1: Area of Parallelograms | Unit 1Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Off the GridLesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms |
| Lesson 2: Area of Triangles | Unit 1Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available)Lesson 6: Triangles and ParallelogramsLesson 7: Off the Grid, Part 2Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Area of Trapezoids | |
| Lesson 4: Area of Regular Polygons | Unit 1Lesson 8: Pile of PolygonsPractice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Polygons in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7Lesson 11: Polygon Maker |
Module 9: Volume and Surface Area
| Lesson 1: Volume of Rectangular Prisms | Unit 4Lesson 13: Volume Challenges |
| Lesson 2: Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms | Unit 1Lesson 9: Renata’s Stickers [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available)Lesson 12: Face ValueLesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Surface Area of Triangular Prisms | |
| Lesson 4: Surface Area of Pyramids | Unit 1Lesson 12: Face ValueLesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 10: Statistical Measures and Displays
| Lesson 1: Statistical Questions | Unit 8Lesson 1: Screen TimeLesson 2: Dot PlotsLesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Lots More Dots |
| Lesson 2: Dot Plots and Histograms | Unit 8Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson]Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Measures of Center | Unit 8Lesson 7: Snack TimeLesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available)Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson]Lesson 12: In the NewsLesson 13: Pumpkin PatchPractice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Interquartile Range and Box Plots | Unit 8Lesson 13: Pumpkin PatchLesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2 |
| Lesson 5: Mean Absolute Deviation | Unit 8Lesson 9: HoopsLesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Outliers | |
| Lesson 7: Interpret Graphical Displays | Unit 8Lesson 2: Dot PlotsLesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Lots More Dots |
Grade 7
Module 1: Proportional Relationships
Module 2: Solve Percent Problems
| Lesson 1: Percent of Change | Unit 4Lesson 4: More and LessLesson 5: All the EquationsLesson 6: 100% (Print available)Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Tax | Unit 4Lesson 8: Tax and Tip |
| Lesson 3: Tips and Markups | Unit 4Lesson 4: More and LessLesson 5: All the EquationsLesson 6: 100% (Print available)Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Discounts | Unit 4Lesson 4: More and LessLesson 5: All the EquationsLesson 6: 100% (Print available)Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 5: Interest | |
| Lesson 6: Commission and Fees | |
| Lesson 7: Percent Error | Unit 4Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder |
Module 3: Operations with Integers
| Lesson 1: Add Integers Lesson 2: Subtract Integers | Unit 5Lesson 2: More Floats and AnchorsLesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Number PuzzlesLesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Changing TemperaturesLesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Multiply Integers | Unit 5Lesson 6: Floating in GroupsLesson 7: Back in TimeLesson 8: Speeding TurtlesLesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Divide Integers | Unit 5Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles |
| Lesson 5: Apply Integers Operations | Unit 5Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] |
Module 4: Operations with Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Rational Numbers | Unit 4Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Add Rational Numbers Lesson 3: Subtract Rational Numbers | Unit 5Lesson 3: BumpersLesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Number PuzzlesLesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Changing TemperaturesLesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Multiply Rational Numbers | Unit 5Lesson 6: Floating in GroupsLesson 7: Back in TimeLesson 8: Speeding TurtlesLesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 5: Divide Rational Numbers | Unit 5Lesson 8: Speeding TurtlesLesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Apply Rational Numbers Operations | Unit 5Lesson 11: Changing TemperaturesLesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) |
Module 5: Simplify Algebraic Expressions
| Lesson 1: Simplify Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6Lesson 9: Always-Equal MachinesUnit 5Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Add Linear Expressions Lesson 3: Subtract Linear Expressions | Unit 6Lesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Solve Inequalities Using Addition or Subtraction | Unit 6Lesson 14: Unbalanced HangersLesson 15 Budgeting (Print available)Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Factor Linear Expressions | Unit 6Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding (Print available)Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Combine Operations with Linear Expressions |
Module 6: Write and Solve Equations
| Lesson 1: Write and Solve One-Step Equations | Unit 6Lesson 3: EquationsLesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)Lesson 14: Unbalanced HangersLesson 15: BudgetingLesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Solve Two-Step Equations: px + q = r Lesson 3: Write and Solve Two-Step Equations: px + q = r Lesson 4: Solve Two-Step Equations: p(x + q) = r Lesson 5: Write and Solve Two-Step Equations: p(x + q) = r | Unit 6Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)Lesson 6: Balancing EquationsLesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available)Lesson 12: Community Day (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
Module 7: Write and Solve Inequalities
| Lesson 1: Solve One-Step Addition and Subtraction Inequalities Lesson 2: Write and Solve One-Step Addition and Subtraction Inequalities Lesson 3: Solve One-Step Multiplication and Division Inequalities Lesson 4: Solve One-Step Multiplication and Division Inequalities with Negative Coefficients | Unit 6Lesson 14: Unbalanced HangersLesson 15: Budgeting (Print available)Lesson 16: Shira the SheepLesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Write and Solve One-Step Multiplication and Division Inequalities | Unit 6Lesson 15: Budgeting (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Write and Solve Two-Step Inequalities | Unit 6Lesson 15: Budgeting (Print available)Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 8: Geometric Figures
| Lesson 1: Vertical and Adjacent Angles | Unit 7Lesson 3: Angle DiagramsLesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Complementary and Supplementary Angles | Unit 7Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Triangles | Unit 7Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Scale Drawings | Unit 1Lesson 1: Scaling Machines [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Scaling RobotsLesson 3: Make It ScaleLesson 4: Scale Factor ChallengesLesson 5: TilesLesson 6: Introducing ScaleLesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Scaling States (Print available)Lesson 9: Scaling BuildingsLesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) Unit 4Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes |
| Lesson 5: Three Dimensional Figures | Unit 7Lesson 9: Slicing Solids |
Module 9: Measure Figures
| Lesson 1: Circumference of Circles | Unit 3Lesson 2: Is It a Circle?Lesson 3: Measuring Around [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Perimeter ChallengesPractice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Area of Circles | Unit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)Lesson 7: Why Pi?Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Circle vs. SquarePractice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Area of Composite Figures | Unit 3Lesson 4: Perimeter Challenges |
| Lesson 4: Volume | Unit 7Lesson 10: Simple PrismsLesson 11: More Complicated PrismsLesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Lesson 5: Surface Area | Unit 7Lesson 10: Simple PrismsLesson 11: More Complicated PrismsLesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available)Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Lesson 6: Volume and Surface Area of Composite Figures | Unit 3Lesson 4: Perimeter ChallengesLesson 5: Area Strategies Unit 7Lesson 11: More Complicated PrismsLesson 13: Popcorn PossibilitiesPractice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 10: Probability
| Lesson 1: Find Likelihoods Lesson 2: Relative Frequency of Simple Events Lesson 3: Theoretical Probability of Events | Unit 8Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Mystery Bag |
| Lesson 4: Compare Probabilities of Simple Events | Unit 8Lesson 4: Spin ClassLesson 5: Is It Fair? |
| Lesson 5: Probability of Compound Events | Unit 8Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate It |
| Lesson 6: Simulate Chance Events | Unit 8Lesson 8: Simulate ItPractice Day 1 (Print available) |
Module 11: Sampling and Statistics
| Lesson 1: Biased and Unbiased Samples | Unit 8Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 2: Make Predictions Lesson 3: Generate Multiple Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: HeadlinesLesson 12: Flower Power |
| Lesson 4: Compare Two Populations | Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesLesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Assess Visual Overlap | Unit 8Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesPractice Day 2 (Print available) |
Grade 8
Module 1: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Reveal Math | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Powers and Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Circles [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Combining Exponents |
| Lesson 2: Multiply and Divide Monomials | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Combining ExponentsLesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Rewriting PowersLesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Power of Monomials | Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Rewriting PowersLesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Zero and Negative Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Zero and Negative ExponentsLesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Star Power |
| Lesson 6: Compute with Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]Lesson 12: City LightsLesson 13: Star PowerPractice Day 2 (Print available) |
Module 2: Real Numbers
| Lesson 1: Terminating and Repeating Decimals | Unit 8 Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions |
| Lesson 2: Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots Lesson 3: Between Squares Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson] Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Real Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 14: Hit the Target |
| Lesson 4: Estimate Irrational Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 3: Between Squares |
| Lesson 5: Compare and Order Real Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 14: Hit the Target |
Module 3: Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side
| Lesson 1: Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side | Unit 3 Lesson 3: Posters Lesson 6: Translations Lesson 10: Solutions Lesson 11: Pennies and Quarters Unit 4 Lesson 3: Balanced Moves Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available) Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Write and Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side Lesson 3: Solve Multi-Step Equations Lesson 4: Write and Solve Multi-Step Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Balanced Moves Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available) Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Determine the Number of Solutions | Lesson 7: All, Some, or None? |
Module 4: Linear Relationships and Slope
Module 5: Functions
| Lesson 1: Identify Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Function or Not? |
| Lesson 2: Function Tables | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Window Frames Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Construct Linear Functions | Unit 2 Lesson 9: Water Slide Lesson 10: Points on a Plane Unit 3 Lesson 3: Posters Lesson 4: Stacking Cups Lesson 5: Flags Lesson 6: Translations |
| Lesson 4: Compare Functions | Unit 3 Lesson 7: (Print available)Feel the Burn |
| Lesson 5: Nonlinear Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Window Frames Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 6: Qualitative Graphs | Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson] |
Module 6: Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Solve Systems of Equations by Graphing | Unit 4 Lesson 9: On or Off the Line? Lesson 10: On Both Lines Lesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson] Lesson 12: Line Zapper Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2 (Print available)Practice Day 2 |
| Lesson 2: Determine Number of Solutions | Unit 4 Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2 |
| Lesson 3: Solve Systems of Equations by Substitution | |
| Lesson 4: Solve Systems of Equations by Elimination | |
| Lesson 5: Write and Solve Systems of Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 14: Strategic Solving, Part 2 (Print available) |
Module 7: Triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 1: Angle Relationships and Parallel Lines | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles |
| Lesson 2: Angle Relationships and Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: The Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8Lesson 6: The Pythagorean TheoremLesson 7: Pictures to Prove It |
| Lesson 4: Converse of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8Lesson 9: Make It Right |
| Lesson 5: Distance on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 8Lesson 11: Pond HopperPractice day 2 (Print available) |
Module 8: Transformations
| Lesson 1: Translations Lesson 2: Reflections Lesson 3: Rotations | Unit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated |
| Lesson 4: Dilations | Unit 2Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Dilation Mini-Golf [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Match My Dilation |
Module 9: Congruence and Similarity
| Lesson 1: Congruence and Transformations Lesson 2: Congruence and Corresponding Parts | Unit 1 Lesson 7: Are They the Same?Lesson 9: Are They Congruent? |
| Lesson 3: Similarity and Transformations | Unit 2Lesson 5: Transformations Golf with DilationsLesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 4: Similarity and Corresponding Parts | Unit 2Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough?Lesson 8: Shadows |
| Lesson 5: Indirect Measurement | Unit 2Lesson 8: Shadows |
Module 10: Volume
| Lesson 1: Volume of Cylinders | Unit 5Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders |
| Lesson 2: Volume of Cones | Unit 5Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 13: Cones [Free lesson]Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Volume of Spheres | Unit 5Lesson 15: Spheres |
| Lesson 4: Finding Missing Dimensions | Unit 5Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Volume of Composite Solids | Unit 5Lesson 15: Spheres |
Module 11: Scatter Plots and Two-Way Tables
| Lesson 1: Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Click BattleLesson 2: Wing SpanLesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Scatter Plot CityPractice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Draw Lines of Fit | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Fit Fights [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Interpreting SlopesLesson 8: Animal BrainsPractice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Equations for Lines of Fit | |
| Lesson 4: Two-Way Tables | Unit 6Lesson 9: Tasty FruitLesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 5: Associations in Two-Way Tables | Unit 6Lesson 9: Tasty FruitLesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Federal Budgets |
Grade 6
Chapter 1: Use Positive Rational Numbers
Chapter 2: Integers and Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Understand Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Can You Dig it In [Free lesson] Lesson 4 Sub-Zero |
| Lesson 2: Represent Rational Numbers on the Number Line | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Digging Deeper Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson] Practice Day 1 |
| Lesson 3: Absolute Values of Rational Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Represent Rational Numbers on the Coordinate Plane | |
| Lesson 5: Find Distances on the Coordinate Plane Lesson 6: Represent Polygons on the Coordinate Plane | Unit 7 Lesson 11: Polygon Maker |
Chapter 3: Numeric and Algebraic Expressions
| Lesson 1: Understand and Represent Exponents | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Powers Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Find Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple | Unit 5 Lesson 14: Common Multiples Lesson 15: Common Factors Practice Day 2 |
| Lesson 3: Write and Evaluate Numerical Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Vari-apples Lesson 7: Border Tiles |
| Lesson 4: Write Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Vari-apples Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Evaluate Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Vari-apples Lesson 7: Border Tiles Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes |
| Lesson 6: Generate Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 7: Border Tiles Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Simplify Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 7: Border Tiles |
Chapter 4: Represent and Solve Equations and Inequalities
Chapter 5: Understand and Use Ratio and Rate
Chapter 6: Understand and Use Percent
| Lesson 1: Understand Percent | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Relate Fractions, Decimals, and Percents | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Grocery Prices (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Represent Percents Greater Than 100 or Less than 1 | |
| Lesson 4: Estimate to Find Percent | |
| Lesson 5: Find the Percent of a Number Lesson 6: Find the Whole Given a Part and the Percent | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals Lesson 10: What’s Missing? Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals Practice Day 2 (Print Available) |
Chapter 7: Solve Area, Surface Area, and Volume Problems
Chapter 8: Display, Describe, and Summarize data
Grade 7
Chapter 1: Rational Number Operations
Chapter 2: Analyze and Use Proportional Relationships
| Lesson 1: Connect Ratios, Rates, and Unit Rates | |
| Lesson 2: Determine Unit Rates with Ratios of Fractions | |
| Lesson 3: Understand Proportional Relationships: Equivalent Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Balloon Float |
| Lesson 4: Describe Proportional Relationships: Constant of Proportionality | Unit 2 Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available) Lesson 4: Robot Factory Lesson 5: Snapshots Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations Lesson 10: Three Turtles Practice Day (Print available) Unit 3 Lesson 1 Circumference of a Circle |
| Lesson 5: Graph Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge Lesson 10: Three Turtles Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Apply Proportional Reasoning to Solve Problems | Unit 2 Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available) Lesson 12: Water Efficiency |
Chapter 3: Analyze and Solve Percent Problems
| Lesson 1: Analyze Percents of Numbers Lesson 2: Connect Percent and Proportion | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Represent and Use the Percent Equation | |
| Lesson 4: Solve Percent Change and Percent Error Problems | Unit 4 Lesson 4: More and Less Lesson 5: All the Equations Lesson 6: 100% (Print available) Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Tax and Tip Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available) Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available) Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 5: Solve Markup and Markdown Problems | Unit 4 Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Tax and Tip Lesson 9: Minimum Wage Lesson 10: Cost of College Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson] Practice Day (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Solve Simple Interest Problems |
Chapter 4: Generate Equivalent Expressions
| Lesson 1: Write and Evaluate Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Always-Equal Machines Unit 5 Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Generate Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Always-Equal Machines Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Simplify Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Always-Equal Machines Lesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 4: Expand Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 6: Balancing Equations Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding Lesson 9: Always-Equal Machines (Print available) Lesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Factor Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Add Expressions Lesson 7: Subtract Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 8: Analyze Equivalent Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
Chapter 5: Solve Problems Using Equations and Inequalities
Chapter 6: Use Sampling to Draw Inferences About Populations
| Lesson 1: Populations and Samples | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 2: Draw Inferences from Data | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Simulate It Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Headlines Lesson 12: Flower Power |
| Lesson 3: Make Comparative Inferences About Populations Lesson 4: Make More Comparative Inferences About Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 13: Plots and Samples Lesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available) Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) |
Chapter 7: Probability
| Lesson 1: Understand Likelihood and Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 1 How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 2 Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson] Lesson 3 Mystery Bag |
| Lesson 2: Understand Theoretical Probability Lesson 3: Understand Experimental Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Spin Class Lesson 5: Is It Fair? Lesson 6: Fair Games |
| Lesson 4: Use Probability Models | Unit 8 Lesson 6: Fair Games Lesson 7: Weather or Not Lesson 8: Simulate It Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Determine Outcomes of Compound Events | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Find Probabilities of Compound Events Lesson 7: Simulate Compound Events | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Simulate It Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print Available) |
Chapter 8: Solve Problems Involving Geometry
Grade 8
Chapter 1: Real Numbers
Chapter 2: Analyze and Solve Linear Equations
Chapter 3: Use Functions to Model Relationships
| Lesson 1: Understand Relations and Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Connect Representations of Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Function or Not? Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Compare Linear and Nonlinear Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Window Frames |
| Lesson 4: Construct Functions to Model Linear Relationships | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Graphing Stories Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Intervals of Increase and Decrease | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Graphing Stories |
| Lesson 6: Sketch Functions from Verbal Descriptions | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Graphing Stories |
Chapter 4: Investigate Bivariate Data
| Lesson 1: Construct and Interpret Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Click Battle Lesson 2: Wing Span Lesson 3: Robots [Free lesson] Practice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Analyze Linear Association | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Fit Fights [Free lesson] Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City |
| Lesson 3: Use Linear Models to Make Predictions | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes Lesson 8: Animal Brains Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Interpret Two-Way Frequency Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit |
| Lesson 5: Interpret Two-Way Relative Frequency Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Federal Budgets Practice Day 3 |
Chapter 5: Analyze and Solve Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Estimate Solutions by Inspection | Unit 4 Lesson 7: All, Some, or None? Lesson 8: When Are They the Same? Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2 |
| Lesson 2: Solve Systems by Graphing | Unit 4 Lesson 9: On or Off the Line? Lesson 10: On Both Lines Lesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson] Lesson 12: Line Zapper [Free lesson] Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Solve Systems by Substitution | |
| Lesson 4: Solve Systems by Elimination |
Chapter 6: Congruence and Similarity
Chapter 7: Understand and Apply the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 1: Understand the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Understand the Converse of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Make It Right |
| Lesson 3: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to Solve Problems | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson] Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Find Distance in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 8 Lesson 11: Pond Hopper |
Chapter 8: Solve Problems Involving Surface Area and Volume
| Lesson 1: Find Surface Area of Three-Dimensional Figures | |
| Lesson 2: Find Volume of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Volume Lab Lesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson] Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Find Volume of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 13: Cones [Free lesson] Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Find Volume of Spheres | Unit 5 Lesson 15: Spheres Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Top 10 Science of Reading podcasts to get you started
Since 2019, Science of Reading: The Podcast has delivered the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Hosted by Amplify’s Chief Academic Officer Susan Lambert, each episode welcomes a renowned leader in the education and literacy community, explores a timely topic related to the Science of Reading, and offers instructional advice to educators implementing evidence-based practices in their schools.
New to the podcast? Here are 10 popular episodes to acquaint yourself with the Science of Reading. Listen, enjoy, and subscribe — we have new episodes every other Wednesday!
S1-E1: Natalie Wexler on “The Knowledge Gap”
Susan hosts Natalie Wexler for a deep dive into her latest book, The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System—And How to Fix It, and a discussion of the lack of equity in reading education among students, the benefits of knowledge-rich curriculum inside and beyond the classroom, why it’s important to build background knowledge while teaching foundational skills, and why professional development doesn’t seem to be making a difference and how it can be improved.
S1-E3: Emily Hanford on reporting on education and the Science of Reading
Susan sits down with Emily Hanford, education reporter and host of the Education Post podcast, to examine the big takeaways from her experience reporting on dyslexia and the patterns that emerged in her investigation; why reading instruction isn’t more aligned with the Science of Reading; and the evolution of whole language, balanced literacy, and phonics instruction.
S1-E8: Tim Shanahan on evidence-based literacy practices
Reading expert Tim Shanahan discusses his view on teaching reading, including an explanation of the four crucial things you need to teach reading, and what it means to really do a “close read” in literature.
S3-E1: Dr. Jane Oakhill on Scarborough’s Reading Rope
Dive into the first episode of our Deconstructing the Rope series as Dr. Jane Oakhill, professor of experimental psychology at the University of Sussex, provides an overview of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. She also emphasizes the importance of inferencing in comprehension, why the Simple View of Reading is still relevant almost 40 years later, and how each element of the Rope comes together to deconstruct the complexity of reading.
S3-E3: Dr. Louisa Moats on decoding
Join Dr. Louisa Moats, President of Moats Associates Consulting, as she unwinds decoding, a strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. In the third episode of our Deconstructing the Rope series, Louisa highlights the significance of decoding in the Science of Reading and discusses the value of becoming students of our own language. She also explains the reciprocal relationship between decoding and encoding and why both are essential to provide effective phonics instruction to children in the classroom.
S2-E7: Sonia Cabell on research, comprehension, and content-rich literacy instruction
Join Sonia Cabell, Assistant Professor of Education at Florida State University, as she shares findings from her research trials on content-rich literacy curricula and whether activating students’ background knowledge alongside explicit phonics instruction is more effective than traditional approaches. She also explains what constitutes “compelling evidence” in the Science of Reading and why students need to interact with both written and spoken language while learning to read.
S3-E5: Dr. Bruce McCandliss on sight recognition
Join Dr. Bruce McCandliss, Professor at the Graduate School of Education of Stanford University, as he unwinds sight recognition, a strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. In the fifth episode of our series, Bruce explains the role of sight and word recognition in the Science of Reading and highlights the importance of the rapid integration of print, speech, and meaning. He also encourages listeners to be cognizant of the ever-changing technological learning environment while nurturing young readers and writers.
S2-E1: Dr. LaTonya Goffney on a district-wide SoR adoption
Join Dr. LaTonya Goffney, Superintendent of Schools for Aldine Independent School District in Texas, as she recounts her two-year journey with her team of district educators to adopt a new early literacy curriculum. Hear how they successfully challenged the traditional adoption process, studied the science of teaching reading, analyzed student data and experiences, and developed a district-wide set of beliefs and expectations.
S3-E7: Maria Murray on The Reading League’s Defining Movement
In this special episode, Dr. Maria Murray, President, and CEO of The Reading League analyze the intricacies of literacy instruction and shares common misconceptions that educators have about the Science of Reading. She also explains why the Science of Reading: A Defining Movement coalition was founded: the belief in a clear understanding of what the Science of Reading is and what it is not, in order to promote the proper use of instructional practices aligned with its findings.
S3-05: Thinking is power
Join us as we sit down with Melanie Trecek-King, college professor and creator of Thinking is Power, to explore how much of an asset science can truly be in developing the skills students need to navigate the real world. You’ll learn about “fooling” students and the importance of developing critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy in the classroom. We’ll also share real strategies and lesson examples that help build these essential skills and engage students in learning.
And don’t forget to grab your Science Connections study guide to track your learning and find additional resources!
We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!
Melanie Trecek-King (00:00):
We say knowledge is power, but it’s not enough to know things. And there’s too much to know. So being able to think and not fall for someone’s bunk is my goal for my students.
Eric Cross (00:12):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. On this third season, we’ve been talking about science’s underdog status. And just this past March at the NSTA conference in Atlanta, I had the chance to speak with science educators from around the country about this very topic.
Hermia Simanu (00:28):
Right now, there’s only two teachers in our high school teaching science.
Shane Dongilli (00:32):
I have 45 minutes once a week with each class. The focus is reading and math.
Alexis Tharpe (00:38):
Oftentimes science gets put by the wayside. And you know, I love math and I love my language arts, but I also think science needs to place be placed on that high pedestal as well.
Askia Little (00:46):
In fifth grade, oh, they teach science, because that’s the only grade that it’s tested.
Eric Cross (00:50):
That was Hermia Simanu from American Samoa. Her team flew for three days to make it to the conference. You also heard from Shane Dongilli from North Carolina, Alexis Tharpe from Virginia, and Askia Little from Texas. All of these teachers were excited to be at the conference and had a lot to say about the state of science education in their local schools. Throughout this season, we’ve been trying to make the case for science, showing how science can be utilized more effectively in the classroom. We’ve explored the evidence showing that science supports literacy instruction. We’ve talked about science and the responsible use of technology like AI. My hope is that all of you listeners out there can use some of this evidence to feel empowered to make the case for science in your own communities. And on this episode, we’re going to examine how science can help develop what might be the most important skill that we try to develop in our students: Good thinking. On this episode, I’m joined by a biologist who actually advocated for eliminating the Intro to Bio course at her college. Instead, Professor Trecek-King created a new course focused on critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. In this conversation, we discuss why the science classroom is such a good environment for helping students become better thinkers. Now, I don’t think that you can make a much stronger argument for science than using it to develop the skills that Melanie describes in this conversation. So, without further ado, I’m thrilled to bring you this conversation with Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, and creator of Thinking Is Power. Here’s Melanie.
Eric Cross (02:29):
Well, Melanie, thank you for joining us on the show. It’s so good to have you.
Melanie Trecek-King (02:34):
I am so happy to be here.
Eric Cross (02:35):
Now, I went to your session at NSTA in Chicago … I think it was two years ago. A couple years ago. And I was listening to your session, and as I was listening to you, I started Reverse Engineering in my mind what you were doing with your college students. I started reverse engineering the K–8. I was like, “This is amazing.” Where has what you’ve been doing been hiding? We need this not just in the college, higher ed. We need this all the way up and down. Because I hadn’t seen it before. So I think a good place for us to start is gonna be like the story of how and why you as a biologist wound up making the case to actually eliminate the Intro to Biology course at your college. So can you start off and tell us a little bit about that story?
Melanie Trecek-King (03:20):
Sure. So I started teaching at a community college in Massachusetts. And I absolutely love teaching at a community college. And I was teaching the courses that people who don’t wanna be scientists when they grow up have to take to fulfill their science requirement. And that course was Intro Bio. And I tried every way I could figure out to make that class be useful,] relevant to students. I mean, the thing is, our world is based on science and you have to understand science to be a good consumer of information, to make good decisions. And I’m a biologist, so it pains me to say this, but you know, somewhere in the middle of teaching students about the stages of mitosis and protein synthesis, I thought, “Is this really — like, if I have one semester that’s gonna be the last chance that someone’s gonna get a science education, is this really what they need?” And I just decided, “No.” So, to my college’s credit, they were very supportive. I went to them and said, “You know, I think we should assess the non-majors courses. Like, why do we teach non-majors science?” And we all agreed, well, it was for science literacy. OK, great. Do our existing non-majors courses do that? And so we evaluated each of the courses. I made a case that Intro Bio was not doing it. And so we actually replaced it with a course that I call Science for Life. And the whole course is designed to teach science literacy, critical thinking, and information literacy skills.
Eric Cross (04:48):
And so you did this while you were looking at mitosis. And you’re looking at students who may or may not be science majors. And then kind of asking that question. I know every educator asks this, and whether or not it’s welcomed or supported is a different question: “Is what I’m teaching actually gonna be relevant and useful later on down the road for this group of students?” And you actually got to run with it and then create this course, this new course. So, what were the skills that you were hoping to achieve with the new course you developed, and and why were those skills so important?
Melanie Trecek-King (05:21):
Well, if I just go back for a second to what you said, ’cause it, really hit me: I remember the actual moment — it had been building up to that point, but the actual moment that it hit me — I was teaching students the stages of mitosis. And I was applying it to cancer, because the thought is that if we use issues that are relevant to students to teach concepts, that it will be more meaningful to them. They’ll learn it better; they’ll be able to apply it. And they just looked absolutely deflated. They didn’t wanna be there. And I had this moment where I thought, “You know, if, if these students ever have cancer somewhere in their lives, is what I taught them going to be something that they remember? Is it going to be useful to them?” And quite frankly, like, no. <Laugh> They’re not gonna remember proto-oncogenes. And quite frankly, is that really what they need to know at that moment? What they need to know is, “What does this mean? Who is a reliable source of information here? If these treatments are recommended, what is the evidence for them? What are the cost-benefit analyses? Where do I go to find reliable information?” And in that space, cancer in particular, we have this whole field of — I wanna say charlatans, ’cause they may not actually be lying, but they’re pedaling false cures, false hopes. And people need that kind of hope, and so in their time of need, they’re more likely to fall for that kind of thing. Which leads me to the skills that I teach students. I call them this tree of skills. And the order is important. I start — and there’s a lot of overlap to be fair — but critical thinking, and then information literacy, and science literacy. The idea is that students carry in their pockets access to basically all of human’s knowledge at this moment in time. And if they needed to access it, they could. The question is, do they know what they’re looking for? Are they aware of their own biases that are leading them to certain sources, or certain false hopes? Are there certain things that are making them more vulnerable to the people that might prey on them? Are they able to use that information to make good decisions? There’s a great Carl Sagan quote, and it’s something like, “If we teach people only the findings of science, no matter how useful or even inspiring they may be, without communicating the method, then how is anyone to be able to tell the difference between science and pseudoscience?” So yes, the process of science is a process of critical thinking. However, we do tend to present science most of the time. Like, here’s what science has learned. And to be fair, those things that we’ve learned from science are really useful and inspiring. But if we don’t teach the process, so you’ve got somebody now who let’s say has been diagnosed with cancer and is on their phone and they’re scrolling through social media and everything looks the same. And of course the algorithms learn who you are. Next thing you know, there’s all of these like pseudo-treatments popping up. It all looks the same. Somebody who says that acupuncture can be used to cure cancer can feel the same, from someone who doesn’t understand the process of science, as a medical fact. And so the process is the process of critical thinking. My class everything is open note. The quizzes are open note. The exams — and I say open note, they’re also open online, because I know for the rest of their life they’re gonna have resources available to them; I want them to be good consumers with that information, which to me requires metacognition and critical thinking and information literacy and all those skills that I’m trying to teach them.
Eric Cross (08:58):
You’re basically taking what … we’ve taught science for so long. And more recently, it’s changed to more focusing on skills. At least in K through 12. But a lot of it was just memorization of a ton of different things that now we can pull up our phone, go on the internet. You can pull up a lot of those facts. But those facts don’t necessarily translate to actual real-world skills. When I listen to… I kind of make this analogy sometimes: students say … it’s funny, I have 12-year-olds that say this. They go, “How come they don’t teach us how to do our taxes?” And you know they’re regurgitating what they hear from adults, right? “Teach us real-world skills!” And I was like, really, if we taught you right now how to do your taxes, how many of you would really be like, “Oh, this is an awesome lesson! We’re really engaged!” But their point is that “I wanna learn something that I could actually use later on, that’s that I’m gonna carry on.” And in your course, you’re talking about these skills that actually can apply. Like you said, if I had cancer and I’m looking at different types of medical procedures, do I have the skills to really be able to evaluate and make informed decisions on that? And that’s, that’s not something that I’ve seen explicitly taught really anywhere. And I hadn’t heard anybody talk about it, really, until I heard your session, where you’ve kind of unpacked this, and over the last couple of years, have created some programs or resources for educators, where they can take this into their classroom. So what were some of those skills, again? What were were some of the skills that you thought, “I wanna make sure that my students can walk out and they know how to do this and apply it to maybe several different fields”?
Melanie Trecek-King (10:35):
Oh, that’s a really good question. Because the whole thing was a process for me. Like, when I finally let go of Intro Bio, I was so glad to see that class go, by the way. ‘Cause I just felt like I was beating a dead horse. So when I let go of it, I thought, “What do they need instead?” And for me, what I realized was I was trying to make the class I would’ve wanted to take. I realized the things that I personally didn’t know, that my own education maybe let me down a bit. But things that I thought were important. So then I took all of those, synthesized them, tried to figure out the best order. The class is currently in its third iteration. And I hope every iteration is an improvement. But I’m thinking about the students that I taught before the pandemic. It was Intro Bio. Up to just maybe the couple years before the pandemic, and during the pandemic, we had a new virus and we had a new vaccine and we had new treatments. There was hydroxychloroquine and there was ivermectin and then there’s masks. Are masks effective? Well, you know, in what circumstances? What kind of mask? There are all of these questions. And that whole thing was we saw science playing out in real time.
Eric Cross (11:50):
Absolutely.
Melanie Trecek-King (11:51):
And so were my students able to follow that? And then what happened in that process is that science became politicized. And in a time where things are uncertain and we need answers, ’cause it’s scary, people want certainty and science doesn’t tend to provide that. Especially when it’s just starting out. And then when it becomes politicized, people decide that they’re going to — it’s not necessarily a conscious decision — but they retreat into what people in their camps are saying or their groups are saying. Which actually leads me to one of the more important parts of information literacy skills in there, which is most of our knowledge is shared. We tend to have overinflated senses of what we individually know. And studies actually show that with Google, if you have access to Google, you think you’re smarter than if you don’t have access to Google. But we all have access to knowledge in our communities, and that’s one of the reasons humans are so successful, is that we can each specialize in different things and share our expertise and become greater than the sum of our parts. The problem with that, of course, is that we forget what we don’t know, and we assume that we know what the community knows. And so recognizing the limits of your own knowledge and how different communities produce knowledge, like the different epistemic processes that communities use to come to knowledge. When it comes down to it, an important part of knowing is knowing who to trust, right? Knowing where the source of knowledge lives. And in order to do that, you have to understand the processes that they’re using to come to that knowledge and the limits of your own knowledge. And then how to find who has that knowledge so that you can use that to make better decisions.
Eric Cross (13:38):
So, when I hear what you’re doing with your college students, and I think about what I’m doing in the classroom, in the middle school, we are really focusing on literacy as skills. Reading, writing, speaking, listening. And then when I think of the next step of the journey, your information literacy and the literacy you’re teaching is really the application of those things in the real world. And the examples that you gave are very critical examples. Evaluating claims about Covid. Making informed decisions about a medical procedure that you might need. And we all get that applied to us. We’re scrolling through social media and somehow social media is listening. It’s figuring out exactly what I’m doing, because all of a sudden the ads are telling me … how did you know I was alking about KitchenAid mixers now? I just said KitchenAid mixers and it’s gonna show up in my feed! But <laugh> I take that in the same way from the same place that I take in maybe an oncologist. So it’s it’s coming through the same channels. So now I kind of wanna pivot. So we’ve talked about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, the connection between “am I really teaching the skills that my students need in the science class? Is it really critical thinking explicitly or is it just kind of implied?” Now I wanna ask you how you do it. What’s the annotated, abbreviated kind of syllabus of your course?
Melanie Trecek-King (15:03):
So the course is called Science for Life. And the premise behind it is the kinds of skills and understanding of the process of science that they would need to make good decisions to be empowered in a world based on science. And so the very first lecture, I say, “OK, I’m gonna tell you a story and I just want you to listen to the story. And at the end I’m gonna ask you why I told the story.” And the story that I tell them is some of the history of the witchcraft trials in Europe. And I start with the Malleus Maleficarum, or the Hammer of Witches, from the Pope, and about how people would accuse witches of causing birth defects or storms or crops dying. And, the best evidence that they had to absolutely know somebody was a witch was if somebody accused them, and then if they were accused, if they confessed. OK? But the problem is, to get them to confess, they would torture them. Roasting over coals, or splitting until somebody broke. And so I tell my students, “OK, this was absolute proof that someone was guilty of witchcraft. I don’t know about you; I would confess to anything, right? Make it stop!” So this is where I get to ask students, “Why would I ask you this? Why would I tell you this story? And traumatize you on the very first day of lecture?” And they see the reasoning, right? They thought they had evidence. The question was, is that good evidence? And so, you know, I’m getting students to have a basic understanding of epistemology, right? Without calling it that, or without going into all of the philosophical background of epistemology. Apply this to your own reasoning. What are you wrong about? Well, you probably wouldn’t know. OK, how would you know if you were wrong? Like what kinds of things do you feel that you’re so right about? How good is your evidence for that? So what I want them to do is internalize the thinking about thinking, and analyzing how they come to conclusions, and proportioning how strongly they believe. Their confidence in how right they are. So I think starting with that kind of misinformation, and getting students to internalize that process is important. But I think the example is really useful, because most of my students don’t believe in witchcraft. Right? So it’s not an issue that would immediately threaten them in some way. So when, when a belief is tied to identity or how we see ourselves or is really important to us, then it’s very difficult to be objective about that belief. And so by starting with witchcraft, it’s not triggering. I get them to think about thinking and practice that muscle so that when we get to those more important issues, they have the skills they need to evaluate them.
Eric Cross (17:55):
So would it be fair to say that your Science for Life class is really applied scientific thinking for the real world?
Melanie Trecek-King (18:01):
Absolutely. That’s the idea. I mean, science is too good to keep to ourselves, right? And it’s everywhere. So how can you understand the world through a scientific lens?
Eric Cross (18:10):
What are the nuts and bolts of how you teach your students these strategies? What do you do? What are some strategies and techniques that we can maybe share with listeners? And then where I want to go after that is I wanna ask you, how early do you think this can be started? So lemme start off first with, what do you do?
Melanie Trecek-King (18:28):
So I use three different strategies. One is, I provide students with a toolkit. And the toolkit is one that I created and it is like my one toolkit to rule them all. It is trying to apply critical thinking and science reasoning all together in one place. So that if students are met with a claim, they’ve got the toolkit with an acronym. They can now start and have somewhere to go. In that if I gave you a claim and said, “Just critically think through this claim,” I mean, that’s a mighty task. But if you have a structured toolkit, then it’s hopefully a systemic way that’s helpful. The toolkit is summarized by FLOATER. I have published it on Skeptical Inquirer. It’s free. So it’s Falsifiability, Logical, Objectivity, Alternative Explanations, Tentative Conclusions, Evidence, and Reproducibility. So I provide students with a toolkit. The next thing I do is I use a lot of misinformation in class. Back to what Carl Sagan says: What I heard was we should use pseudoscience to teach students the difference between a pseudo-scientific process and a scientific process. So, I use science denial, conspiracy theories, and give my students a lot of opportunities to practice evaluating claims with the toolkit. And the other thing I do is, I use inoculation activities. So inoculation theory is based on William McGuire’s original research in the ’60s, which is basically like a vaccine analogy. Where you can inject a small amount of a virus or bacterium into the body, so that it creates an immune response, so that it can learn the real thing. And so in the real world, it can fight it off. Inoculation theory does the same thing, but with misinformation. So, what we can do is, in controlled environments, expose students to little bits of misinformation so that they can recognize it in the real world. There’s different kinds of inoculation, but I’m a big fan of what’s called active and technique-based inoculation. So technique-based means that students are learning not the facts of misinformation, not factually why this thing is wrong, but about the technique used to deceive. So maybe the use of fake experts. Or maybe the use of anecdotes. Or the use of logical fallacies. The other part of that is active, which is where students create the misinformation. So for example, my students, just now, we finished covering pseudoscience. And I teach students the characteristics of pseudoscience. And basically we have fun with it. Where they pretend to be grifters and they sell a pseudoscience product. And so they have to make an ad like they’d see on social media, using the different techniques. And the point there is that it’s supposed to be funny, right? And lighthearted. But in a real way, by using the techniques used to sell something like pseudoscience, it’s opening their eyes. You can’t unsee how every alternative product has, “it’s an all-natural and used for centuries and millions use it and look at this person who says, ‘Wow, it worked for me!’ And it’s certified by some society that doesn’t exist, but this doctor behind it says that it’s really great!” I mean, it’s all the same stuff. So they create the misinformation using their own techniques.
Eric Cross (22:02):
That’s one of my favorite things that you’ve talked about, and I want to dive in that a little bit more. But when you’re teaching the toolkit, FLOATER, what does that look like in the classroom, when you’re actually breaking all of those things down? What does it look like as you’re walking your students through this, and you’re kind of coaching them on all of those different things? ‘Cause I feel like some things might be like, “Oh yeah, I got that.” And then some of them might be, “Oh, what is that?”
Melanie Trecek-King (22:24):
Yeah, it takes me probably a good solid lecture to get through the basis of the toolkit. But then over the rest of the semester, I’ll spend more time going into different parts, different rules, a bit more in-depth. So, for example, logical fallacies and objectivity. So the rule of objectivity basically states that you need to be honest with yourself. I’m gonna quote Feynman here, so: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” We don’t tend to think that we can be fooled. But of course we can. So actually, if you wanna talk about it, I start class by fooling my students.
Eric Cross (23:03):
Wait, what do you do? What do you do for that?
Melanie Trecek-King (23:05):
Oh, so this is really fun. Day 1 of class, after the syllabus, I tell my … so you’re in my class now, Eric. “So I have a friend, and she’s a psychic. She’s an astrologer and she’s pretty good at what she does. I mean, she’s got books and she’s been on TV and stuff. She knows I teach this course about skepticism. And so she’s agreed to test how effective she is by providing personality assessments to students in class. So if you wanna participate, what I need from you is your birthday, your full name, answer a few questions. Like, if your house was on fire and you could take one thing, what would it be? Or if you could get paid for anything to do anything for a living, what would it be? Um, there’s a third one. Oh! If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” So the next class, it’s usually over a weekend. The next class I say, “OK, I’ve got your personality assessments back, but remember, we wanna test how effective she is. So in order to do that, I need you to read your profile as quietly as possible. And then I’m gonna have you rate her accuracy on a scale of 1 to 5. OK? So close your eyes; rate her.” Over the years doing this, it’s about a 4.3 to 4.5 out of 5. They think she’s pretty accurate. OK? “So now, if you feel comfortable, get with a person next to you. And I want you to talk about what parts of the personality assessment really spoke to you and, and why, and why you thought she was accurate or not.” And it takes them 5, 10 minutes before they realize they all got the same one. So, this is not my original experiment. It was first done by Bertram Forer in … I think it was the ’50s. And it’s done in psychology classrooms. James Randi made it famous. But the personality assessment itself is full of what are called Barnum statements. So, named after P.T. Barnum. These are statements that are very generic. So, “You have a need to be liked and admired by people. You are often quiet and reserved, but there are times where you can be the life of the party.”
Eric Cross (25:13):
How do you know this about me, by the way? This is a — I feel like you know me right now.
Melanie Trecek-King (25:17):
“There are times where you’ve wondered whether you’ve done the right thing.”
Eric Cross (25:19):
This is getting weird.
Melanie Trecek-King (25:21):
I’m just on fire, right? So these are Barnum statements. They’re the basis of personality assessment.
Eric Cross (25:29):
Mel, can I pause you right there? You said Barnum. Is that the same Barnum, like Barnum & Bailey Circus?
Melanie Trecek-King (25:34):
Yeah. P.T. Barnum, who didn’t actually say “There’s a sucker born every minute,” but we attribute him with that kind of ethos. These statements though, if you read a horoscope or even like personality indicators, like the MBTI, it is basically pseudo-scientific. And it ends up with lots of these Barnum statements. They produce what’s called the Barnum Effect, which is, “Wow, that’s so me! How did you know me?” I could even do more. Like, you have a box of photos in your house that need to be sorted. Or unused prescriptions. And these can apply to nearly everyone, but they produce this effect where we go, “Wow, that is so me!” Right? So by fooling them this way, I get to … well, so the next thing is, “Yes, I lied to you. And I’d like to tell you I won’t do that again. But I’m not going to, ’cause I might. So be on your guard.” But I did it for free. And why did I do it? “I did it because I could tell you ‘I could fool you,’ but you wouldn’t necessarily believe me. So I fooled you, so that you would learn what it feels like to be fooled.” It’s not fun. But we’re gonna make a joke outta this. And students are almost never upset about this ’cause it’s a fun process and they’re all fooled. And again, the point is, I didn’t disprove psychic powers. I didn’t just disprove psychics with this exercise. But I did show you how easy it was to fake. So if somebody is gonna tell you that they can know these things about you through some way, hopefully the evidence they provide should be stronger than something that’s easily faked. Right? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you claim to be able to read my personality based on my birthdate, then I need more than something that you can be taught to do in 15 minutes. So, I fool them to convince them that they could be fooled.
Eric Cross (27:27):
You’re giving them a practice scenario for thinking. And I was thinking about basketball. I grew up playing basketball. And my coach would have our own team be the defenders of the next team we were gonna play, so that we can be prepared for the defense. We were gonna see. Now, when I’m thinking about education, and what you just said reminded me of this, it’s like we’re often just teaching offense. We’re always teaching the plays. We’re always teaching what to do. But we rarely teach defense. What happens when someone comes towards you and, and they challenge you or they come at you with claims? How do we evaluate this? And I think in pockets we do it. We do claim-evidence-reasoning. We present claims and evidence and reasoning. But we don’t always have practice defending them. And I think there’s great resources. There’s Argumentation Toolkit and there’s all these awesome resources that do this. But does that fit? You’re kind of having them practice defense?
Melanie Trecek-King (28:26):
Yeah. You know, that’s brilliant. I never considered that analogy. But, yeah, in the real world, you don’t just get to always try to score all the time. Someone’s gonna challenge you and give you a claim that maybe you haven’t heard before. So how do you think through it?
Eric Cross (28:41):
Yeah. And you become better. So now I’m thinking about how early could we start doing this? For one, I love the idea of lying to your students, because I do that. And it’s just such a fun scenario. How early could we start implementing these strategies or these ideas or these toolkits? In your mind, what do you imagine? How early could we start this with young people?
Melanie Trecek-King (29:07):
Yeah. I’m so glad you asked that question, ’cause honestly, by the time they get to me, it’s almost too late. And I don’t wanna say it’s too late, ’cause it’s never too late. But, oh, we need to start so much earlier! That example that I gave about the selling pseudoscience argument? I have a wonderful colleague, Bertha Vasquez, who’s a middle school teacher in Miami and the director of TIES at CFI. She did this with her middle school students. And quite frankly, their examples were just as good, or in some cases better, than my college students. And they had so much fun with it, too. And she just said that, you know, <laugh>, they actually are more savvy with the kinds of things that they see online than we — I don’t wanna say give them credit for. But almost that we want to believe. My students give me examples of things that are from corners of the internet that I didn’t know existed. And quite frankly, that’s probably a good thing for my own mental health. But students are on there too, like middle school students, and we need to prepare them for the kinds of things that they see in the wild.
Eric Cross (30:13):
So in middle school, definitely. Now, you’ve also done some work in high school as well, right? In Oklahoma? Did you do some. …?
Melanie Trecek-King (30:17):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (30:18):
…some work with high schoolers? What was that like? Did you see any impact there?
Melanie Trecek-King (30:21):
So I didn’t actually do it in Oklahoma. I have taught the course … actually, you were talking about younger kids. I’ve taught the course to high schoolers in my area that are parts of dual enrollment. And they absolutely ate up the curriculum. And they were wonderful, wonderful students. And it was completely appropriate for … they were juniors, actually. But the course has also been taught in Oklahoma, through a dual enrollment program as well. And it was a small sample size. But we have pre-post testing that showed that it improved their critical thinking, their acceptance of science. But anecdotally the head of the program there said that in his years doing this, he’d never seen a course that helped them improve in their other courses so well. So, I felt very rewarded by hearing this. But apparently their critical thinking skills and information literacy skills helped them succeed in their other courses that they were taking. And I love that the students were transferring those skills to other classes. That’s the whole point.
Eric Cross (31:23):
And that’s a big … I think that what you just said is really the core, especially of what we’ve been talking about this season: What you’re talking about and what you’re teaching can transfer and supports literacy. And this is an example of science doing that across all other content areas. So I think that that’s huge, that that was said. What do people say about this course? I know I went on your website, and I looked at some of the comments that some folks were saying, and I know it’s just a snippet, but what do you hear from the education world about this? Because I don’t see it in many places. I see it kind of embedded, sprinkled into different content areas. But you’re actually teaching it explicitly. Do you tend to find positive feedback, overwhelmingly? Or do you get pushback on on some of this? What’s it been like for you?
Melanie Trecek-King (32:16):
I think the biggest pushback — and it’s good pushback, and I would agree entirely — is with inoculation activities, you do need to be careful to, when you debrief students, you wanna tell them why you did what you did and to use their powers for good and not for fooling other people. And I think importantly, for not putting misinformation out into the wild without having context around it. So if you do these kinds of inoculation activities, like if you have your students create pseudoscience ads, don’t just let them put them on social media. Obviously, you can’t control everything that they’re doing. But explain to them why you wouldn’t wanna do that. As far as everything else, I’ve heard really great feedback. You’re referencing my website. So, when I put together the course, I was trying to find resources for students to read. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive and I couldn’t find anything that I really wanted students to buy. So I just started writing, and I put it on my site. I have a site that’s basically the core of the curriculum. More in progress. And then I’ve got some of the topics that we explore and those are all assigned readings. My students are captive, in that I know they want a grade, and for four months they have to sit with me for the entire semester, in that I’ve specifically ordered the content in a way that would be most conducive to them learning these things. On the internet, though, and on social media, ’cause I post on there as well, people come in from all kinds of entry points, and so the goal would be to have them start at the beginning and go to the end. But people … I’m pleasantly surprised that there is an audience for critical thinking and science literacy content out there. And so that really warms my heart. But I am doing more and more for educators. And so I have a section for educators. I put content on there. I put assignments, the assignments that we’ve talked about and more, are on there. And the educators that I’ve had use it have just been really wonderful. Like, I hear great things. If I might, the biggest issue that I’m having is actually reaching educators. I’ve gone to — I met you at NSCA, actually, that was only last summer.
Eric Cross (34:30):
Oh, wow. Wow.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:32):
Right?
Eric Cross (34:32):
Yeah, you’re right. It wasn’t even a year.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:35):
Yeah, I think it was like July last year. So, um, you’ve been to the conferences. And I just went to the last one as well. But I have yet to figure out a way to really get in front of enough educators to share the content. So if anybody’s listening and is interested in learning more, please let me know! <Laugh>
Eric Cross (34:52):
Yes. And we talked about your website, but I didn’t say what the website was. So it’s ThinkingIsPower.com.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:57):
Yes.
Eric Cross (34:58):
And on there, there’s tons of resources. There is the toolkit. And it’s all free.
Melanie Trecek-King (35:06):
Yes.
Eric Cross (35:07):
And there’s a dope t-shirt on there that I just bought today, that Melanie’s actually wearing right now. It says, “Be curious, be skeptical, and be humble.” And I love that. Because I think one of the things that we can’t forget about teaching people how to think and critically evaluating information, sometimes those conversations can become very dehumanizing. And what I mean by that is it sometimes can become, like, intellectual sport, where we forget that there’s a human being on the other other side. And we lose that empathy and compassion. We can kind of see that. It just becomes this intellectual jousting and arguing. And one of the things I know about you, and when you talk about this or you talk about the work that you do, and even the shirt that you’re wearing, there’s this, “be humble.” There’s this human that is never lost in this. And you said it, too: When you’re teaching your students and you’re equipping them with all of these intellectual skills and all of these tools, to use it for good. So to maintain your humanity, to maintain your character, and then to use it to edify and lift people up, not to go out and do harm. That balance, I think, is so, so important. So it’s something that I really appreciate about you and how you teach.
Melanie Trecek-King (36:19):
I appreciate those kind words. Actually—
Eric Cross (36:21):
Oh, of course!
Melanie Trecek-King (36:22):
—and if I might, I sometimes see people using critical thinking like a weapon. It’s like, “I have learned fallacies and I’m just gonna use the tools of critical thinking to tell you why you’re stupid, or why you’re wrong, and why my position is right!” But real critical thinking involves applying those same standards to your own thought processes. And even something like argumentation: the goal of our argumentation is not to BE right; it’s to GET it right. And so we’re on the same team. If we’re arguing about something, if the idea is in scientific argumentation we’re trying to find the truth, which one of us is making a better argument based on the evidence? Can your perspective help me see my own blind spots and vice versa? And the more different perspectives that we have, the more able we are to find whatever reality is. But we are in this together. And so, yeah, I think … I’m glad to hear that that’s coming through. But if you don’t have the kind of humility that says, “You know, I could be wrong,” then you’re never gonna change your mind anyway. So having the humility to say, I’m wrong. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (37:33):
Yeah. You end up just seeing people just defend turf, as opposed to support “look for truth.” And I know for me, my own education journey, I end up with more questions than answers anyways. So I go in trying to find an answer for something and I end up with 10 more questions. And I go, “OK, this is kind of how it is.” You go down this rabbit hole and you just end up with all these different questions. And it forces the humility, because you’re like, “I don’t know! I think this is what it could be, but it could also be these other answers or explanations. So this is just where I’m at, based on what we know right now, at this present time, which might shift.”
Melanie Trecek-King (38:07):
And that sounds reasonable. Yes. Which might shift. Yes.
Eric Cross (38:11):
And especially for us as life-science biology teachers, our content is something that definitely shifts. I know some of the things I teach now are not things that I learned when I was even in middle school. Just because things evolve. They change. We learn, we get new data. That’s just the way it is.
Melanie Trecek-King (38:24):
<Sighs> And Pluto is no longer a planet.
Eric Cross (38:26):
I know. Rest in — well, no, Pluto’s still there. Yeah. It’s no longer a planet. But that was one part of my kindergarten memorizations <laugh> is Pluto being in there.
Melanie Trecek-King (38:36):
Gotta change your mind.
Eric Cross (38:38):
I know. Any words of advice for science educators out there who want to focus more on honing these critical thinking skills and strategies with their own students, but they don’t know where to start? Where would you point them? Or what advice would you give them?
Melanie Trecek-King (38:52):
I think start with what you want the students to know. And not necessarily the FACTS that you want students to know, but start with the skills that you want them to know. And then really be honest with your process. When I designed Science for Life, I started with, “these are the skills that I want students to know.” And everything was in service of that. So this sort of backwards design, I think, helped me follow a path that was more likely to be useful, if that makes any sense. But it really required doing it all over again. So don’t be afraid to question the things that you’re currently doing, even if that’s all you’ve been taught or all you know.
Eric Cross (39:41):
What I’m hearing is, don’t be afraid to question your own assumptions about what you’re doing. And don’t be afraid to adapt or change or modify. Kinda, pivot. Be flexible.
Melanie Trecek-King (39:51):
Yes, be flexible and pivot. And this is where I’m in a different position than middle school and high school educators. Because I have complete freedom over what I teach in my class.
Eric Cross (40:01):
Sure.
Melanie Trecek-King (40:01):
At the end of the semester, I always joke with non-majors that there’s nothing they have to know, which actually gives me a lot of flexibility, because I could teach ’em a lot of different things. So if there are things that you have to teach students, obviously that’s one thing. But I personally think that the way that we’ve been teaching science needs a refresher. A rethinking. And so I would say, “If you want your students to learn science literacy, honestly ask, what does that mean to you? And what would that look like to get to that point?” For me, though, it was also keeping in mind that maybe I didn’t already know the best way to do that.
Eric Cross (40:43):
One of the things you mentioned earlier is trying to reach out to educators. And I know that when we work together, it’s a force multiplier. And what you’re doing is developing skills. And there’s these skills that are happening right now in academia that you’re doing. And then how do we transfer that into middle and high school. Or, I’m sorry, middle and elementary school, high school. We need to get more people into this conversation to kind of brainstorm and figure that out. We have a Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community, where we have educators that gather. That can be one place we start the conversation. And again, I know on your website you’ve been super active on social media; you’ve grown your presence on Twitter and all these different places, engaging with folks. Which is awesome. ‘Cause I know I see your posts and I’m saving the things that you’re posting and I’m thinking of ways that I can do it in my classroom. I’m gonna take that product. By the way, is that on your website, the lesson that you do with the product?
Melanie Trecek-King (41:43):
No, actually. So the article, “How to Sell Pseudoscience” is … I know Bertha Vasquez wrote up a version of it.
Eric Cross (41:50):
Maybe we can grab that. ‘Cause we might be able to put that into the show notes for folks, because she’s a middle school educator. If there’s already something that’s been done for teachers like us, we’re like, “Yeah, let me get that and let me remix it and make it my own!” if there’s already a exemplar out there.
Melanie Trecek-King (42:04):
Yeah, she’s done it. And so I will absolutely share that with you.
Eric Cross (42:08):
So, all season long, we’ve been talking about science as the underdog. We kind of framed it, you know, science oftentimes takes a back seat to math and English. It’s kinda the first thing to go. Or the first area where time can get cut. Because of what gets tested gets focused on, oftentimes. And then in addition to that, when you’re a multi-subject teacher, elementary science isn’t just one thing — it’s every field. You know, you’re a biologist, which is different than a geologist. And when you’re teaching every subject, that’s a lot. And you might not have had a science class for years. And the realities that we’re seeing over and over with different researchers and practitioners is that science could actually enhance literacy, and building those skills. And I think you really talked about it with the critical thinking skills. Those can transfer. Or the administrator that said, “This is one of the only courses I’ve seen where it transfers to other areas.” Could you share maybe with our listeners, just any advice for advocating for science in their own world?
Melanie Trecek-King (43:13):
Wow, I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer that question! One of the things that comes to mind though — because I was listening to your last episode and educators … I honestly didn’t realize how little time they had for science. And how often science was then the first to go, to allow room for other subjects. But science overlaps with a lot of other issues. And so I feel like there could be a way to bring in science when teaching these other subjects. So, for example, argumentation and logical fallacies are easy to apply to reading and writing. Information literacy, and being able to find good information online, teaching students how to laterally read, to be able to check a source, or how to use Google effectively, to put in neutral search terms to find sources, or teaching students how to recognize the characteristics of conspiratorial thinking: All of these things can overlap with so many other subjects. So the scientist in me is a little biased towards science being important enough to do this. But try to bring it into the other subjects. It doesn’t have to be completely separate.
Eric Cross (44:43):
So integrating science into other things. And I … big believer. And a hundred percent agree with you. Now I’m gonna ask a question that kinda like takes us backwards. You shared an app with me when we first met that I thought was really cool. And I know it’s a friend or colleague of yours. But as a middle school teacher, I thought it was great, because it was something that my students could download and practice some of the skills that you’re talking about. Would you talk a little bit about the cranky uncle? Is it the Cranky Uncle app?
Melanie Trecek-King (45:17):
Cranky Uncle.
Eric Cross (45:18):
Could you share a little bit about that?
Melanie Trecek-King (45:20):
Yeah. Cranky Uncle is awesome. So, Cranky Uncle is the brainchild of John Cook, who is the founder of Skeptical Science and the author of the 97% Consensus study on climate change. Cranky Uncle … so he’s also a cartoonist. And Cranky Uncle is a cartoon game where … I don’t even have to explain who Cranky Uncle is to my students. Everybody inherently gets the, the character, right? So he’s like the guy at Thanksgiving that you don’t wanna talk to because he denies climate change and he’s just really cranky. But Cranky Uncle uses the techniques of science denial, which are summarized by the acronym FLICC: So it’s Fake experts, Logical fallacies, Impossible expectations, Cherry-picking, and Conspiratorial thinking. So he uses those techniques. Again, this is technique-based inoculation. So they recognize the techniques in the game, and you earn cranky points. And as you make Cranky crankier and crankier because you’re recognizing his techniques, you learn the techniques of science denial, and level up and open up other techniques. This is another one of those examples where climate change has a lot of science behind it, right? And if you wanted to get to the science behind climate change for any particular issue … so let’s say it’s cold today, so I’m gonna say there’s no climate change. OK? If I’m gonna unpack that at a factual level, and with science, we could be here for a while. But if I told you, “That’s like saying, ‘I just ate a sandwich so there’s no global hunger.’” OK? So that’s a parallel argument. Humorous. Love to use this kind of argumentation, ’cause it makes for some … I mean, it’s funny, but you get the point. It’s an anecdote. And anecdotes aren’t good evidence. So just like that, you could teach the technique of using an anecdotal fallacy for climate-change denial. So, I have my students play this game. You could do it when you’re studying argumentation. You could do it for science denial. I use an inoculation extension with that, where I have my students pretend that … um, actually, back up for a second. So I teach a class on critical thinking. And at the end of semesters I would get emails from students on, well, they’re failing the class, but they really shouldn’t, for all of these reasons. And reading these emails, I’m like, “If you think that’s a good argument, you clearly didn’t learn what I was hoping you would learn.” So I now have my students, early in the semester, after they play Cranky, pretend that it is the end of the semester and you’re failing the class and you’re failing because you didn’t do the work. Use at least four of the fallacies from class to argue for why you should pass. So they have to put it on a discussion forum, and they’ll say things like, “Well, if you fail me, then I won’t get into graduate school and then people will die and it will all be your fault.” Or, “My dog died, and so I was really sad.” Or, um, “You’re just a terrible teacher. And you’re short. So I don’t like you.” Or that kind of thing. So, oh, they love to attack my character. It’s really funny. But it’s supposed to be funny. And the point is, the students are using those arguments, they’re using the fallacies, to argue for something. And so by creating that misinformation themselves, they learn how those fallacies work. But taken together, I mean, everything that we just talked about there, Cranky Uncle, and the fallacy assignment, or whatever iteration you want that to be in, that doesn’t have to be in a purely science unit. Right? That could be sociology. It could be argumentation. It could be English.
Eric Cross (49:01):
Absolutely. That could be totally a prompt in an English class. And practiced in there. And then this could be an interdisciplinary thing, going back and forth between English and and science. Just having these discussions and looking at it from different angles. And you’re practicing the skills in two different contexts. So you get into argumentation. And then that app, I know I had fun with it. And the questions on there definitely resonate with people in my own family. I’m like, “I feel like I’m talking to exactly somebody that I’m related to right now.” <Laugh> Melanie, anything else that you wanna share, or discuss or highlight, before we wrap up?
Melanie Trecek-King (49:39):
So we could talk about lateral reading, if you like. ‘Cause I know a lot of educators use the crap test.
Eric Cross (49:45):
Please, please, please talk about that.
Melanie Trecek-King (49:47):
So, when evaluating sources, a lot of educators teach what’s called the CRAP test. And I wish I remembered what it stood for. But basically what you do, a lot of us have been taught when you go to a website, to figure out if it’s reliable, you wanna go to the about page. Read the mission; see who they are; maybe read some of the content; evaluate the language. So is it inflammatory? Are they making logical arguments? Are the links to reputable sources as well? And the problem is that if a site wants to mislead you, they’re not going to tell you that it’s a bunk site, right? They’re just gonna do a good job of misleading you. And so, what you wanna do instead … the CRAP test basically is an evaluation of a site. And that’s what’s called vertical reading. So you’re looking through a site to determine if it’s reliable. Uh, I think his name’s Sam Wineberg at Stanford, proposed something called lateral reading. Where, instead of on the site, what you wanna do is literally open a new tab and into the search engine type the source. You could do the claim, too. And then something like Reliability or FactCheck or whatever it’s that you’re checking, and then see what other reputable sites have to say about it. So, in their study, actually, they did a really interesting study where they compared professional fact checkers to PhD historians to Stanford undergrads. And they evaluated — I wish you could … um, there’s two pediatrician organizations. One’s like the American Association of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatricians, something like that. They’re very similar sounding. So you give them to students. I do this with my students as well, the same study. So I give my students those two websites. And I say, “Which one of these is more reliable?” And they do exactly what most of us do, which is spend time on the site looking around. And most of the time, if not nearly all the time, they come to the wrong conclusion. And so then I tell them what lateral reading is: “OK, instead of looking through the site, open a new tab, search the organization and reliability.” Something like that. And it takes probably 30 seconds before they realize one of them has been dubbed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. As opposed to the other one, which is like a hundred year old huge pediatrician organization that produces their own journals and so on. But nearly all my students are fooled. And in the study, none of the fact checkers were fooled. I’m gonna get the number right. It’s something like 50% of the historians and 20% of the Stanford undergraduates got the correct answer. And they spent a lot more time on it. So it’s a great way to teach students how to use the power of the internet to evaluate sources much more quickly and, effectively. And yes, use Wikipedia, right? Wikipedia is not a final answer, but Wikipedia is actually pretty accurate. So if Wikipedia is the first place you stop, then yes, go there, see what Wikipedia says, and then follow some of their sources.
Eric Cross (52:47):
What popped in my head was like, Yelp reviews for websites. That almost sounds like what it was. It’s like when I search for a product, I don’t go and read the product description marketing. ‘Cause that’s all designed to sell me on something. But I’ll go and look in Reliability, if it’s like a car, or just other sites to cross-reference. And that sounds like what you were talking about is like cross-referencing. Seeing what FactChecker [sic] said about this site, versus seeing what a site says about itself.
Melanie Trecek-King (53:14):
Well, that’s a great analogy. Because if I wanted to know if a product was effective, what the manufacturer says about the product, clearly there’s a strong chance of bias. Right? They’re going to be on their best, um, put their best foot forward. Versus, what do independent reviewers say about this product?
Eric Cross (53:35):
Yep. And I am known to research something to death. And I get something called “paralysis by analysis.”
Melanie Trecek-King (53:42):
Ohhhh, yeah.
Eric Cross (53:44):
And it’s so bad that even if I’m trying to buy, like, towels, I need to find the best-bang-for-the-buck towel. I have to defer some of these decisions out, because I’m on the internet for three hours now. I’ll be a pseudo-expert in towels, and thread count, and all of that stuff. But yeah, that maybe that’s just the science person.
Melanie Trecek-King (54:03):
I mean, I feel your pain. I do the same thing. <Laugh> It’s annoying. Like, it’s just towels. What does it really matter? But yeah.
Eric Cross (54:10):
Coffee! It doesn’t matter what it is. I just need to go, “OK, I have to use these powers for good. Otherwise I’m gonna be researching forever.”
Melanie Trecek-King (54:16):
I wanna say one other thing. So, again, this is a college class and I have a lot of freedom. But one of the driving philosophies behind the class is a wonderful quote in a book, Schick and Vaughn, How to Think about Weird Things. And they said, “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your decisions, and the quality of your decisions is determined by the quality of your thinking.” And I know my students want a grade. But I’m really trying to teach them how to be empowered through better thinking. That’s where the name “Thinking is Power” came from. I mean, we say “Knowledge is Power,” but it’s not enough to know things. And there’s too much to know. So being able to think and be empowered to have your own agency and not fall for someone’s bunk is my goal for my students.
Eric Cross (55:07):
And doing that is gonna help them through the rest of their lives. Not be swindled, not be taken advantage of, be able to make better decisions. There’s so many benefits to building that skill. And I know your students have definitely grown and benefited. I’m sure you’ve heard, long after you’ve taught them, heard back from them and how they’ve applied that course to their lives. Melanie, thank you so much for being here. For a few things. One, for providing and filling this space where there’s such a need. Again, the critical thinking resources, the tools that you used, are so, so important. If we ever lived in a time where they were critical, it was really what we experienced during the pandemic in the last few years. We watched people’s information literacy and science literacy play out in real time. And we literally saw life-and-death decisions being made based off those skills. That highlighted, I think how important this is. And then, taking the time to generate resources for educators like myself, that we can take and adapt and put into our classroom and start teaching our students. ‘Cause like you said, by the time they get to you, they’re, they’re so far downstream or so far in a system that, depending on the teachers that they’ve had and the education system they’ve been in, may or may not have even touched on these things. They might have learned a lot of facts, but they may not have built their muscle to be able to critically analyze and interpret the world around them. And you’ve just — even the last year, it hasn’t even been a year since we talked the first time — I’ve watched your resources continue to grow, and you share them. And so I, on behalf of those of us in K–12, thank you. And thank you for being here.
Melanie Trecek-King (56:49):
Oh, well, thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you for everything that you do, reaching out to other educators and for giving me a platform to hopefully reach other educators.
Eric Cross (57:00):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College and creator of Thinking Is Power. Make sure you don’t miss any new episodes of Science Connections by subscribing to the show, wherever you get podcasts. And while you’re there, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more listeners to find the show. You can find more information on all of Amplify shows at our podcast hub, Amplify.com/Hub. Thanks again for listening.
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Meet the guest
Melanie Trecek-King is the creator of Thinking is Power, an online resource that provides critical thinking education to the general public. She is currently an associate professor of biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. An active speaker and consultant, Trecek-King loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach with other science educators, and help schools and organizations meet their goals through better thinking. Trecek-King is also the education director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE (Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative), which aim to advance and apply the science of mental immunity to inoculate minds against misinformation.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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Boost Reading for mCLASS® partners
We’re thrilled you’re considering giving Boost Reading a try! This site contains all the resources you’ll need to learn more about the program and to get started using it to support remote learning or classroom instruction. We’re confident you’re going to love how Boost Reading puts your mCLASS data to work.
Resources to support your use of the program
What is Boost Reading?
Boost Reading is a digital reading program that complements ELA programs with adaptive and targeted practice in foundational reading skills. While it can be used on its own, Boost Reading also integrates with mCLASS, which means that you get extra benefits like automatic rostering and placement in the program based on a student’s mCLASS composite score. From that point forward, the program takes every student on a personalized journey that addresses gaps and bolsters foundational skills at a pace that supports their individual development.
How do I get started with Boost Reading?
Good news! Boost Reading has already been enabled within your mCLASS account. To get started with the program, you’ve got only two steps left: adjusting your student login settings and setting up your student devices. The resource below will walk you through how to do both.
- [Video] Boost Reading quick start tutorial
- [Article] How to download and distribute student login information
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When and how to use Boost Reading
We recommend students use the program independently for 30-45 minutes a week. This implementation model has led to student growth, especially for dual language learners.
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What else can you tell me about Boost Reading?
Review the resources below to dive deeper into what makes Boost Reading such a unique and powerful companion to mCLASS.
- [PDF] The Missing Link in Reading Comprehension
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- [Podcast] A Conversation with Anne Lucas about Comprehension Processes
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Grade 6
Chapter 1: Numerical Expressions and Factors
| Big Ideas | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Powers and Exponents | Unit 6 Lesson 10: Powers Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Order of Operations | Unit 6 Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Prime Factorization | |
| Lesson 4: Greatest Common Factor | Unit 5 Lesson 15: Common factors |
| Lesson 5: Least Common Multiple | Unit 5 Lesson 14: Common Multiples Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Chapter 2: Fractions and Decimals
Chapter 3: Ratios and Rates
| Lesson 1: Ratios | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pizza Maker [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available) Lesson 3: Rice Ratios (Print available) Lesson 4: Fruit Lab [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) Unit 6 Lesson 7: Border Tiles Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2: Using Tape Diagrams | Unit 2 Lesson 12: Mixing Paint, Part 2 Lesson 13: City Planning Lesson 14: Lunch Waste Practice Day 2 |
| Lesson 3: Using Ratio Tables | Unit 2 Lesson 9: Disaster Preparation [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 4: Graphing Ratio Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 9: Disaster Preparation [Free lesson] Lesson 10: Balloons |
| Lesson 5: Rates and Unit Rates | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Model Trains Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 6: Converting Measures | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Many Measurements (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Counting Classrooms Lesson 3: Pen Pals |
Chapter 4: Percents
| Lesson 1: Percent and Fractions | Unit 3 Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson] |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2: Percent and Decimals | Unit 5 Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson] Lesson 13: Grocery Prices (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Comparing and Ordering Fractions, Decimals, and Percents | |
| Lesson 4: Solving Percent Problems | Unit 3 Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available) Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals Unit 5 Lesson 13: Grocery Prices (Print available) |
Chapter 5: Algebraic Expressions and Properties
| Lesson 1: Algebraic Expressions | |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2: Writing Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Vari-apples Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Properties of Addition and Multiplication | Unit 6 Lesson 6: Vari-apples Lesson 7: Border Tiles Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes |
| Lesson 4: The Distributive Property | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Factoring Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 7: Border Tiles Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Chapter 6: Equations
| Lesson 1: Writing Equations in One Variable | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Hanging Around Lesson 13: Turtles All the Way |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2: Solving Equations Using Addition or Subtraction | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available) Lesson 3: Hanging Around Lesson 4: Hanging It Up Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Solving Equations Using Multiplication or Division | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Five Equations Lesson 3: Hanging Around Lesson 4: Hanging It Up Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available) Practice Day 1 |
| Lesson 4: Writing Equations in Two Variables | Unit 6 Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available) |
Chapter 7: Area, Surface Area, and Volume
| Lesson 1: Areas of Parallelograms | Unit 1 Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Off the Grid Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2: Areas of Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available) Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms Lesson 7: Off the Grid, Part 2 Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Areas of Trapezoids and Kites | |
| Lesson 4: Three-Dimensional Figures | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra |
| Lesson 5: Surface Area of prisms | Unit 1 Lesson 9: Renata´s Stickers [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available) Lesson 12: Face Value Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available) Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Surface Area of Pyramids | Unit 1 Lesson 12: Face Value Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available) Practice Day 2 |
| Lesson 7: Volumes of Rectangular Prisms | Unit 4 Lesson 13: Volume Challenges |
Chapter 8: Integers, Number Lines, and the Coordinate Plane
| Lesson 1: Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 1 Can You Dig In [Free lesson] Lesson 4 Sub-Zero |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2: Comparing and Ordering Integers | Unit 7 Lesson 2 Digging Deeper Lesson 3 Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Rational Numbers | Unit 7 Lesson 2 Digging Deeper Lesson 3 Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson] Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Absolute Value | Unit 7 Lesson 5 Distance on the Number Line Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: The Coordinate Plane | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Sand Dollar Search Lesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane Lesson 11: Polygon Maker Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Polygons in the Coordinate Plane | Unit 1 Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons Unit 7 Lesson 11: Polygon Maker |
| Lesson 7: Writing and Graphing Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel [Free lesson] Lesson 7: Comparing Weights |
| Lesson 8: Solving Inequalities | Unit 7 Lesson 8: Shira’s Solutions |
Chapter 9: Statistical Measures
| Lesson 1: Introduction to Statistics | Unit 8 Lesson 1: Screen Time Lesson 2: Dot Plots Lesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Lots More Dots |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2: Mean | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Snack Time Lesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available) Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson] Lesson 12: In the News |
| Lesson 3: Measures of Center | Unit 8 Lesson 7: Snack Time Lesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available) Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson] Lesson 12: In the News Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch Practice Day 1 |
| Lesson 4: Measures of Variation | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Pop It! Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson] Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available) Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Mean Absolute Deviation | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Hoops Lesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available) |
Chapter 10: Data Displays
| Lesson 1: Stem-and-Leaf Plots | |
|---|---|
| Lesson 2: Histograms | Unit 8 Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson] Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Shapes of Distributions | |
| Lesson 4: Choosing Appropriate Measures | Unit 8 Lesson 2: Dot Plots Lesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Lots More Dots Lesson 7: Snack Time Lesson 10: Hollywood Part 1 (Print available) Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson] Lesson 12: In the News Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 5: Box-and-Whisker Plots | Unit 8 Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available) Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2 |
Grade 7
Chapter 1: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers
| Big Ideas | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Bumpers |
| Lesson 2: Adding Integers Lesson 4: Subtracting Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Number Puzzles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Adding Rational Numbers Lesson 5: Subtracting Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Bumpers Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Number Puzzles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
Chapter 2: Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers
| Lesson 1: Multiplying Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Floating in Groups Lesson 7: Back in Time Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson] Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Dividing Integers | Unit 5 Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles |
| Lesson 3: Converting Between Fractions and Decimals | Unit 4 Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Multiplying Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 7: Back in Time |
| Lesson 5: Dividing Rational Numbers | Unit 5 Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles |
Chapter 3: Expressions
| Lesson 1: Algebraic Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Always-Equal Machines Lesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson] Unit 5 Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Adding and Subtracting Linear Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: The Distributive Property | Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts Lesson 6: Balancing Equations Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding (Print available) Lesson 9: Always-Equal Machines Lesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Factoring Expressions | Unit 6 Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding (Print available) Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) |
Chapter 4: Equations and Inequalities
Chapter 5: Ratios and Proportions
| Lesson 1: Ratio and Ratio Tables | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Balloon Float |
| Lesson 2: Rates and Unit Rates | Unit 4 (Print available)Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler |
| Lesson 3: Identifying Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks Lesson 4: Robot Factory Lesson 5: Snapshots Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations Lesson 10: Three Turtles Practice Day (Print available) Unit 3 Lesson 1: Toothpicks Lesson 3: Measuring Around [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 4: Writing and Solving Proportions | |
| Lesson 5: Graphs of Proportional Relationships | Unit 2 Lesson 8: Dino Pops [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge Lesson 10: Three Turtles Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available) |
Chapter 6: Percents
| Lesson 1: Fraction, Decimals, and Percents | Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: The Percent Proportion | |
| Lesson 3: The Percent Equation | |
| Lesson 4: Percents of Increase and Decrease | Unit 4 Lesson 4: More and Less Lesson 5: All the Equations Lesson 6: 100% (Print available) Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Tax and Tip Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available) Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available) Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 5: Discounts and Markups | Unit 4 Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Tax and Tip Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available) Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available) Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson] Practice Day |
| Lesson 6: Simple Interest |
Chapter 7: Probability
| Lesson 1: Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Mystery Bag |
| Lesson 2: Experimental and Theoretical Probability | Unit 8 Lesson 4: Spin Class Lesson 5: Is It Fair? Lesson 6: Fair Games Lesson 7: Weather or Not Lesson 8: Simulate It Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Compound Events Lesson 4: Simulations | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Simulate It Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) |
Chapter 8: Statistics
| Lesson 1: Samples and Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Headlines |
| Lesson 2: Using Random Samples to Describe populations | Unit 8 Lesson 8: Simulate It Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Headlines Lesson 12: Flower Power |
| Lesson 3: Comparing Populations Lesson 4: Using Random Samples to Compare Populations | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available) Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson] Lesson 13: Plots and Samples Lesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available) Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available) |
Chapter 9: Geometric Shapes and Angles
| Lesson 1: Circle and Circumference | Unit 3 Lesson 2: Is It a Circle? Lesson 3: Measuring Around [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Perimeter Challenges Practice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Areas of Circles | Unit 3 Lesson 5: Area Strategies Lesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available) Lesson 7: Why Pi? Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson] Lesson 9: Circle vs. Square Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Perimeters and Areas of Composite Figures | Unit 3 Lesson 4: Perimeter Challenges |
| Lesson 4: Constructing Polygons | |
| Lesson 5: Finding Unknown Angle Measures | Unit 7 Lesson 1: Pinwheels Lesson 2: Friendly Angles Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams Lesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson] |
Chapter 10: Surface Area and Volume
| Lesson 1: Surface Area of Prisms Lesson 2: Surface Area of Cylinders Lesson 3: Surface Area of Pyramids | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Simple Prisms Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available) Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities |
| Lesson 4: Volumes of Prisms Lesson 5: Volumes of Pyramids | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Simple Prisms Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 6: Cross Sections of Three-Dimensional Figures | Unit 7 Lesson 9: Slicing Solids |
Grade 8
Chapter 1: Equations
| Big ideas | Desmos Math 6–A1 |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1: Solving Simple Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 10: Solutions Unit 4 Lesson 2: Keep It Balanced Lesson 3: Balanced Moves Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Solving Multi-Step Equations | Unit 4 Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides | Unit 4 Lesson 3: Balanced Moves Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available) Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Rewriting Equations and Formulas |
Chapter 2: Transformations
Chapter 3: Angles and Triangles
| Lesson 1: Parallel Lines and Transversals | Unit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles |
| Lesson 2: Angles and Triangles | Unit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available) Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Angles of Polygons | |
| Lesson 4: Using Similar Triangles | Unit 2 Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Match My Dilation Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane (Print available) Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough? Lesson 8: Shadows |
Chapter 4: Graphing and Writing Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Graphing Linear Equations | Unit 3 Lesson 4 Stacking Cups Lesson 5 Flags [Free lesson] Lesson 11 Pennies and Quarters Unit 5 Lesson 8 Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Slope of a Line | Unit 2 Lesson 9 Water Slide Lesson 10 Points on a Plane Practice Day Unit 3 Lesson 2 Water Tank Lesson 4 Stacking Cups Lesson 5 Flags [Free lesson] Lesson 6 Translations Lesson 7 Water Cooler Lesson 8 Landing Planes Lesson 9 Coin Capture Unit 6 Lesson 6 Interpreting Slopes Lesson 8 Animal Brains |
| Lesson 3: Graphing Proportional Relationships | Unit 3 Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Water Tank Lesson 4: Stacking Cups |
| Lesson 4: Graphing Linear Equations in Slope-Intercept Form | Unit 3 Lesson 2: Water Tank Lesson 3: Posters Lesson 4: Stacking Cups Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson] Lesson 6: Translations |
| Lesson 5: Graphing Linear Equations in Standard Form | |
| Lesson 6: Writing Equations in Slope-Intercept Form | Unit 5 Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 7: Writing Equations in Point-Slope Form |
Chapter 5: Systems of Linear Equations
| Lesson 1: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing | Unit 4 Lesson 8: When Are They the Same? Lesson 9: On or Off the Line? Lesson 10: On Both Lines Lesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson] Lesson 12: Line Zapper [Free lesson] Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution | |
| Lesson 3: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Elimination | |
| Lesson 4: Solving Special Systems of Linear Equations | |
| Lesson 6: Scale Drawings |
Chapter 6: Data Analysis and Displays
| Lesson 1: Scatter Plots | Unit 6 Lesson 1: Click Battle Lesson 2: Wing Span Lesson 3: Robots [Free lesson] Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Lines of Fit | Unit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson] Lesson 5: Fit Fights Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City |
| Lesson 3: Two-Way Tables | Unit 6 Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Federal Budgets Practice Day 3 |
| Lesson 4: Choosing a Data Display |
Chapter 7: Functions
| Lesson 1: Relations and Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: Representations of Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 3: Function or Not? Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 3: Linear Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Graphing Stories Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available) |
| Lesson 4: Comparing Linear and Nonlinear Functions | Unit 5 Lesson 4: Window Frames |
| Lesson 5: Analyzing and Sketching Graphs | Unit 5 Lesson 6: Graphing Stories |
Chapter 8: Exponents and Scientific Notation
| Lesson 1: Exponents | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Combining Exponents Lesson 3: Power Pairs [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Products of Powers Property | Unit 7 Lesson 2: Combining Exponents Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers Lesson 5: Zero and Negative Exponents Lesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available) Practice Day 1 (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Comparing Populations | |
| Lesson 4: Using Random Samples to Compare Populations | |
| Lesson 5: Estimating Quantities | Lesson 7: Scales and Weights Lesson 8: Point Zapper Lesson 9: Use Your Powers |
| Lesson 6: Scientific Notation Lesson 7: Operations in Scientific Notation | Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson] Lesson 13: Star Power Practice Day 2 (Print available) |
Chapter 9: Real Numbers and the Pythagorean Theorem
| Lesson 1: Finding Square Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots Lesson 3: Between Squares Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 2: The Pythagorean Theorem | |
| Lesson 3: Finding Cube Roots | Unit 8 Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots Lesson 3: Between Squares Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson] |
| Lesson 4: Rational Numbers | |
| Lesson 5: Irrational Numbers | Unit 8 Lesson 14: Hit the Target |
| Lesson 6: The Converse of the Pythagorean Theorem | Unit 8 Lesson 9: Make It Right |
Chapter 10: Volume and Similar Solids
| Lesson 1: Volumes of Cylinders | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Exploring Volume Lesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson] Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) |
| Lesson 2: Volumes of Cones | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Exploring Volume Lesson 13: Cones [Free lesson] Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available) |
| Lesson 3: Volumes of Spheres | Unit 5 Lesson 10: Exploring Volume Lesson 15: Spheres |
| Lesson 4: Surface Area and Volumes of Similar Solids | Unit 5 Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders |
Uncover student thinking with a complete K-8 math assessment system
Expect more from your assessments with mCLASS® Math, a complete K–8 benchmark and progress monitoring assessment system that shows how students performed, reveals their math thinking, and provides teachers with recommendations to drive grade-level success.
About the program
mCLASS Math is a digital assessment system designed to evaluate student performance and growth against grade-level expectations throughout the year. The program empowers educators and students with:
- Valid, reliable, and research-based assessments that take less time, so you can measure student proficiency and growth without taking time away from instruction.
- Valuable insights into student math thinking that move beyond right or wrong answers, revealing students’ processes so you can accelerate grade-level learning by building on what they already know.
- Data that drives instruction, turning assessment results into clear next steps for differentiation and intervention—all aligned with your core math program and MTSS framework.
mCLASS Math is available for grades K–5 in the 2025–26 school year and for grades K–8 in the 2026–27 school year.
Access deeper insights into students’ understanding
Traditional assessments focus only on right or wrong answers. mCLASS Math goes deeper, revealing how students think about grade-level math and what they already understand.
This asset-based approach recognizes that every student has their own ways of thinking. Their individual strengths, experiences, understandings, and strategies—or assets, as we collectively refer to them—inform the robust data that powers mCLASS Math. By focusing on what students already know and where they need support, teachers can confidently build on each target area for growth and accelerate grade-level learning with confidence.
Traditional assessments |
mCLASS Math’s asset-based assessments |
| Focus on student deficits | Highlight what students already know and how they think to build on their strengths |
| Require lengthy assessments with separate questions to address each skill | Efficiently gather multiple data points per item, reducing assessment time |
| Judge answers solely as correct or incorrect | Reveal students’ thinking and understanding behind their answers |
| Provide data disconnected from core instruction and intervention | Deliver data-driven recommendations aligned with core instruction and MTSS |
mCLASS Benchmark Assessments
- Digitally administered to the whole class three times a year (BOY, MOY, EOY) to measure growth against grade-level expectations
- Provide real-time visibility into student work and responses
- Diagnostic and screening tools to identify strengths and areas for Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions
- Flag potential risk of dyscalculia for early support
mCLASS Progress Monitoring
- Quick, targeted assessments administered between benchmarks
- Track student performance in specific skills and concepts over time
- Inform instructional adjustments with in-the-moment recommendations
- Ensure interventions are effective to keep students on track
Instructional supports for Tiers 1–3
Support, Strengthen, and Stretch model: Flexible framework for effective differentiation and intervention
- Mini-Lessons: 15-minute teacher-led interventions to build grade-level proficiency in small groups
- Centers: collaborative, hands-on activities for concept reinforcement (grades K–5)
- Fluency Practice: adaptive digital practice to build number sense and procedural fluency
- Item Bank: customizable practice and assessments filtered by standards and skills
- Extensions: student-choice activities to challenge and extend learning
A research-backed approach
mCLASS Math assessments provide valid, reliable measures of student proficiency and thinking, offering clear insight into growth and performance against grade-level expectations.
Developed by a team of researchers, mCLASS Math has undergone rigorous psychometric validity studies and is backed by the latest iteration of curriculum-based measurement tools and a state-of-the-art approach for efficiently assessing students’ mathematical thinking.
Additionally, K–5 progress monitoring and 6–8 benchmark assessments are part of ongoing national field trials, reflecting our commitment to continuous improvement and evidence-based design. Learn more.
Data that informs instruction
mCLASS Math transforms each student’s assessment results into clear, actionable next steps, empowering teachers to provide timely scaffolds and targeted instruction where they’re needed most. Integrated insights align with your core math program and MTSS framework, making it easy to differentiate and support every learner with confidence.
One integrated math solution
Amplify’s comprehensive math suite, Amplify Desmos Math, provides seamless alignment to help teachers capitalize on strengths, foster deep investment, and build agency for all students.
Everything is in one place—with screening and progress monitoring, core instruction, integrated personalized learning, and embedded intervention teachers can trust.
Maximize assessment impact with mCLASS PD.
Amplify offers focused professional development to help educators leverage mCLASS Math data effectively. Gain strategies to enhance instruction, drive student success, and fully utilize assessment insights.
Amplify Classroom
Amplify Classroom is a free teaching and learning platform that places student engagement at the center of instruction.
Amplify Classroom features free lessons, lesson-
building tools, sharing features, and more. Built by
math educators, the platform makes differentiation
easier for teachers, enabling them to personalize individual student instruction in real-time.
Create your teacher account
at classroom.amplify.com.
Explore more programs.
Amplify programs are designed to support and complement each other. Learn more about our related programs.
From talk to text: How language skills shape reading success, with Charles Hulme, D.Phil., and MaryKate DeSantis
Transcripts and additional resources:
Meet Our Guest(s):
Charles Hulme, D.Phil.
Charles Hulme is emeritus professor of psychology and education at the University of Oxford. He has broad research interests in reading, language, and memory processes and their development; and is an expert on randomized controlled trials in education. He has published widely and is in the top 2% for citations of all researchers in the field of education. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Oslo (2014) and is a member of Academia Europea and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He was also elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2017.
MaryKate DeSantis
MaryKate DeSantis is the founder of Left Side Strong LLC. Her experience working in a large urban school district as a special education teacher, reading specialist, and district-wide literacy coach has fueled her passion for translational research to ensure that all children receive evidence-based instruction. Her background in teaching reading sparked an interest in researching language, literacy, and developmental trajectories. She is a full-time faculty member in the Speech and Language Literacy Lab at MGH Institute of Health Professions, and is also an ongoing-research collaborator with the BRIDGES Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
She has also served as a clinician in the Neurology Department at Boston Children’s Hospital, is an adjunct professor at the Boston College Lynch School of Human Development, and is a Ph.D. student in educational psychology at the University of Connecticut.
Meet our host, Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert is chief academic officer of literacy at Amplify and host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Throughout her career, she has focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Lambert is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.
As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Lambert explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. A former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, she’s dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.
Quotes
“Reading comprehension is the process of taking the meaning from printed symbols on a page and translating them into a linguistic and cognitive code. It's making contact with the processes of language comprehension.”
“Language comprehension is really what leads us to reading comprehension.”
“We've got to start from the premise that reading is language. Without language, there would be no reading. Reading is a process that involves taking language in its written form and translating it back into its original form, which is spoken language.”
“If we go back in development, language skills appear to form the foundation for the ability to decode print, as well as the foundation for the ability to understand what is decoded.”
“Language skills are unconstrained, meaning the sky's the limit. As long as you continue to engage in any sort of way, your language skills can continue to develop throughout your lifetime.”
“We talk about learning to read, but we also need to talk about reading to learn. A lot of what we learn in our lives is through reading, and reading is certainly a powerful driver of vocabulary and language development.”
“Focusing on language is worth the time. … When we treat it as foundational, that's when we will give more students access to success.”
“If we want better readers, we have to grow better language users.”
From research to reality: Breaking down comprehension barriers, with Phil Capin, Ph.D.
Transcripts and additional resources:
Meet Our Guest(s):
Phil Capin, Ph.D.
Phil Capin, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His research focuses on understanding differences in reading development and developing and evaluating the impact of instructional practices, primarily for those with reading difficulties. Supported by the grant from the Institute of Education Sciences and the National Institutes of Health, Capin has conducted randomized control trials examining instructional approaches for improvising reading opportunities and outcomes for students with reading difficulties in K–2 settings. As a former teacher, a primary goal of his work is to meaningfully address challenges faced by educators.
Meet our host, Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert is chief academic officer of literacy at Amplify and host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Throughout her career, she has focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Lambert is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.
As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Lambert explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. A former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, she’s dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.
Quotes
“Instead of asking, ‘What do you know about a topic?,' I would start with building their knowledge.”
“We've underestimated the value of writing in supporting reading comprehension.”
“Reading and writing rely on a lot of the same language processes, and writing supports the consolidation of knowledge.”
“When I think of high-quality reading comprehension instruction, I think of before, during, and after.”
“Reading comprehension is the byproduct of a constellation of competencies that are interrelated: your ability to read words, your knowledge of words, and your background knowledge on the topic of the text.”
“Students should engage with meaningful problems, and they should have a reason for learning.”
“It's really important that we help students to develop those foundational literacy skills, because it is just a fact that if you can't read the words, you're not going to understand the text.”
“Reading comprehension will vary based on the knowledge you bring to the task, your interest in it, and your purpose for reading.”