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CONNECTING KNOWLEDGE
with UNDERSTANDING 
{ONE LESSON AT A TIME}

MATH PROJECTS FOR MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL

2/15/2023

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Let’s talk math projects….
 
As a teacher, I love to implement projects into as many units of study as possible. Projects can push students to use a higher level of thinking, because often, projects include more creativity, application, evaluation and analyzation than the average assignment or activity. This is a great way for us, as teachers, to see that students’ have the capability to expand upon their skill set.
 
Students also enjoy doing something outside the normal lesson. Projects can give students’ choice, which can boost their engagement and motivation, allow them to capitalize on their interests and strengths, and enable them to meet their individual learning needs.
 
Projects are a teacher and student win-win! Therefore, my math friends and I want to share with you some of our FAVORITE math projects that you can use in your classroom!

Let’s start with the projects I use in my classroom…
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Students ALWAYS ask how will we use this math in the real-world?! Therefore, I create projects that have students use their math skills in real-world scenarios. They're also perfect for a summative assessment at the end of a unit OR integrated within a unit. Either way, you are answering that forever dreaded question of how math is used in real life! Read about some of the projects I’ve created for my students:

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MORE PROJECTS
FROM MY MATHTASTIC FRIENDS

*Click on each image to learn more about the project.
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Tactile Formula Project
- Math Giraffe


​This project is a quick and easy add-on to any lesson or unit that includes formulas to remember.

Students have to choose a tangible material that they will shape into each component of the formula. But the key is that they have to select something that is meaningful and will help them remember what each number, letter, or symbol represents. They will mentally connect the material to the concept and increase their retention. The post contains a free rubric download and details about the idea (with photo samples).

Volume and Surface Area Real World Project
​– Amanda Nix, Free to Discover


Engage students in geometric measurement through design, persuasive writing, and hands-on learning!

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​Geometric Transformations Logo Project
– Mrs E Teaches Math

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This project is a great way for students to demonstrate their learning about transformations in Geometry! Students will look for real-world examples of logos and relate them to translations, rotations, reflections, and dilations.


​Selfieometry

– Kacie Travis, The Efficient Classroom​

​Looking for a way to assess or reinforce what your Geometry students have learned? This project combines Geometry with the craze of “The Selfie!” It assesses the student's ability to apply Geometry concepts to the real world with a fun, highly relevant spin!
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​Slope Mini Project
– Jamie Miller Math


Looking for a fun way to practice slope? Students pick a word and illustrate the different kinds of slope!
Graphing Grass Linear Equations Project
– Scaffolded Math and Science


The project is so simple - students plant seeds, grow grass, measure, plot growth, find lines of fit - but the learning opportunities stretch the project so much farther.
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Design a Game Show Using Probability
- Rise Over Run


​Students use what they know about probability to create their own game show. They can get creative and even test out their games! Instructions are included to guide students in designing a game based on a simple event, designing a game based on a compound event, explaining the probabilities of winning, and choosing prizes based on a budget and probabilities of winning.

​Math is Everywhere Project
– Middle School Math Man


Get students thinking about how they see math in the real world with this Math is Everywhere Project. Students combine art and math to create a tile that shows how they see math outside of the classroom. These make an amazing bulletin board display!
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​Castle Creation: A Surface Area and Volume Project
– Taylor J's Math Materials


​Castle Creation is a great surface area and volume project that challenges students to CREATE, MEASURE, and CALCULATE the surface area and volume of several 3-D figures while building a one-of-a-kind castle!
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REAL WORLD LINEAR EQUATIONS PROJECT

1/31/2023

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If you’ve been following me for a bit, you know that I LOVE real world projects! And it all began with this one….
 
Linear Equations are All Around Us!

This was the FIRST project I ever made for my students. 

It made me fall in love with integrating projects into my classroom.

I created it in a way that gives students' options of topics and various levels of difficulty.

And most importantly, my students had FUN doing math!!!

What real world topics does the project include?
There are soooo many real-world scenarios that involve linear equations, but I tried to use a variety of ones that were most relevant for teenagers. Each of the following topics are included in this project:
  1. Cell Phone Plans
  2. Hourly Wages
  3. Frequent Flyer Miles
  4. Temperature Conversion
  5. Taxi Fares
  6. Car Depreciation
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LINEAR EQUATIONS ARE ALL AROUND US!!!
OBJECTIVE
Analyze a linear equation in a real-world setting. You will be able to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the following skills:
  • Write a linear equation that represents a real-world scenario.
  • Create a table to represent data for the linear equation.
  • Graph the linear equation.
  • Create a visual demonstrating this real-world scenario.
  • Answer questions about the real-world scenario by analyzing the equation, table, and graph.
 
RESEARCH & COLLECTING DATA
Students determine the rate and write an equation for the real-world scenario. Some projects require a little research, but a link is included to help them find the data. Then, they use the linear equation to fill in a table.

GRAPHING & RESULTS
Students graph the linear equation and plot the ordered pairs. I suggest they use graph paper or Desmos. Students label important information on the graph: x-axis, y-axis, ordered pairs, and use an appropriate scale. Students then analyze their equation, table, and graph by answering questions.
 
VISUALS
Students create a visual demonstration of the real-world scenario by drawing or using an image from the internet.

GRADING
A Google Sheets answer key for each scenario is included, so you can insert any rate of used in each project and it automatically calculates the information needed for grading. A rubric is also provided, so you can easily evaluate each aspect of the project. It is great for students to use, so they know exactly what is expected of them for each part of the project.
 
What’s included in the project?
  • 6 student projects (print & digital) – various levels of difficulty and perfect for differentiation
  • Note to Teacher – an overview of the project
  • Answer Keys
  • Rubric
  • Example Project
 
EVERYTHING in this project is 100% editable!

 Click on the video below to see an overview of the elements in the project: 
​One of my favorite concepts to teach is linear equations. I love giving students a variety of ways to show what they know. If you’re looking for a fun and creative way to assess students on linear equations, then this project is perfect!
 
Click on the image below to view this project:
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10+ PRINT AND DIGITAL MATH RESOURCES

1/18/2022

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Discover a variety of math resources that can be used both in-person and virtual! Grades 6-12
​Have you had a few school days when you wake up to find out you are teaching virtual today instead of in-person learning? And then think…NOOOOOO, I had the BEST activity planned today! This is becoming more and more common. It causes teachers stress, disruption to learning, and overall, is very frustrating.
 
Well, guess what?! I have some MATHTASTIC resources to share with you that you can either use in-person OR virtual because they are printable and digital. That’s right, with ONE resource you have access to both versions, which means you can switch from in-person teaching to virtual (and vice versa) and continue with your original lesson plans.
 
Start using these resources today to save yourself the frustration of having to change your lesson last minute!

ALGEBRA AND BEYOND PRINT & DIGITAL RESOURCES:

REAL WORLD PROJECTS – Are you out for a few days and need students to do independent work? These projects are perfect! Students learn how to connect what they learned in class with real world scenarios.
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​BATTLE MY MATH SHIP – Students love this spin on the classic game of Battleship! Students try to sink their opponents' ships by solving math problems. Perfect partner activity to review any math topic. Set them up in a breakout room and away they go! Over 70 battleships to choose from!
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​NAME THAT FUNCTION – Working with functions? Great! These activities help students critically think about graphs and their attributes. These were the best for when I had half my class in person and half virtual because students could discuss and learn together no matter their location.
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ALGEBRA LESSONS WITH VIDEOS – Teaching a new topic today? No problem. These lessons can be shared with your students via a password protected site. They include a video warm-up, guided notes, and homework. You can demonstrate the learning in Zoom or use some of the FREE pre-recorded videos you will find here: INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS
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MORE MATHTASTIC PRINT & DIGITAL RESOURCES:
*Click on the name or image to go to the resources.
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GEOMETRY TASK CARDS from Kacie Travis – Task Cards are great for independent or collaborative work! They are also a fun station activity. These can also be assigned digitally for another helpful option! Read more about these task cards HERE.
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STATIONS MAZE from Mrs. E Teaches Math – Stations mazes are great because they get students up and moving around the room. They also encourage students to check their work carefully since an incorrect answer will eventually send them back to a problem they have already solved.  A digital version is included for absent students.
BOOM CARDS from Kate's Math Lessons – Your students will LOVE getting instant feedback with these digital task cards!  In a nutshell, Boom Cards are interactive, self-checking activities.  Students are shown one question at a time and get immediate feedback on their answers.  Boom Cards can also be printed if you prefer paper task cards for stations, games, or scavenger hunts. Read more about these activities HERE.
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BINGO from Teaching High School Math – Playing bingo is a great way for students to review topics that they have been taught. Fun for the students and a formative assessment for teachers.   Having an online option makes it even better! Read more about these BINGO activities HERE.
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MINI MYSTERIES from Lauren Fulton  –Who doesn’t love a good mystery? With Mini Mysteries, students use standards-based math problems to solve murder mysteries! Each mystery comes with a mystery story, clue sheet (AKA, math problems that don’t feel like math problems), and a class set of suspect cards. As students work their way through the clue sheet, they narrow down the suspect list to find the guilty suspect! Print & digital versions come in each set.
MATH CHOOSE YOUR OWN JOURNEY BOOKS from Math Giraffe – Within the story are situations in which the reader must solve problems that are integrated into the storyline. Students make choices on how to proceed as well as how they’d like to solve the problems and head to the pages that they are directed to. When a student chooses a method that is not the most efficient way to solve a particular problem, the book explains why their choice was not the best and directs them how to continue. When they choose an incorrect equation, they are corrected. Since the book is partially self-correcting, the teacher correcting and grading is very minimal.
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OLD MATH GUY from Free to Discover - Engage your math students in interactive matching activities TWO different ways! Students play Old Math Guy (think Old Maid) in small groups. “Matches” are mathematical matches between 2 cards (ie 2(x+4) and 2x+8). Need a digital solution? The same cards can be used to complete an individual drag-n-drop practice activity in Google Slides.
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​PRINT AND DIGITAL MATH PUZZLES from Scaffolded Math and Science – Each set of math puzzles comes in both print and digital form. The digital versions are drag-and-drop in GOOGLE Slides. The puzzles make for engaging classwork, station activities, partner work and review.

We hope these print and digital resources help you teach in-person and virtual!

ACCESS the Algebra and Beyond Free Resource Library
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MATH JUST GOT REAL: EXPONENTIAL REGRESSION PROJECT

5/12/2021

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Real World Exponential Regression Project - Cryptocurrency has gone up exponentially over time. Students explore different cryptocurrencies, the price, and create an exponential equation of best fit to represent their data.
​Cryptocurrency began in 2009 and has been a phenomenon ever since! The value of several cryptocurrencies has exponentially increased over the years. This is REAL WORLD math at it’s finest!
 
Okay, admittedly, I knew next to nothing about cryptocurrency, besides that it existed, until this year. More and more of my friends and family have been interested in and investing in crypto. It got me very curious about what it is and why are people buying it. As I dove more into it, I realized that the trend of several cryptocurrencies would be perfect for an exponential regression project. And quite frankly, digital currency is VERY exciting, as this isn’t something we’ve experienced ever before in history. It’s a brand new type of currency!

​So, here are the details…
In this project, students will take a closer look at the price change of cryptocurrency and where it is potentially headed in the future via historical data and finding an exponential equation of best fit.
 
What is cryptocurrency? I’m sure you’re thinking that if you don’t know anything (or much) about cryptocurrencies that you can’t use this project with your students. WRONG. I’ve included a “Cryptocurrency: What is it?” introduction activity. This will help give the students (and you) enough basics about cryptocurrency in order to complete the project.
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CRYPTOCURRENCY: BITCOIN AND BEYOND


OBJECTIVE
Students are to find the curve of best fit for a exponential function in the real world by performing the following:
  • Understand the basics of cryptocurrency
  • Research a cryptocurrency
  • Gather accurate data and create a table
  • Graph a scatter plot
  • Find an exponential equation of best fit
  • Graph an equation
  • Predict future values of cryptocurrency using the equation of best fit
RESEARCH & COLLECTING DATA
Students are given a specific cryptocurrency to research. The research includes finding the ticker symbol, learning what their currency is, three facts about their cryptocurrency, and collecting pricing data for their currency over a specific time period.
 
GRAPHING & RESULTS
Students use the TI-84 graphing calculator to find the exponential regression equation. Then they use Desmos to create a scatter plot and graph the exponential regression equation. Students answer questions to help them understand and analyze their results, including future price predictions for their cryptocurrency.

VISUALS
A Google Slides template is provided, so students can type in their information in the specific location. They then can easily turn their project into you via Google Classroom or email.
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​GRADING

An answer key that gives the data, equation of best fit, and the answers to the questions is included for each cryptocurrency. A rubric is provided, so you can easily evaluate each aspect of the project. It is great for students to use, so they know exactly what is expected of them.



​What’s included in the project?
  • Note to Teacher
  • Project Overview
  • Introduction to Cryptocurrency Activity
  • Pick your Cryptocurrency
  • Student Presentation Template
  • Answer Keys
  • Rubric
  • BONUS: Exponential Regression Calculator Sheet
 
EVERYTHING included in this project is 100% editable! So, you can adjust to fit your curriculum needs.

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​Most of my students knew nothing about cryptocurrency when they began this project. But, they were intrigued because they’ve heard about cryptocurrency AND knew some businesses that were beginning to accept it for payment. Why not learn more for themselves?! This is a cutting edge project that you don’t want your students to miss out on!

Click on the cover below to go directly to this project:
Real World Project - Cryptocurrency - Exponential Regression

​More mathtastic real world projects for your students:
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MATH JUST GOT REAL: QUADRATIC REGRESSION PROJECT

6/24/2020

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Quadratic Regression Real World Project Blog PostPin it
Using data to find a quadratic graph of best fit is an awesome way to connect math with the real world. However, it’s not always easy to find authentic data to use for a quadratic regression equation. I REALLY wanted to use the flight of a soccer ball or golf ball and find a video on YouTube that had all the stats using a trace finder that states the distance and height. I searched and searched, but could not find a video that was clear and had the information needed to collect data for a scatter plot. So, I began looking at weather patterns, but that wasn’t quite right either. However, it helped me stumble across the timeanddate.com site. This is when I realized I can use the time of day and the altitude of the sun for a quadratic regression real world project! Of course, you can only use it for ONE day otherwise, it’s a periodic function. Here are the details of the project...

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​THE PATH OF THE SUN
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OBJECTIVE
In this project, students are to find the curve of best fit for a quadratic function in the real world by performing the following:
  • Choose a city, country and date for your research.
  • Collect data on the relationship between time of day and the altitude of the sun.
  • Record your information in a table.
  • Find the curve of best-fit model using the quadratic regression feature on a graphing calculator.
  • Graph the scatter plot of the data set and the curve of best fit in Desmos.
  • Analyze the results.
  • Record all of the information in a Google Slide Presentation.​

​REASEARCH

Students choose a location (city, state/country) and a specific date to use to collect their data. They use the timeanddate.com site to find the altitude of the sun at specific times of the day.
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Quadratic scatter plot and equation on Desmos
RESULTS
Students use the TI-84 graphing calculator to find the quadratic regression equation. Then they use Desmos to create a scatter plot and graph the quadratic regression equation. Students answer questions to help them understand and analyze their results.

​VISUALS

The Google Slides template is provided, so students can type in their information in the specific location. They then can easily turn their project into you via Google Classroom or email.

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​GRADING

A rubric is provided, so you can easily evaluate each aspect of the project. It is great for students to use, so they know exactly what is expected of them.
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Quadratic Regression TI-84 Calculator Guide
​Included:
  • Note to Teacher
  • Project Directions
  • Student Template (Google Slides)
  • Example Project (Google Slides)
  • Rubric
  • Spreadsheet for students to choose a location
  • BONUS: Quadratic Regression Calculator Sheet - shows students step by step on how to find the quadratic regression equation
The project directions and rubric are 100% editable! This is very easy to integrate into any Algebra course either in-person or online, gives students some freedom of what place to research, and is mathtastically fun! And since it’s editable, you can even change it to record data over several days and find the sinusoidal regression equation for a higher-level math course.
 
Click on the cover below to go directly to this project:
Quadratic Regression Real World Project
Other projects you may like:
Math Review Project
Linear Equations Real World Project
Quadratics Real World Project
Linear and Exponential Regression Real World Project
Absolute Value Inequalities Real World Project
Linear Systems of Equations Project
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    Hello there,
    ​I'm TYRA!

    I'm an educational blogger and curriculum designer. I am enthusiastic about providing creative, comprehensive, and clear resources for middle and high school math teachers. My goal is to create content that is easy to implement for the teacher, and helps students Connect Knowledge with Understanding - One Lesson at a Time.


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    Students battle using their math skills to attack their opponents ships. Correct space and solution = a sunken ship. Algebra fun at it's best!

    TEACHER: And that is how you find the MIN/MAX on your calculator. *BOOM* Drop the mic! STUDENT: What do I put in Y1? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ No more of this! Give your students a great reference sheet to put in their notebook and NEVER ask you the keystrokes again!
    Parent Function Graphic Organizers - domain, range, continuity, intervals of increase/decrease, min/max, end behavior, intercepts, and the graph
    Graphic Organizer: domain, range, intercepts, asymptotes, intervals of inc/decrease, max/min, and end behavior.
    Students will create a roller coaster that demonstrates their knowledge and understanding of the following skills: • Graph a continuous function that represents a roller coaster using parent functions. • Write a piecewise-defined function to represent the entire roller coaster. • Attributes of functions: Domain/Range, Min/Max, and Intervals of Inc/Dec
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