The authors asked a group of students during a classroom research study to analyze data sets containing different amounts of noise. The authors use the word "noise" to refer to statistical variability. The four students in the group were finishing seventh grade and participating in summer mathematics instruction. The authors carefully…

What better way to interest students in mathematics than using a Super Bowl® commercial? A Prudential® insurance commercial aired during the Super Bowl in 2013 was the impetus for this lesson (see it here on You-Tube™: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IsNiKGMSHUQ). In the commercial, four hundred people were polled on "How Old Is the Oldest…

This article describes an exciting exploration-based activity in which students develop an alternative definition of factor that can help them solve problems like the one presented above. Students work in groups to collect data, analyze the data to make conjectures, and then spend a significant amount of time debating and justifying their…

Motivating middle school students to learn can be challenging. One proven method for doing so is through an integrated curriculum. Educational philosophers and curriculum theorists have long noted the benefits of an integrated curriculum, which recognizes that the subject areas within the curriculum are connected to one another and to the real…

When teaching algebra concepts to middle school students, the author often hears questions that echo her own past confusion as a young student learning to write linear equations using data tables that show only input and output values. Students, expected to synthesize the relationship between these values in symbolic representation, grow…

Instead of reserving the study of probability and statistics for special fourth-year high school courses, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) takes a "statistics for all" approach. The standards recommend that students in grades 6-8 learn to summarize and describe data distributions, understand probability, draw…

"Who has been to Dairy Queen® and purchased a Blizzard?®" Ms. Bosetti asked her students. During the summer, Bosetti had seen many of her former and future students at the local Dairy Queen enjoying Blizzard desserts and wondered, "Which Blizzard size is the best value?" She used this context for a ratios and proportions task…

Linear functions are an important part of the middle school mathematics curriculum. Students in the middle grades gain fluency by working with linear functions in a variety of representations (NCTM 2001). Presented in this article is an activity that was used with five eighth-grade classes at three different schools. The activity contains 15 cards…

While some students are enjoying days at the park or at the beach, forty middle school students are in a classroom solving challenging mathematics problems. The second Math Camp for middle school students was offered in 2013 at a western university for students from local school districts. For three days, these students met from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.…

To promote math and science, this author designed an activity to show students that biomedical fields are within their reach. The activity has three distinct goals: (1) To introduce the field of biomedical engineering to students and encourage them in these career pursuits; (2) To give them hands-on experience conducting a biomechanical test; and…

Addresses issues of students' understandings of representative values of data--how representative values should be introduced, and what role student understanding of representative values plays in their ability to analyze sets of data. Highlights the importance of teacher support of student development of conceptual understandings of multiple…

Presents an activity using national achievement data to involve students in a project on data collection and statistics while learning about their attitudes toward and beliefs about mathematics. This activity presents a good opportunity to talk about various interpretations of data and allows students to examine and discuss their attitudes about…

Presents different real-world mathematics activities on data display and data analysis with pie charts from different time periods. (ASK)

Presents a hands-on activity in which students use the tools to derive the basic procedure used by wildlife biologists worldwide for estimating the sizes of wildlife populations. Helps students gain the feelings of power and ownership of a statistical method that they derive themselves. (ASK)

This article describes an innovative lesson that uses the biography "Barbara McClintock: Alone in her Field" (Heiligman, 1994) to integrate genetics, literature, and mathematics as a context for students to investigate patterns on Indian corn. This two-day lesson requires students to estimate, collect data, identify and describe patterns,…