Students who are adept in modeling with mathematics have the capability to use mathematics in situations that arise in everyday life. The German Tank problem described in this article created the expectation that student reasoning was rooted in logical deductions (NCTM 2000). By engaging in this problem, students grappled with challenging…

Mathematics and science are natural partners. One of many examples of this partnership occurs when scientific observations are made, thus providing data that can be used for mathematical modeling. Developing mathematical relationships elucidates such scientific principles. This activity describes a data-collection activity in which students employ…

With the advancement of specialized middle schools and high schools focusing on the arts, communication, engineering, mathematics, and science, many students who attend traditional schools miss out on valuable learning opportunities--in particular, when it comes to learning mathematics. Mathematics classrooms can be filled with real-world…

Middle school students' mathematical understanding benefits from connecting mathematics to other content areas in the curriculum. This month's activity explores the issue of the scarcity of freshwater, a natural resource (activity sheets are included). This activity concentrates on the critical areas mentioned in the Common Core State…

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…

Writing allows students to clarify their thinking. Through the process of writing, students recognize what they know and what they still need to learn. This article describes how a middle school mathematics teacher and language arts teacher worked with a secondary content area literacy professor during a specific writing assignment. The "How-to"…

In this article, the authors describe how mathematics teachers and art teachers were able to enthusiastically engage seventh- and eighth-grade students in an interdisciplinary activity focused on scaling, proportional reasoning, and measurement by recreating artwork on a famous private collection. Using the artwork from The Barnes Foundation in…

As much as ever before, mathematics teachers are searching for ways to connect mathematics to real-life scenarios within STEM contexts. As students develop skill in proportional reasoning, they examine graphical representations of linear functions, learn to associate "slope" with "steepness" and rate of change, and develop…

How better to promote a healthy lifestyle than to get an entire middle school involved in analyzing dietary information? This article describes a series of activities that was part of an interdisciplinary schoolwide effort to discuss healthy food choices. Mathematics teachers chose to focus on students' dietary habits and, over several days,…

In their dual roles as mathematics teachers and tennis coaches, the authors have worked with tennis players who have never thought about how a knowledge of mathematics might help them become "better" tennis players. They have also worked with many mathematics students who have never considered how much mathematics is associated with tennis. This…

Aerial imagery has a great capacity to engage and maintain student interest while providing a contextual setting to strengthen their ability to reason proportionally. Free, on-demand, high-resolution, large-scale aerial photography provides both a bird's eye view of the world and a new perspective on one's own community. This article presents an…

Statistics is the art and science of gathering, analyzing, and making conclusions from data. However, many people do not fully understand how to interpret statistical results and conclusions. Placing students in a collaborative environment involving project-based learning may enable them to overcome misconceptions of probability and enhance the…

It is important for students to have opportunities to experience mathematics in contexts outside of the mathematics classroom. The links between mathematics and other disciplines can help students develop a fuller understanding of mathematics. Problems arising in health, science, and social studies can help students understand ratios, measurement,…

This article describes one way to introduce fraction, decimal, and percent equivalents by linking student-created Op Art with examples of twentieth-century abstract painting. (Contains 7 figures.)

This article describes how the story of Alice in Wonderland helps students understand the operation of multiplying by a rational number less than 1 and related aspects of ratio and proportion. Included with this article is a "How Tall Is Alice?" Worksheet. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)