Math STEM Resources
MathSite – You will enjoy this amazing interactive journey in math. The exhibits found at MathSite are intended for people of all ages who are interested in or are curious about mathematics. No specialized mathematical knowledge or special expertise is assumed. You will find it a place to see, hear, and do mathematics.
Emergent Math – Looking for ideas that just might spark a PBL math idea? Emergent Math is dedicated to brainstorming interesting and dynamic math problems and projects. The facilitator of the blog is employed by the New Technology Network of Schools. The posts really do allow for real mathspiration (inspirational combined with math). As stated in the blog, “interesting math problem/project can come in the form of a picture, a video, a tweet, something your child says, etc”. This blog really does attempt to use all of the preceding ideas, plus more! The posts generate ideas on how these concepts just might fit in the classroom and/or provide some driving/guiding questions. The best place to begin your exploration is at the first page of the blog and read the index! You will enjoy your immersion in Math!
Three Act Math Tasks – This is a wonderful collection of Math Tasks made to help students really understand Math by Dan Meyer and others.
Desmos – Their mission is to help every student learn math and love learning math. We accomplish that goal by building products and partnerships.
Check out a best-in-class HTML5 Desmos graphing calculator, which millions of students around the world use for free, including students who are blind or visually-impaired. Discover hundreds of digital activities.
Exploring Space Through Math – This amazing NASA site promotes inquiry through real world applications. Students assume the role of NASA scientists, engineers and researchers who work in teams to accomplish tasks. These projects promote cooperative learning, problem-solving and the use of technology. The problems in this project follow the 5-E’s Instructional Model with a segment for each phase of instruction – Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend and Evaluate. The projects cover the scope of Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and Precalculus.
Geogebra – Get this free online math tools for graphing, geometry, 3D, and more!
Estimation 180 – A site created to build number sense one day at a time. You will find all kinds of ideas and lessons.
Annenberg Learner Math Lessons – Annenberg Learner uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. The math lessons could be a footprint to a PBL unit or scaffolding for an entire PBL. While at the site… take a look at the interactives.
Figure This – This wonderful site is the work of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, in cooperation with the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Widmeyer Communications, and the Learning First Alliance. Its mission is to challenge middle school mathematics and emphasizes the importance of high-quality math education for all students. While it was created to allow for family interaction, it is also figures into the Math PBL classroom. The site allows students to have the opportunity to face some every day real life math challenges.
Rich Math Tasks – This site from the UK has some amazing math tasks that will be sure to engage your students and promote math understanding.
NZ Math – These rich learning Math ideas come from New Zealand. They represent both the procedural and conceptual approach.
Mathematical Moments – Authenticity is important in Math PBL. It seems that Math educators are always looking for ways they can show how math is used in the world around us. Discover a site that will help you achieve this goal of real world application. The site is cleverly titled Mathematical Moments and it is well worth the time! It contains free printable posters that are 8.5″ x 11″ PDF documents. These informational posters are available on many different topics in science, nature, technology, and human culture. As you take a closer look many of these posters note that many have a link to some short feature podcast interviews with experts in the field. These posters and podcast could spark the idea for a PBL math unit that brings authenticity into your math teaching.
MIT Blossoms – All of the lessons in the MIT Blossoms library have been contributed by BLOSSOMS partners from around the world. There is a watch the Teacher’s Guide Video Segment included with each lesson to learn more about it. The final segment of each BLOSSOMS video lesson is a one-on-one conversation between the teacher and the “virtual teacher.” Best of all, these lessons can be part of a PBL unit. The provided link brings you to the Math (English Language) Section.
Get The Math – Get the Math is about algebra in the real world. See how professionals use math in music, fashion, video games, restaurants, basketball, and special effects. Then take on interactive challenges related to those careers.
Mathalicious – While this is a paid site you will find several free projects on the homepage. Perhaps you will find that the paid lessons are really well worth it! This site does demonstrate that math is about more than just numbers and equations. Students find that math is a tool to explore the world around us. Mathalicious provides teachers with lessons that help them teach math in a way that engages their students–in a way that helps students understand how the world works. Lessons are aligned to Common Core Standards and explore real life questions.
TedEd – The makers of TED… these really are some wonderful flipped lessons with formative tools built in. These are definite lessons worth sharing! You can even make your own.
CK12 – Not only are the free flexbooks amazing you will also find simulations, PLIX, and Adaptive Practice This is an organization raising the bar with interactive learning activities and practice that adapts to individual student performance.
How to Smile – Discover this group of science museums dedicated to bringing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) out of the academic cloister and into the wider world. Find new ways to teach kids about math and science. Discover activities that meet you where you live, whether your “classroom” is an active volcano, the shark tank at the local aquarium, or your own kitchen table. SMILE is collecting the best educational materials on the web and creating learning activities, tools, and services.
Khan Academy – Help every student succeed with personalized practice. 100% free.
Find standards-aligned content and assign practice exercises, videos and articles
Track student progress and best of all join millions of teachers and students
NRICH – The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.
Illuminations – Illuminations works to serve you by increasing access to quality standards-based resources for teaching and learning mathematics, including interactive tools for students and instructional support for teachers.
PHET – This simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery
CanFigureIt – Created by teachers, this highly interactive tool provides an easy-to-use work space where students can practice proofs while exercising their deductive reasoning muscles.
Hub Page – This page contains some great PBL ideas in the area of math. Once you visit be prepared to stay awhile.
Less Helpful Math – Great blog filled with engaging and real world resources. The author Dan Meyer provides out of the textbook ideas that will make math authentic.
Share My Lessons – Welcome to a place where educators come together to create and share their very best teaching resources. It was created by teachers for teachers. It is a free platform giving access to high-quality teaching resources. It provides an online community where teachers can collaborate with, encourage and inspire each other.
PBL Pathways – This is a website dedicated to Math and PBL. In the supplied link you are directed to the PBL Projects. Here you will discover some project ideas covering many areas of advanced math. Each is a complete project that you may wish to include. Please be sure to read their Terms of Copyright Statement when using the materials.
Curriki Algebra – This is an Open Education Resource (OER) Algebra course that consists of five units aligned to the Common Core. Each of the units culminates in a project that utilizes mastery of conceptual understanding taught in the individual lessons. These units include:Unit 1: Relationships between Quantities and Reasoning with Equations
Unit 2: Linear and Exponential Relationships
Unit 3: Descriptive Statistics
Unit 4: Expressions and Equations
Unit 5: Quadratic Functions and Modeling
Math and Sports – What an amazing website from Cambridge University! These free online mathematical resources explore math and science through sports. These resources include activities designed to develop problem-solving and mathematical reasoning skills for students aged 5 to 18. You will also find articles aimed at older students. Also, be sure to visit video maths challenges which is produced with input from Cambridge by BBC Two Learning Zone. Another must visit site includes activities on Maths and Football (European style). It is possible to discover articles and activities that are arranged by Key Stage. The site also allows the user to access tabs at the top of the page, or view content by sport or topic.
Plus Magazine – That is right… it is a magazine. Another plus… it is free. Most important it is all about the world of Math. This is a wonderful resource that will bring the authentic world of math to your students. Stories and activities can be a scaffold in a PBL Unit or possibly the catalyst for an entire project. This is one that I could have spent an entire post on.
Mathematics, Learning, and Web 2.0 – “Mathematics, Learning, and Web 2.0” is written by Colleen Young. Her posts provide thoughts and ideas in a very math practical manner. It is a wonderful blog that will allow any math teacher to dream up a new PBL, or scaffold an activity inside an existing project!. Not only that… it is just wonderful reading… so enjoy!
SAS Curriculum Pathways Math – While SAS contain free curriculum for many areas be sure to check out some great math possibilities all for free.
Real World Math – Welcome to a collection of free math activities for Google Earth designed for students and educators. Mathematics is much more than a set of problems in a textbook. In the virtual world of Google Earth, concepts and challenges can be presented in a meaningful way that portray the usefulness of the ideas
PBS Learning – You will find thousands of multimedia possibilities in the math portion of the PBS site. Get ready to search!
NCTM Real World Math – Visit this collection of previously published articles from Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School and Mathematics Teacher that make strong connections between mathematics and other disciplines. The articles contain activities, experiments, investigations, or problems that are appropriate for use with middle school or high school students. Many of the articles can be adapted for use with students at different grade levels or in different kinds of courses.
Education World – Check out this article filled with online collections of real-world math activities, math activities with a specific real-life focus.
Graphing Stories – Check out these 15 second videos and then get your students graphing!
OER Commons Math – This is a large collection of online resources that are part of the open education resource field.
Math Snacks – Smart educational animations, games, and interactive tools that help mid-school learners better understand math concepts.
WolframAlpha – This is an amazing search engine based on data and mathematics. If you think the search engine is amazing then check out their educational site. There are some amazing resources.
Gap Minder – Explore this amazing world of data. Do you want to use Gapminder tools in your classroom? Check out our resources on this page and the downloads page to get started. You are free to use them today in your classroom!
Math Lessons – this site has some great lessons by Robert Kaplinsky. Make your own PrBL with these ideas.
CT4Me – This site has some awesome resources to take a look at for teachers of math. You will find all kinds of ideas including thoughts on PBL and Math.
Math Hooks – The goal is to introduce challenging, inquiry-based activities to every middle school math classroom in order to foster student participation, enthusiasm and improvement through rigorous discussion.
YouCubed – This site from Stanford University has a main goal to is to inspire, educate and empower teachers of mathematics, transforming the latest research on math learning into accessible and practical forms.
Week for Inspirational Math – These WIM lessons have been used millions of times, in every state across the US, as well as many other countries in the world. Teachers and students love the activities and mindset videos. In previous years of WIM, 98% of teachers said their students were engaged when working on the lessons and 96% of the students surveyed said they now believe they should keep going even when work is hard and they make mistakes. And that is a wonderful thing!
MAISA – Check out this data base from the state of Michigan that provides resources and lesson ideas aligned to standards. You will find rich math possibilities for students.
MARS – Classroom Challenges are lessons that support teachers in formative assessment. There are 100 lessons in total, 20 at each grade from 6 to 8 and 40 for ‘Career and College Readiness’ at High School Grades 9 and above. Some lessons are focused on developing math concepts, others on solving non-routine problems.
cross-posted at 21centuryedtech.wordpress.com
Michael Gorman oversees one-to-one laptop programs and digital professional development for Southwest Allen County Schools near Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is a consultant for Discovery Education, ISTE, My Big Campus, and November Learning and is on the National Faculty for The Buck Institute for Education. His awards include district Teacher of the Year, Indiana STEM Educator of the Year and Microsoft’s 365 Global Education Hero. Read more at21centuryedtech.wordpress.com.
