A group of adults, dressed in authentic medieval costumes, organize and stage a full-scale battle at a local park; weapons (made from foam), roles, and medieval speech are all part of the event. This is known as "Live Action Role Play" -- more commonly referred to as "LARP." Although many settings and scenarios have been used…

Now in its sixth year of implementation, the TECHFIT approach involves having individuals and teams of middle school teachers successfully complete a week-long, professional development (PD) workshop through which they acquire the essential skills that contribute to the task of innovating an exergame. An exergame is a technology-supported fitness…

This design case chronicles the efforts of an interdisciplinary team of researchers as they collaborated with middle grades science teachers and students to build and refine an epidemic disease curriculum module. The initial five-day design was delivered in five science classrooms at three nearby schools where researcher classroom observations and…

This article asks the question: is the "Last Banana" game fair? Engaging in this exploration provides students with the mathematical power to answer the question and the mathematical opportunity to explore important statistical ideas. Students engage in simulations to calculate experimental probabilities and confirm those results by…

In this article, the authors explain how they leveraged the popularity of the "Star Wars" franchise to introduce a task steeped in popular culture as a fun way to engage their students in investigating complex mathematics that have real-life connections to careers in toy design and engineering design in general. The authors share various…

According to NCTM's "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000), the act of estimating is reflective of students' mathematical intuition and number sense. Students with more developed number sense are better able to judge the reasonableness of their results. To promote estimation, Jennifer Marshall explored incorporating…

This article describes an activity appropriate for middle or high school physics or physical science students. Rather than giving the answer to the question "How does a milliliter compare to a cubic centimeter?" the students develop a procedure for measuring volume by calculation and by displacement of water. Students share the data and…

This article focuses specifically on the inclusion of meaningful (but potentially messy) real-world mathematics tasks in the middle school classroom. Real-world tasks provide students with learning opportunities allowing mathematics to be used to understand the world, strengthen mathematical knowledge, and offer opportunities for students to use…

This document includes instructional tips on: (1) Building on students' informal understanding of sharing and proportionality to develop initial fraction concepts; (2) Helping students recognize that fractions are numbers that expand the number system beyond whole numbers, and using number lines to teach this and other fraction concepts; (3)…

As the authors are proponents for engineering education that is done well, they have provided an explanation of truss design using the Method of Joints that combines the application of practical hands-on learning with sound mathematical and scientific theory. The Method of Joints will allow students to design trusses to meet specified criteria…

The aim of this article is to inspire more teachers to explore the use of codable robots for teaching mathematics. The authors begin by discussing four benefits experienced by incorporating robots into middle school mathematics classes: (1) reasonable time frames; (2) authentic purposes for mathematics; (3) visual and nonevaluative feedback; and…

Children see and describe patterns in the primary grades when they develop the meaning of numbers by composing and decomposing. During their early years, they use patterns to learn properties of operations (Common Core Standards Writing Team 2011). While describing the intent of the third-grade standards for multiplication, the CCSS writers…

Integrating the disciplines of mathematics and science is one way to place the calculations of volume and surface area into a real life context. The authors present an activity for middle-school students that aims to promote their learning of these key concepts in a personally meaningful way, whilst also developing inquiry and problem solving…

IEA's International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 is designed to assess how well students are prepared for study, work, and life in a digital world. The study measures international differences in students' computer and information literacy (CIL): their ability to use computers to investigate, create, participate, and…

Computational thinking is an essential skill in the modern global workforce. The current public health crisis has highlighted the need for students and educators to have a deeper understanding of epidemiology. While existing STEM curricula has addressed these topics in the past, current events present an opportunity for new curricula that can be…