This lesson will allow students to build their own balloon car racer as an introduction to engineering and coding.  Each pair or team of students will be able to engineer their balloon car, measure the performance of their cars using yard sticks, and set up a basic algorithm to construct and run their machine.PURPOSEThe goals for this lesson are to: (1) integrate engineering and coding to young students; (2) have students independenty identify the steps (an algorithm) to build and improve their racers; (4) be able to spot "bugs" in their algorithm; (3) integrate measurement and addition operations to determine which car went furthest overall; and (4) teach perserverance by showing students that it is normal to find bugs in algorithms/coding.   

Unit 1: Scale Drawings
Lesson 3: Making Scaled Copies

In the previous lesson, students learned that we can use scale factors to describe the relationship between corresponding lengths in scaled figures. Here they apply this idea to draw scaled copies of simple shapes on and off a grid. They also strengthen their understanding that the relationship between scaled copies is multiplicative, not additive. Students make careful arguments about the scaling process (MP3), have opportunities to use tools like tracing paper or index cards strategically (MP5).

As students draw scaled copies and analyze scaled relationships more closely, encourage them to continue using the terms scale factor and corresponding in their reasoning.

This lesson unit is intended to help you assess how well students are able to: Interpret a situation and represent the variables mathematically; select appropriate mathematical methods to use; explore the effects on the area of a rectangle of systematically varying the dimensions whilst keeping the perimeter constant; interpret and evaluate the data generated and identify the optimum case; and communicate their reasoning clearly.

CK-12 Foundation's Middle School Math € Grade 6 Flexbook covers the fundamentals of fractions, decimals, and geometry. Also explored are units of measurement, graphing concepts, and strategies for utilizing the book's content in practical situations.

A work in progress, CK-12's Math 7 explores foundational math concepts that will prepare students for Algebra and more advanced subjects. Material includes decimals, fractions, exponents, integers, percents, inequalities, and some basic geometry.

As part of the 7th Grade Social Studies curriculum students will incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (S.T.E.A.M) into unit various lessons. This lesson will specifically address the Ancient Egyptian unit in alignment with the class curriculum textbook: Discovering Our Past “A History of the World, Early Ages” McGraw-Hill Networks and various curricular standards. Students interest and excitement towards Egyptian history will be increased by the possibilities and opportunities offered by Minecraft. Students will conducted extended research of the mighty and mysterious pyramids and learn how and why people have built such magnificent structures.

Unit 1: Scale Drawings
Lesson 4: Scaled Relationships

In previous lessons, students looked at the relationship between a figure and a scaled copy by finding the scale factor that relates the side lengths and by using tracing paper to compare the angles. This lesson takes both of these comparisons a step further.

Students study corresponding distances between points that are not connected by segments, in both scaled and unscaled copies. They notice that when a figure is a scaled copy of another, corresponding distances that are not connected by a segment are also related by the same scale factor as corresponding sides.
Students use protractors to test their observations about corresponding angles. They verify in several sets of examples that corresponding angles in a figure and its scaled copies are the same size.
Students use both insights—about angles and distances between points—to make a case for whether a figure is or is not a scaled copy of another (MP3). Practice with the use of protractors will help develop a sense for measurement accuracy, and how to draw conclusions from said measurements, when determining whether or not two angles are the same.

Observe what happens to an image when the scale changes. This interactive exercise focuses on visually comparing multiplicative and additive relationships.

Students learn how to determine map distances and areas using the map scale. They get a feel for how much an area represents on the map in relation to the size they are suggesting for their underground caverns to shelter the Alabraska population.

At a time when most African Americans were slaves, Benjamin Banneker was born free in 1731. Known and admired for his work in science, mathematics, and astronomy, he built a strike clock based on his own drawings and using a pocket-knife at the age of 22. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Find a discarded object that can be taken apart. Take apart the item and make your own Things Come Apart arrangement.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

Maps are designed to allow people to travel to a new location without a guide to show the way. They tell us information about areas to which we may or may not have ever been. There are many types of maps available for both recreational and professional use. A navigator uses a nautical map, while an engineer might use a surveyor's map. Maps are created by cartographers, and they can be very specific or very general, depending on their intended use. The focus of this lesson is on how to read and use topographical maps. Students will also learn to identify the common features of a map. Through the associated activities, students will learn how to use a compass to find bearing to an object on a map and in the classroom.

In order to show the world that the completed Brooklyn Bridge was strong enough, P.T. Barnum and his twenty-one elephants parade across to prove to everyone that the bridge is safe. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Build a bridge between two tables or chairs that will hold one elephant per student in the class. Each student designs their own “elephant” using materials in the classroom.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

This lesson unit is intended to help you assess how well students are able to: recognize and use common 2D representations of 3D objects and identify and use the appropriate formula for finding the circumference of a circle.

Unit 1: Scale Drawings
Lesson 1: What are Scaled Copies?

This lesson introduces students to the idea of a scaled copy of a picture or a figure. Students learn to distinguish scaled copies from those that are
not—first informally, and later, with increasing precision. They may start by saying that scaled copies have the same shape as the original figure, or that they do not appear to be distorted in any way, though they may have a different size. Next, they notice that the lengths of segments in a scaled copy vary from the lengths in the original figure in a uniform way. For instance, if a segment in a scaled copy is half the length of its counterpart in the original, then all other segments in the copy are also half the length of their original counterparts. Students work toward articulating the characteristics of scaled copies quantitatively (e.g., “all the segments are twice as long,” “all the lengths have shrunk by one third,” or “all the segments are one-fourth the size of the segments in the original”), articulating the relationships carefully (MP6) along the way.

The lesson is designed to be accessible to all students regardless of prior knowledge, and to encourage students to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them (MP1) from the very beginning of the course.

Zaha Hadid grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, and dreamed of designing her own cities. After studying architecture in London, she opened her own studio and started designing buildings. But as a Muslim woman, Hadid faced many obstacles. Determined to succeed, she worked hard for many years, and achieved her goals—and now you can see the buildings Hadid has designed all over the world. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Identify an area in your school that is very traditional. Redesign it to better fit the needs of the end-users. Then sketch out a new design, and then create a physical prototype of the new design to scale.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.