Center for Mathematical Professional Learning and Educational Technology

Category: Middle School (6-8)

World’s Largest Cookie

World’s Largest Cookie

Grade: 3-8

The world’s largest chocolate chip cookie was created using 40,000 pounds of cookie dough! (The recipe is listed below.)

A school wants to make a smaller version of this cookie to feed all 800 students in their school. They decide that each pound of dough will feed 4 students.

How many pounds of chocolate chips will they need?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Watermelon

Watermelon

Grade: 3-8

A giant watermelon weighed 100 pounds and was 99 percent water. While sitting in the sun, some of the water evaporated. Now, the watermelon is only 98 percent water. How much does the watermelon weigh now?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Touchdowns & Field Goals

Touchdowns & Field Goals

Grade:3-8

Emma plays in a flag football league where the only two ways to score are via touchdowns, which are worth 7 points, and field goals, which are worth 3 points. In yesterday’s game, her team scored eight times. How many points did her team score?

Find all possible solutions.

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Spiders and Ants

Spiders And Ants

Grade: 3-8

A spider’s web contains a certain number of spiders, which have eight legs, and their six-legged meal: ants. There are 64 legs in all, and four times as many ants than spiders. How many of each bug is there?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Solar Power City

Solar Power City

Grade: 3-8

Solar panels collect energy from the sun so people can use that energy to power things in their homes.

Is it possible to power an entire city by using only solar energy?

New York City uses about 164,380 kilowatt hours of electricity each day. Usually, it takes 25 solar panels to produce about 5 kilowatt hours of electricity. How many solar panels would it take to power all of New York City for one day?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Million Dollar Question

Million Dollar Question

Grade: 3-8

Your friend has sent you a text saying you can become a millionaire! He tells you that he won $2 million in a contest. The money was sent to him in two suitcases, each containing $1 million in one-dollar bills. He will give you one suitcase of money if you can go to the airport and pick up both suitcases. Is it possible that you could get the suitcases at the airport and get them home?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Magic Vase

Magic Vase

Grade: 3-8

You’re planting in the garden and uncover a vase buried in the soil. After cleaning the vase, you place it on your bedside table.

You notice something shiny in the vase before you go to sleep. You pull out a handful of pennies and count them up. There are 6 pennies in the vase.

When you check the vase at the end of the second day, you count 12 pennies.

At the end of Day 3, you count 18 pennies.

How many pennies will be in the vase after 10 days? 25 days? 100 days? Can you come up with a rule to find the number of pennies in the vase on any day?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Magic Box

Magic Box

Grade: 3-8

Your Grandma gives you a wooden box for your birthday. When you unwrapped the gift and opened the box, you were expecting some cash inside but found the box was empty.

You felt bad for not appreciating the box, and decided you could use it to store important things. Just before you go to bed, you open the box to put a photo inside, and see 2 pennies.

When you check the box at the end of the second day, you count 4 pennies.

At the end of Day 3, you count 8 pennies.

How many pennies will be in the box after 10 days? 15 days? 20 days? Can you come up with a rule to find the number of pennies in the box on any day?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Magic Bag

Magic Bag

Grade: 3-8

You’re cleaning out your closet and find a velvet bag in the corner. When you pick up the bag it feels heavy, and you find 24 pennies inside it. Before you go to sleep, you pull out the pennies and count them up again.

Now there are 27 pennies in the bag! When you check the bag at the end of the second day, you count 30 pennies.

At the end of Day 3, you count 33 pennies.

How many pennies will be in the bag after 10 days? 25 days? 100 days? Can you come up with a rule to find the number of pennies in the bag on any day?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master

Ichiro Problem

Ichiro Problem

Grade: 3-12

It has been one month since Ichiro’s mother has entered the hospital. Ichiro decided to pray with his younger brother at a local temple every morning so that she will get better soon. There are 18 ten-yen coins in Ichiro’s wallet and just 22 five-yen coins in the younger brother’s wallet. They decided to take one coin from each wallet every day, put them in the offertory box, and continue to pray until either wallet becomes empty. One day when they were done with their prayer, they looked into each other’s wallets. The amount of money in the younger brother’s wallet was greater than Ichiro’s amount of money. When this happened, how many days had it been since they started their prayers?

Anticipatory Set
Lesson Plan
Black Line Master