LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Resources on the web

Supreme Court handshake
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students explore the handshake problem, a classic problem in mathematics that asks, “How many handshakes occur when n people shake hands with each other?” (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
The plus sign and triangle
In this lesson, students explore the concepts of identity, inverse, commutativity, and associativity. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Patterns and functions
In this lesson, students investigate properties of perimeter, area, and volume related to various geometric two- and three-dimensional shapes. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Orbiting satellites
Students explore the connection of Earth-orbiting satellites to the study of the environment. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics and Science)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Investigating fire environments
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students consider the meaning of the term variable, both in a mathematical and an everyday sense, by considering a text-based “equation.” (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
How many hits?
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students continue their investigation of the Paper Pool game by exploring more tables and organizing the results. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Everything balances out in the end
In this unit of three lessons, from Illuminations, students use a pan balance to study equality, order of operations, numerical and variable expressions and other key algebraic concepts. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Difference of Squares
Students explore arithmetic statements leading to a result that is the factoring pattern for the difference of two squares. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Commutative rectangle
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students investigate the concepts of identity, inverse, commutativity, and associativity using a geometric model. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Building bridges
In this lesson, from Illuminations, students attempt to make a transition from arithmetical to algebraic thinking by extending from problems that have single-solution responses. Values organized into tables and graphs are used to move toward symbolic representations.... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5–6 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Beyond handshakes
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students explore triangular numbers. This exploration enhances students' ability to generalize a pattern with variables. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Barbie bungee
In this Illuminations lesson, students model a bungee jump using a Barbie doll and rubber bands. The distance to which the doll will fall is directly proportional to the number of rubber bands, so this context is used to examine linear functions. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–12 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Balancing algebraic understanding
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students use an interactive pan balance to practice the order of operations in simplifying numerical expressions and to demonstrate the conventions of using algebraic logic in simplifying expressions. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Bagel algebra
In this Illuminations lesson, a real life example taken from a bagel shop is used to get students to think about solving a problem symbolically. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Algebra in balance
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students use an interactive pan balance tool to explore algebraic expressions. They determine if algebraic expressions are equal and balance pans to solve a system of equations. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provided by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics