Math can be a daunting subject for students who come into middle school unprepared or with a negative attitude. Worksheets and textbook assignments become routine, and complex concepts and algorithms can be quickly forgotten or only partially understood. But by making math fun and activity-oriented, you can generate student interest in the subject. Students can remember concepts by associating them with the related classroom activities.
Fraction Fish
Play Go Fish with math students for a fun review of their lessons on equivalent fractions. Separate students into groups of four. Make the Go Fish cards by writing a fraction on one index card and an equivalent fraction on a second index card. Make 15 pairs of equivalent fractions this way. Decorate the blank side of the cards with a design and laminate them so that the cards can be used again. Pick the youngest student in each group to be the dealer. Tell the dealers that they will deal five cards to each player and place the rest in a pile in the middle of the table. Students must show their matches and lay them on the table. The player to the left of the dealer asks the student to his left if she has an equivalent fraction for one of his fractions. If she does, she has to give him that fraction. If she does not have an equivalent, then he must fish through the pile until he makes a match. The game continues until the cards in the pile are finished. The student with the most matches wins.
Floor Circles
Give geometry substance by having students walk through the introduction to the parts of a circle. Draw a large circle on the floor with washable markers. Draw the diameter, a radius and a chord. Have the students walk each part as it is drawn. Tell students to say what the parts are as they walk them. In order for students to understand pi, tell them to walk the diameter and the circumference and count their steps as they walk. Make a chart on the board and have each student write the number of steps it takes for them to walk around the circle and the number of steps to walk across the circle. Tell them that this relationship is pi. Students will remember the meaning of pi after this activity.
Ratios and Sandwiches
Use middle-schoolers' love of food to help them learn about ratios. Creating ratios out of sandwiches helps students see how ratios work in real life. You'll need one container of peanut butter and one container of jelly per group, as well as measuring spoons, butter knives, teacher-created tables, pencil and paper. Briefly discuss what a ratio is and give a few examples.
Then, divide the class into groups of four. Give each group a table with three columns named Peanut Butter, Jelly and Rating and enough rows to record all the combinations of peanut butter and jelly. Tell students to make six peanut butter and jelly sandwiches using a total of 5 tablespoons of peanut butter and jelly for each sandwich. Instruct them to use different amounts for each sandwich. For example, one sandwich may have 4 tablespoons of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of jelly, and students would write the ratio 4:1. Tell students to cut the sandwiches into pieces. Conduct a taste test. Each student in the groups should taste and rate each sandwich on a scale of one to six. Have students write their ratio for each sandwich along with an average for the rating. Ask groups to explain their findings.
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