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How do you evaluate a graph that you see in an advertisement or online? Why do airlines overbook their flights - and how do they decide how many tickets to sell per flight? Is there any strategy to the game of rock, paper, scissors? TED-Ed offers this engaging series of short videos about real-life applications of mathematics. As of this write-up, the series includes almost 90 videos. Some of these videos explore the unexpected ways that math is essential in art and everyday life (for example, in Pixar animations or Van Gogh's Starry Night). Other videos feature riddles for students to solve, followed by explanations of real-world application. And, one video explains the math behind online dating websites. Each video is accompanied by a multiple choice quiz (Think), additional information (Dig Deeper), and an open-ended discussion question (Discuss) to facilitate further student engagement.

We've created Yummy Math to provide teachers with an easy way to bring real-life into their math classrooms. It is our belief that when math is explored in contexts that are familiar and of interest to students, students will be more engaged to do math, reason, think critically, question and communicate.  Our activities are written to correspond with the NCTM Process Standards and the CCSS Standards for Mathematical Practice.

Teach your students about the importance of math and statistics with resources that engage students by using real life data. Click below on the specific grade levels to discover activities on a variety of topics.

The US Census Bureau provides access to a staggering amount of data that can be used to create "detailed portraits of the changing characteristics of [American] communities," but for the uninitiated, interpreting that data can be a challenge. To help address this difficulty, the Census Bureaus Statistics in Schools (SIS) program has created this collection of classroom geography activities designed to supplement the standard curriculum while providing useful learning tools related to real life data. Here, readers will find detailed, well-developed activity plans for students in grades 4-12, broadly grouped into grade level appropriate topics: elementary (e.g. "Examining Changes to the Environment Through Pictures and Data"), middle school (e.g. "What role does Geography Play in the Census?"), and high school (e.g. "Analyzing Correlations of Education and Income"). Individual activities indicate the specific grade level(s) they are intended for, and each gives a description, states the time and materials required, and also provides a list of learning objectives and a Bloom's Taxonomy teacher's note. Each lesson includes downloadable PDFs of teacher and student versions of the activity.