The Heart and Blood Flow

Personally, I think understanding the flow of blood can be very challenging for students especially when they are just learning the parts of the heart.  To introduce the parts of the heart, I create a bulletin board display in my classroom.  Students label the parts of the heart with a wet erase marker.  Then we use the diagram to draw arrows that indicate the pathway of blood flow.  We also add facts about each side of the heart.  I like using the bulletin board because students can always look and refer to it.

Illinois State Standards:
12.A.4b.  Describe the structures and organization of cells and tissues that underlie basic life functions including nutrition, respiration, cellular transport, biosynthesis, and reproduction.

What's a meter squared?

I tutor 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in math.  As I was working with my sixth graders on area, it became clear to me that they did not actually understand what one meter squared was.  To them it was just a unit, a letter with an exponent.  At that point I took out a meter stick and a piece of chalk.  I explained to them that a meter squared was simply a square that was a meter long on each side.  So I had them take the meter stick and the piece of chalk and begin to draw a squared meter on my classroom floor.  From there, I had the students estimate the area of my classroom is squared meters.  In this short tutoring session, it became clear how important visuals and hands on activities are for students. It makes their learning experience much more meaningful.

Discounts & Markups

Of course when teaching percents and decimals, a major application is discounts and markups.  Although students see sales and discounts daily, many of them do not know how to calculate them.  I put a lot of focus on this lesson because it is such a practical skill that students will use for the rest of their lives.  This year, I borrowed an idea I found on Pinterest, which of course I cannot find now.
 Students had to create their own store and make an advertisement for five products.  On their advertisement they were required to list the product, a picture, an original selling price, and a discount (in the form of a percent).  In addition to their advertisement, they needed to provide an answer key with the new sale prices based on the discounts.  The next day, I hung up their advertisements and during class they got to "shop."  They filled out a sheet of their purchases on which they calculated how much money they saved.  The students liked this even more than I expected and were engaged for the entire activity.  I will definitely be doing this activity again!

Common Core Math Standards:

7.RP.2.c Represent proportional relationships by equations.