Classroom Resources

In this video segment from Cyberchase, the CyberSquad is shooting a film. On their fourth day of filming, they hope to shoot an extra scene, which means their film supply costs will go up. They look at their budget and find that if they lower their crew costs, they can film the extra scene without going over their budget for the day. The crew uses their multiplication and division skills to budget the extra scene.

Using a small model, the CyberSquad tests various aiming points and learns about angles of reflection. They use this knowledge to escape a cave. The CyberSquad decides to slide the key along the ice until it bounces off the cave wall and travels to Jackie and Matt on the other side. 

The CyberSquad must build a path to cross a stream of hot lava. They find a pile of triangle-shaped tiles which float in the lava and don’t melt. They work together to try to figure out how to create a path made of the triangle tiles that has no gaps and no overlaps.

The CyberSquad must build a path to cross a stream of hot lava. They find a pile of triangle-shaped tiles which float in the lava and don't melt. Unfortunately, they run out of triangle tiles when they are only halfway across the stream of lava and must figure out what other tiles they can use to complete the path.

The CyberSquad must build a raft to cross a river. The first raft they build floats, but there are gaps between the pieces of the raft that allow biting piranhas to jump through the holes. The CyberSquad uses their knowledge of tessellations to build a second raft out of squares that has no gaps or overlaps.

This video from Cyberchase features Bianca working on her aunt and uncle’s farm. Bianca is excited because she’s getting a new pet. She uses equivalent fractions to combine different lengths of wood to build a roof on a house for the new pet. In the accompanying classroom activity, students use equivalent fractions to solve a problem and create word problems of their own.

The CyberSquad must make an antidote to a virus that has infected MotherBoard. One of the ingredients in the antidote is 2/8 of a Healing Stone. Matt and Digit locate the stone and notice that it is divided into four sections. Because they need to divide the stone into eight equal pieces, they learn about equivalent fractions.

In this "Cyberchase" video clip, Matt and Digit have a recipe for a "Mean, Green Antidote" that calls for 2/8 of a whole stone. Students will realize that the fractions 2/8 and 1/4 are equivalent.

In this video segment from Cyberchase, Bianca helps a friend get ready for a school bake sale. They are making cupcakes but when they realize that the recipe only makes a dozen cupcakes, decide it is not enough. They want to make double that amount, so they decide to double the recipe, which includes doubling a fraction that results in an improper fraction.

In this video segment from Cyberchase, the CyberSquad has to help Shari Spotter make a batch of Cosmic Crumpets in order to give the masters at Frogsnorts their power. The recipe they have is for four crumpets, but they need to make eight crumpets. Everything in the recipe has to be doubled, including some tricky fractions which Shari and the CyberSquad find they must convert from improper fractions to mixed numbers.

Becoming comfortable with two-digit and three-digit numbers is an important skill in third grade. Students will master addition and subtraction problems within one-thousand. How students learn to understand addition and subtraction is very important. 

Tape diagrams are another visual strategy students can use to model addition and subtraction. If this strategy works well for students, encourage them to use it when solving story problems.

Children will practice and explore strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems, such as using counters and rulers, performing mental math, and drawing pictures. As children encounter different outlandish scenarios with their PBS KIDS friends, they will explore, reinforce, and advance their addition and subtraction skills.

Use this Peg + Cat video with children to count to 20. When the pirates can't get back to sleep, Peg shows them how to count and write numbers to twenty. 

To get home to Earth, Peg and Cat fly their spaceship towards the galaxy that looks like the number 100. By the end of this video, kids should understand the digits that make up 100: ones and zeroes. Students will also see a written number between zero and 100 as they fly through the galaxy.

Use this video with children to count along with Peg, Cat, and friends as they collect and count space rocks by 10s. While collecting space rocks for NASA, Ramone has time to show Peg, Cat, Richard, and Pig how to count by 10s to 100.

Students in kindergarten will not use greater than, less than, or equal symbols, but they do need to learn how to compare numbers. This video helps students learn how to compare groups that contain up to ten objects.

Ten is a very important number. Finding the number partners that add to make 10 is a very important skill. In kindergarten, students will find the hidden number that makes ten. Students will be asked to do this for any number from 1 to 9.

Students get the foundation for understanding multiplication and division in second grade. The first layer in building this foundation is a concrete understanding. They will use objects as counters to create equal groups. Making equal groups, drawing pictures, and using repeated addition all build a strong foundation for third grade, where students will dive right into multiplication and division.

Students practice multiplying by 10 by adjusting a recipe to be 10 times larger. They examine the results to learn the procedure of adding a 0 to the multiplicand when multiplying by 10. They also practice dividing by 10 in the same manner.

In this Cyberchase lesson plan, students explore different repeating patterns to predict when two or more events will occur at the same time. In the video segment, the CyberSquad examines patterns and beats in music. Students are encouraged to create patterns and draw conclusions. In doing so, they learn to predict the least common factor of up to three numbers.

This video helps students practice decomposing fractions to get ready for mixed numbers and performing operations with fractions.

In fourth grade, students will use the metric system to measure length, mass, and capacity. Students will learn what unit is appropriate for each measurement and this can be challenging. This video is a point of reference when learning conversions.

In third grade, students will solve two-step word problems using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. For example: There were ten adults and five children at the movies. Each adult ticket costs $8.00 and each child ticket costs $3.00. What is the total cost of all the tickets? The video demonstrates how to solve this problem.

A very important concept students learn in first grade is place value. Let's look at the number 13. What does 13 really mean? We can write 13 in a place value chart. Now we see that 13 is 1 ten and 3 ones. But what does "one ten" really mean?

Learn about using a number line with the Odd Squad. Agents Olive and Otto help Oscar figure out which Oscarbots are missing by using a number line to count the total number of Oscarbots.

Learn about counting in bundles of fives and tens with the Odd Squad. Miss O and O'Donahue investigate some pies missing from the bakery.

Learn about addition, subtraction, and making amounts equal to the Odd Squad. When Ms. O and O'Donahue visit the Mathroom, she is excited to see her old friend and help with the case.

Otto shows the Confalones how to round numbers up or down using spaghetti and meatballs.

Learn about three-dimensional objects with the Odd Squad. Oscar trains agents on how to use the Odd Squad tube system.

This game is from the STEM Video Game Challenge and will help students with learning basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. At level 1, students will practice addition and subtraction facts. At level 2, students will practice multiplication and division facts. 

This is a free resource from PBS.  Teachers will need to click on Procedure to access the directions for the activity.  Note: Sohu/African/African-American Culture has been substituted for Drum-Beating, Foot-Stomping African.

There are three options for this lesson, depending on class needs and time available:

1. Frame, Focus, and Reflection: students will watch "E Sin Mi D’Africa" and DanceSense from 8:04- 8:34 and record their own heartbeats at rest.
2. Short Activity: students will watch "Sohu/African/African-American Culture" and calculate the tempo of different portions in terms of stomps per minute, perform two movement sequences, and record their heartbeats after each sequence.
3. Project: students will choreograph an original dance workout with specified changes in tempo and level and teach it to their peers.

This is a free resource from PBS.  Teachers will need to click on Procedure to view the overall directions for this activity.

There are three options for this lesson, depending on class needs and time available.

1. Frame, Focus, and Reflection (view and discuss): students view and discuss a traditional African-American dance game.
2. Short hands-on activity: students explore locomotor and non-locomotor movement and the space it requires.
3. Project: students calculate the area needed for the entire class to perform the dance and then perform it.

This is a free classroom resource from PBS.  Teachers will need to click on Procedure to access the full activity. 

There are three options for this lesson, depending on class needs and time available:

1. Frame, Focus, and Reflection (view and discuss): students will watch segments from CyberChase that introduce or reinforce fraction concepts.
2. Short hands-on activity: students will play a game with fractions.
3. Project: students will explore fractions through rhythmic sequences.

In kindergarten, students will learn to count all the way to 100, by ones and by tens! But wait—Can they count to 100… starting from 29? Twenty-eight… Twenty-nine… Umm… twenty-ten? This is a free resource from PBS that can be used to teach students how to count on from any given number ending in nine.