Problem of the day is a fun math problem to build into your daily routine. Write five numbers on the welcome board along with a target number. Students use the five listed numbers and order of operations -- parenthesis, exponents, multiplication or division, addition or subtraction -- to write an equation to solve the problem. For instance, write 6, 10, 8, 7, 1 as the numbers in the equation and 23 as the target. The students try to come up with 23 as the answer: (6 x 7) - 10 - 8 -1 = 23. Have the students' names listed on Popsicle sticks. Call a name at the end of the day by pulling a Popsicle stick. That student writes the correct equation on the board and gets a special treat for the next day, perhaps preferential seating or a small prize.
Data and statistics standards involve finding the mean, median and range of a set of numbers. In social studies, students are learning the location of the 50 states. Send home a map of the United States. Ask the students to interview their parents regarding which states they have visited. The student should place an "X" on the states his parents have visited. He should also place a check mark on the states he has visited. The next day, compile a tally sheet of the number of states visited by all parents and students. The students should determine the mean, or the average number of states visited by each person; the median, the middle number of the states visited by each person; and the range, the difference between the state visited the least and the state visited the most.
Students in fifth-grade understand how to find the perimeter and area of an irregular polygon. Distribute measurement trundle wheels to groups of four students. Designate a playground on the school campus that is shaped irregularly for the students to measure with their trundle wheels. One student walks with the trundle wheel, one student keeps tally on a clipboard, another student counts each click of the wheel and the last student makes sure the group is following the correct path to measure the polygon. After the students have gathered their measurements, they calculate the area and perimeter of the irregular polygon.
Understanding that fractions represent parts of the whole is a concept students in fifth grade need to master. Bring in, or have the Parent-Teacher Organization provide, trail mix ingredients. Each group should write a recipe for their own trail mix using fractions. For instance, a recipe might list 1/4 pretzels, 1/4 cereal, 1/4 peanuts, 1/8 chocolate chips and 1/8 butterscotch chips. Check the students' recipes to make sure they add up to one whole. Let the students make their own special trail mix. Best of all, let the students eat their trail mix.