Bring students to the computer lab and have them work on some math games online. Have them visit Math Play (at math-play.com/Middle-School-Math-Games.html), where they can engage in a "Jeopardy!"-like game about exponents, a millionaire game, an inequality game featuring a genie and a coordinate plane game, among others. In addition to the aforementioned topics, other games cover the subjects of place values, multiplying and dividing integers and adding and subtracting fractions. Playing games online gives students the opportunity to gauge how well they know the subject matter without worrying about receiving a low test score.
Divide the class into teams. Set up a mock "Jeopardy!" board in the front of the classroom and require students to answer in "Jeopardy!" style. You could also ask the teams different math problems and see who gets the most questions correct. In addition to giving standard math problems for students to calculate, ask them to define mathematical terms, figure out word problems and to explain various formulas to you in words.
Ask students to create tessellations and then hang them up around the classroom for everyone to see. Or if students are studying geometry, they could create a scale model of a bridge or of their home. Measuring angles of various objects is another idea for a project. Have students go outside and measure angles around the schoolyard. Assign them a budget for building a house and have them figure out how many supplies they could buy.
In addition to understanding the actual equations in mathematics, students also need to learn the definitions of math terms. Create a word search in which they have to find some of the most important words you are studying. To help them understand vocabulary and meaning, create a crossword puzzle containing mathematical definitions. Some examples of seventh-grade vocabulary words to include in these puzzles are "rational number," "percent," "binary number system," "tessellation" and "repeating decimal."