Example Lessons and Activities

Lessons and activities from CORD's contextual mathematics courses are provided below and can be downloaded using Adobe Acrobat. 

Each example is connected to one of the five elements of the REACT strategy for implementing contextual teaching practices in the classroom.

Examples from the following CORD math texts are displayed:

CORD Applied Mathematics   
CORD Bridges to Algebra and Geometry   
CORD Algebra 1   
CORD Geometry 

To Order Teaching Math Contextually
The examples on this site are available in print from CORD Communications. Call 800-231-3015 for ordering information. 

Visit the Learning in Context  website for more Physics resources.

CORD Bridges to Algebra and Geometry

RELATING
Lesson 6.1's application of ratio and proportion begins in the kitchen making fruit punch from frozen concentrate. Download now.

EXPERIENCING
Chapter 2's application of measuring and recording height and arm spans demonstrates the power and utility of correlation. Download now.

APPLYING
In a problem solving set, students plot positive and negative integers on a number line to solve a real satellite-launch problem. Download now.

COOPERATING
In a procedure set, groups must decide which combinations of string lengths will form triangles and which will not. Download now.

TRANSFERRING
An activity introduces students to dimensional analysis by starting with a relationship that students understand. Download now.  

CORD Algebra 1

RELATING
Students find out how the cost of doing a job is related to the mathematical concepts of variables and expressions. Download now.

EXPERIENCING
Students are placed in a "you are there" scenario in which they are responsible for monitoring the quality of a product. Download now.

APPLYING
Students are challenged to solve a real occupational problem related to the Internet. Download now.

COOPERATING
Students become surveyors and must use right triangle relations to find the length of one side of their school building. Download now.

TRANSFERRING
Students link mathematics and everyday experiences by relating the steepness of a hill to the slope parameters of rise and run. Download now.

CORD Geometry

RELATING
Students learn about deductive reasoning through a familiar situation. Download now.

EXPERIENCING
Students use ordinary materials in an activity on triangle congruence postulates. Download now.

APPLYING
Students are placed in a workplace scenario. Download now.

COOPERATING
Students establish an xy-coordinate plane on a basketball court. Download now.

TRANSFERRING
CORD Geometry introduces students to a difficult topic—indirect proofs—through familiar concepts. Download now.

CORD Applied Mathematics
RELATING
Unit 28's application of geometry in industrial technology begins with an object familiar to everyone—a television. Download now.

EXPERIENCING
Unit 4's Activity 3 requires students to gather data by measuring diameters and circumferences. Download now.

APPLYING
In Unit 16's Example 7, students examine using equations on the job. Download now.

COOPERATING
In Unit 26, students use the skills for solving a system of equations in a hands-on activity involving nuts and bolts. Download now.

TRANSFERRING
In Unit 19, students learn how to make a frequency distribution by studying production data from a manufacturing setting. Download now.