• Tenth graders can find mathematics uninteresting; use games to grab their interest.algebra image by Katrina Miller from Fotolia.com
  
  Tenth grade math students range from the motivated and mathematically inclined to the bored and disengaged. You can engage all of your students with easy-to-follow, hands-on math exercises in many different topics---from SAT word problems to percentages. Make the exercises as practical as possible to hold their attention.
  
  

If Two Cars Are Driving...

• Tenth graders are gearing up for the SATs, and the word problems on the test often baffle them. One of the most common word problems that trip up high schoolers is the one where two vehicles are traveling towards each other or in the same direction, and they need to calculate when the cars will meet. You can teach this concept as a fun exercise by writing the equation "Distance = Rate X Time" on the board and drawing a large chart beneath it. The chart should have one column for the vehicle's name, another for the distance, a third for the rate, and a fourth for the time. Give students a sample problem and work together to fill in as many of the boxes on the chart as possible with the given information. For example, if part of the problem says "The truck is traveling at 3 miles per hour," they would put a "3" in the "Rate" box for the truck. If the question asks when the two vehicles meet, make sure they understand to put the same variable (such as "x") in each of the two "Time" boxes. Then help them use the equation to solve the problem. Repeat with other similar problems.
  
  

Let's Make a Deal

• Most tenth grade students think that probability is difficult, but you can make it fun by turning it into a game. Make your own version of the old television show "Let's Make a Deal" by putting three pieces of construction paper on the board, labeled "1," "2," and "3." Tape a dollar bill to the board behind one of the pieces of paper without students seeing. Then tell them that there is a dollar bill behind one of the papers, and call up one student to guess which one contains the dollar bill. No matter which one the student chooses, turn over one of the other papers to show that it does not contain a dollar bill, and ask the student whether she wants to stick with her original choice or choose the other remaining paper. After she chooses, turn over the paper to reveal whether she chose the dollar bill.
  
  Then ask students to debate which choice would have been smartest---sticking with the original choice or switching. Eventually, help students to understand that switching would have the highest probability of success by asking them what would happen if there were a hundred papers to choose from, the student chose one of them, and then you showed them that 98 of the others did not contain the dollar bill. In that case, the students will realize that switching would have the greatest chance of success, and that the "odds are" that the one other remaining paper would contain the dollar bill. Explain the mathematical probability behind the game to finish off the exercise.
  
  

Learning Through Sales

• Students often become bored when learning about percentages, but they love learning about sales. You can incorporate the two into a fun exercise. Just hand out sales circulars (preferably for stores and products that the students enjoy), and tell them that their stores are having a 20% off sale, and they have thirty dollars to spend. Ask them to come up with a list of items that they would want to buy with their thirty dollars, and then have them discuss their choices with a group. Make sure that their group members double check the calculations to make sure that all participants understand how to take "20% off" of something.