For many elementary and middle school students, fractions are one of the most difficult topics to learn. The Fractions Web site on Coolmath.com offers seventeen lessons explaining everything from basic definitions to multiplying and dividing fractions. Color illustrations let students visualize exactly what fractions are and how they are used. For each lesson there is a thorough description,...

Figure This! is a project funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education that gives middle school students an exciting way to learn about math. In all, there are 80 "challenges" that stimulate mathematical reasoning with real-world scenarios. Each challenge starts with a description of the problem that incorporates suitably-named animated characters. A hint is also...

With funding from the National Science Foundation, the Learning & Performance Support Laboratory at the University of Georgia has created this website for mathematics educators. Their primary focus is to build teachers’ mathematical content knowledge through mathematical investigations, and the resources presented here reflect this commitment. The primary mathematical fields covered here include...

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) has created the Curriculum Inspirations collection to help "demonstrate practical ways to engage students in the lively exploration of mathematics and mathematical thinking." Here, educators will find essays of varying lengths and crafted by the well-known mathematics education expert, James Tanton. The "Ten Problem Solving Strategy Essays" are all...

Making Mathematics is a great way for middle and high school students to get involved in mathematics research. The program matches a student or group of students with a mentor (a professional mathematician or graduate student). The student then works on an open-ended research problem and corresponds with his/her mentor via email. The student's teacher can also participate or communicate directly...

It is at times very difficult to get children excited about math, but Math Cats (designed by Wendy Patti, a teacher) is an online archive of fun and informative activities that will help young people learn about a number of math topics, including geometry, arithmetic, and other topics. As one might expect, much of this is achieved by a number of virtual cats who explain various features of the...

Math Interactives is part of a larger site, called LearnAlberta.ca, which is "designed and developed to assist kindergarten to Grade 12 teachers in Alberta locate and utilize digital learning and teaching resources. The design of the site is reflective of how teachers think and work in an online environment." Visitors interested in multiple ways to learn math will love the print and video math...

Maths Challenge is a fun activity to build mathematical and reasoning skills. Each month during the school year, a new set of math problems are posted online. There are miscellaneous problems at junior and senior levels, cryptography and code breaking problems, and computer programming challenges. Each section is appropriate for a different age range, but the most basic material starts at age...

Mathsisfun.com was developed by a math teacher from southwest England "to encourage an interest in Mathematics." The website offers "fun bits" and puzzles in mathematics, primarily geared toward children ages 11 to 16. Some topics include long division, fractions, graphs, and proofing. Also posted are an easy-to-print Times Table and a table of prime numbers.

Mudd Math Fun Facts is a site created by Francis Su, an assistant mathematics professor at Harvey Mudd College. Fun Facts are made to pique student's curiosity by showing them aspects of mathematics that are not usually taught in the classroom. There are currently over 150 items, and the list is still growing. The facts range in topic from algebra and geometry to probability and calculus, with...