Report on the Life of a Mathematician

• Have the students choose a mathematician of their choice (e.g., Al-Khwarizmi, Pascal, etc.) and write a detailed report on the life of that mathematician. Encourage them to use as many resources as they can, such as the local library and the Internet, so that their projects will be as thorough as possible. Tell them to include a short biography of their mathematician, as well his or her mathematical discoveries and contribution to mathematics. It is important for middle school students to interpret and understand mathematical concepts and ideas thoroughly without constant assistance from a teacher. Have the students present their projects to the class.
  
  

Sing a Math Song

• This project is ideal for students who enjoy performing in front of other people and sharing their singing talent. Have the students write one page of lyrics that explain or describe a mathematical principle or concept, such as the Pythagorean Theorem. The song can be a parody of an existing song or an original. Allow the students who are confident enough to perform their songs in front of the rest of the class to do so, so the class can learn about different math topics from each other.
  
  

Cafeteria Survey

• Ask the students to come up with five questions to ask 50 people about what they would like to see in the cafeteria. These might be questions about food, decorations or schedules. Each student should then ask 50 different people these questions, write down the answers in a table, and then present the results in a graph. Each student should work entirely independently, because middle school students should learn to collect and interpret data without the help of others.
  
  

Geometry Project

• Geometry is an important part of the middle school math curriculum. Getting students to study geometric shapes and figures in the real world can be a great way to teach them the importance of geometry in everyday life. Ask the students to make individual posters depicting geometric shapes they have found. These can be newspaper and magazine cutouts or photographs the students have taken. However, the shapes may not be drawn. Have each student share her poster with the class.