Lesson Plan Title : Candle Math

Age Range: Grade 9 through grade 12 (High School)

Overview and Purpose: Candles are an important symbol in the Hanukkah holiday. In this math lesson, students use candles to help them practice counting by fives and tens.

Objective: The student will be able to use marks on candles to practice counting by fives and tens.

Resources:

Tapered candles-two for each group (mark each candle with the rings about one inch apart)

Activities:

Tell your students you brought candles for them to use to help them practice counting by fives and tens. Share the story of Hanukkah with them and ask them how long they think it would take to burn one of the candles that you brought to class. Pass out two candles to each group and show them that each candle has several rings marked around it.

Explain that you want them to pretend that it will take the candle five hours to burn to each ring. Have them count with you by fives to determine how long it will take the candle to burn completely. Do the same thing but pretend that it will take 10 hours to burn to each ring. Have them practice counting by fives and tens by choosing a ring on the candle and asking them how long it will take the candle to burn that far.

Wrap Up:

For homework, students can complete a teacher created worksheet that has a candle with rings and various problems to solve.