See how educators bring Amplify Desmos Math to life.

Math education is more powerful when students see the lessons come to life. And across the country, Amplify Desmos Math educators are finding creative, meaningful ways to extend learning through problem-based math, transforming classrooms into collaborative environments where students celebrate math.

Explore real examples from classrooms like yours to discover hands-on math activities, engaging lessons, and creative teaching strategies that motivate students to think deeply, collaborate, and make meaningful connections.

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Students in a classroom work individually at desks, collaborate at whiteboards, and use laptops for hands-on math activities and problem-based math, with educational graphics overlaid on the collage.
A collage showing students engaged in hands-on math activities in a classroom, educational icons, and a person in a floral shirt and hat outdoors.

Elementary (K–5)

In elementary classrooms using Amplify Desmos Math, students build shapes with pattern blocks, sing along to original math-inspired songs, and engage in hands-on math activities that make mathematical thinking visible and meaningful.

Four children sit at desks in a classroom, working on individual projects with various supplies—a great example of hands-on math activities. Faces are covered with orange hearts. Classroom cabinets, shelves, and posters are visible in the background.

Grade 2 | Unit 6: Geometry and Time

While exploring geometry concepts, students used hands-on building activities to deepen their understanding of shape characteristics. Students had a great time using their imaginations and a variety of shapes to construct creations.

Credit: Suzi Kearns, Meadowlark Elementary School, MT

Children in a classroom sit and stand around tables working with cards and papers, engaging in hands-on math activities; their faces are covered with orange heart icons.

Grade 2 | 2.4 Centers | Greatest of Them All: Three-digit Numbers

In this classroom, students used sticky notes during a place-value sorting activity to organize, compare, and discuss numbers with their peers. As they worked together, students used mathematical language to explain their thinking, justify their choices, and make sense of number relationships.

Credit: Makenzie Brito, High Tech Elementary Explorer, CA

A woman in a floral blouse and hat holds a guitar outdoors; next to her, an illustrated character with a backpack and map sets off on a problem-based math adventure.

Grade 5 | Unit 1: Volume | Joyful Green

Brittany Wilson wrote and recorded an original song to bring key math ideas to life! With this creative innovation, she gave students a memorable way to engage with the Unit Story, which discusses Trashville’s excess garbage being shipped away to Joyful Green to serve a new purpose.

Listen to the song now!

Credit: Brittany Wilson, Woods Charter School, NC

A kindergarten worksheet titled "Where is Harry?" features cartoon children discussing, a teacher holding a question card, and various classroom objects—perfect for hands-on math activities that engage young learners.

Grade K–5 | Narrative Unit 5 Story

Amplify Desmos Math educators are extending learning beyond the lesson by creating classrooms filled with visual supports, storytelling elements, and student thinking. To help bring Unit Stories to life, Amplify created free printable classroom posters for the Narrative Unit 5 Stories in grades K–5. Use them to spark curiosity, reinforce story connections, and create engaging math spaces students can connect with all year long.

Middle school
(Grades 6–8)

In middle school, students bring math to life through problem-based math experiences by redesigning garden beds, solving scavenger hunt challenges, and analyzing screen-time data.

A collage showing students working on laptops in a classroom with Amplify Desmos Math, three students talking, a garden bed, and icons of a pencil, garden sign, and spinner highlights hands-on math activities.
Three images: two show hands engaged in hands-on math activities, drawing and writing on garden planning sheets with grids; the third shows a school garden with raised beds, soil, young plants, and coiled hoses.

Grade 6 | Unit 4: Dividing Fractions | Lesson 15: Planter Planner

Sixth graders took advantage of an opportunity to take the math off the page and into the real world! These students measured their school’s actual garden beds, then created plans to revitalize them. What started as a fractions lesson became a meaningful mini-project with engaged students putting fraction operations to work with some interesting measurements—and real-world impact.

Credit: Kathy Henderson, Black Pine Circle School, CA

Two whiteboards display printed worksheets and handwritten math problems, showcasing problem-based math. An illustration of a flower box with two flowers is in the top right corner.

Grade 6 | Unit 5: Decimal Arithmetic | Lesson 6: Garden Arrangements

Using Amplify Desmos Math printed lesson materials, students collaborated at vertical whiteboards to solve problems, explain their thinking, and compare strategies. Through discussion and shared problem-solving, students made their mathematical reasoning visible while building confidence and communicating their ideas to peers.

Credit: Sumiko Wong, Prospect Sierra Middle School, CA

Students are standing and interacting in a classroom with blue chairs and desks, engaging in hands-on math activities; a digital screen displays Amplify Desmos Math content at the front of the room.

Grade 6 | Unit 6: Expressions and Equations | 6.6 Practice Day 2

In this classroom, the lesson became a collaborative scavenger hunt activity! Task cards were hung around the classroom, and students could start at any card before working collectively to make their way through all of the cards.

Credit: Ginger Gates-Sudol, Butler Middle School, WI

Three children stand together in a classroom looking at a laptop; a cartoon smartphone illustration is on the right, showcasing problem-based math and hands-on math activities inspired by Amplify Desmos Math.

Grade 6 | Unit 8: Describing Data | Lesson 1: Screen Time

Students worked in groups, sharing a single device before moving to vertical whiteboards to organize and represent their thinking. As they made sense of the data, students discussed patterns and compared strategies across groups, building understanding through visible, shared work.

Credit: Erin McClure, North Collins Central School District, NY

Two groups of students collaborate—one discusses in front of a screen, the other writes on a whiteboard during hands-on math activities. A "TIPS" jar is illustrated in the corner.

Accelerated 6 | Unit 6: Percentages and More Proportional Relationships | Lesson 14: Plate Rate

When teaching a lesson analyzing restaurant workers’ wages, tips, and taxes, Louisa Connaughton saw an opportunity to connect the math to current, real-world conversations about “No Tax on Tips” and recent legislation in Massachusetts about tipped wages. Louisa used AI to align the lesson to current events, then generated a launch slide deck, adjusted the numbers, and created a full project packet! The result was a highly engaging experience, with students deeply invested in percent calculations.

Credit: Louisa Connaughton, Brimmer and May School, MA

Students work in groups at whiteboards and computers, engaging in hands-on math activities with a probability spinner, laptops, and classroom materials. Amplify Desmos Math supports their collaborative, problem-based math exploration. Faces are obscured for privacy.

Grade 7 | Unit 8: Probability and Sampling | Lesson 4: Spin Class

Students in this classroom collaborated in small groups using a shared device to design and build a spinner. They then moved to whiteboards to organize their thinking, solve problems together, and prepare to share, then ultimately described their strategies and reasoning with the class.

Credit: Erin McClure, North Collins Central School District, NY

Two classroom scenes show students engaged in hands-on math activities using laptops at desks, with teachers assisting. Charts and graphs are illustrated in the top right corner, reflecting the Amplify Desmos Math problem-based approach.

Grade 8 | Unit 6: Associations in Data | Lesson 1: Click Battle

Students generated and analyzed bivariate data to identify patterns and make predictions. After collaborating in groups, they transitioned to whiteboards to organize their thinking and prepare to share with the class.

Credit: Erin McClure, North Collins Central School District, NY

A student writes on a worksheet, three students solve problem-based math on a whiteboard, and illustrated icons of a fish, document, planets, and blue shapes are shown.

High school
(Grades 9–12)

In high school classrooms, students debate strategies during collaborative whiteboard work, explore systems of inequalities through rich discussions, and distinguish linear and exponential growth through engaging, hands-on learning experiences.

A person writes on a worksheet about exponential growth, highlighting examples like paper folding and car depreciation, with a cartoon fish sticker in the corner—perfect for hands-on math activities or problem-based math lessons.

Algebra 1 | Unit 6: Exponential Functions

After teaching Carlos’s Fish and Going Viral lessons, Linda Lopez created a hands-on, no-tech, alternative formative assessment to check for understanding of linear vs. exponential growth scenarios. In this card sort activity Linda designed, students categorized the cards, then came up with two of their own examples.

Credit: Linda Lopez, Canyon Ridge High School, CA

Two grayscale scientific diagrams with gridlines; one shows concentric circles and a stick figure, the other features overlapping ellipses and shaded shapes. A blue geometric shape hints at problem-based math, as seen in Amplify Desmos Math activities.

Algebra 1 | Unit 7: Quadratic Functions

When students were studying the solar system in science class, Joshua Luckhaupt connected that learning to math by challenging students to model elements of the solar system using Amplify Desmos Math. Drawing on their understanding of equations and graphing, students created visual models that connected math concepts to scientific phenomena.

Credit: Joshua Luckhaupt, Harrison Junior School, OH

Four people stand at a whiteboard solving problem-based math activities in a classroom. Each section of the board is labeled with a letter above it, showcasing hands-on math activities. A clock hangs on the wall.

Algebra 2 | Unit 6: Exponential and Logarithmic Functions | Lesson 9: Clash of the Logs

While students worked on evaluating logarithmic expressions, Abigail Bates shifted the lesson format from desk work to collaborative whiteboard problem-solving. Instead of using cards at their desks, students moved to the whiteboards to collaborate and solve problems together. When it was time for a scheduled brain break during their period, Abigail said that a whole side of the room just kept on working!

Credit: Abigail Bates, Lodi Unified School District, CA

Polypad

With Polypad, students can explore and interact with mathematic concepts in dynamic, visual, and engaging ways.

A drawing of a boy in a red number 1 shirt stands next to four U.S. quarters, displayed on a digital whiteboard interface with editing tools visible—perfect for hands-on math activities or amplifying your lessons with Amplify Desmos Math.

While her students were reading Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst, Sara Cwiertniewicz set up a split screen so students could see both the book (through a library app) and Polypad at the same time. As Alexander spent his money throughout the story, students used Polypad’s coin tools to “make change” in real time. With just a click, they could exchange a quarter for two dimes and a nickel—visually modeling each transaction as the story unfolded.

Credit: Sara Cwiertniewicz, Commonwealth Charter Academy, PA

BONUS: Check out her custom Polypad creation!