Five warm-ups for grades 6–8. Each takes three to five minutes. Answers and teacher notes are in the collapsed box under each prompt.
ELA
Label each sentence as a simile or a metaphor. Then write one of your own about your morning.
- After the bell, the hallway was a river of backpacks.
- My little brother eats cereal like a vacuum cleaner.
- The full moon looked like a shiny coin in the sky.
Answer and teacher notes
1. Metaphor. 2. Simile. 3. Simile.
A simile compares two things using “like” or “as.” A metaphor says one thing is another. Quick check: if you can spot “like” or “as” doing the comparing, it’s a simile. For the student sentences, ask what the comparison helps the reader picture.
Math
- Store A sells 6 granola bars for $4.50. Store B sells 8 granola bars for $5.60. Which store has the better price per bar?
- How much would you save buying 24 bars at the better price instead of the other one?
Answer and teacher notes
1. Store A: $4.50 ÷ 6 = $0.75 per bar. Store B: $5.60 ÷ 8 = $0.70 per bar. Store B is the better deal.
2. Store A: 24 × $0.75 = $18.00. Store B: 24 × $0.70 = $16.80. You save $1.20. Check: 5 cents saved per bar × 24 bars = $1.20.
Common mistake: picking Store A because $4.50 is the smaller total. The unit price is what lets you compare packs of different sizes.
Science
Most substances get denser when they freeze, so the solid sinks in its own liquid. Water is different: ice floats. Explain why, and predict about how much of an ice cube sits above the water line.
Answer and teacher notes
When water freezes, its molecules line up in a regular pattern (a lattice) that holds them farther apart than in liquid water. That makes ice about 9 percent less dense than liquid water, and anything less dense than water floats. Because ice’s density is about 90 percent of water’s, roughly 10 percent of an ice cube or iceberg sits above the surface.
Extension: why does it matter for fish that lakes freeze from the top down instead of the bottom up?
Social Studies
The cornerstone of the White House was laid on October 13, 1792. The first president to live there, John Adams, moved in during 1800, while it was still unfinished. How many years after the cornerstone was that? Then list two reasons building a large stone house might take so long in the 1790s.
Answer and teacher notes
1800 − 1792 = 8 years. Because Adams was the first to live there, George Washington never did.
Reasons will vary. Strong answers mention that there were no power tools or engines, stone had to be cut and moved by hand, wagon, or boat, workers and money had to be found, and weather slowed outdoor work. Fun detail: the walls are white-gray sandstone, and painting the outside today takes about 570 gallons of paint.
Sources: Britannica: This Day in History, October 13; Britannica: White House
Current Events
On October 11, 2026, NASA’s Perseverance rover set a new record for the longest total distance driven on another world: 28.10 miles. The old record, 28.06 miles, belonged to the Opportunity rover, which explored Mars from 2004 to 2018. (a) How many feet farther has Perseverance gone? (1 mile = 5,280 feet) (b) Why do you think rovers on Mars drive so slowly and carefully?
Answer and teacher notes
(a) 28.10 − 28.06 = 0.04 miles. 0.04 × 5,280 = 211.2 feet, a little shorter than a football field with its end zones (360 feet). In kilometers, Perseverance is at 45.22 km versus Opportunity’s 45.16 km.
(b) Answers will vary. Good reasons: no one can repair a rover if it gets stuck or breaks, the ground has rocks, sand, and slopes, and drivers on Earth must plan routes ahead of time instead of steering live. Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater in 2021 and is now exploring some of the oldest rock studied anywhere in the solar system.
Source: NASA: Perseverance Sets Off-World Record for Total Distance Driven