Spring Math – Math is Outside Too!

Spring and nice weather make for a great time to get outdoors and connect with math. Whether you are taking a walk, filling compost bags with leaves or starting to build that garden shed, there are many opportunities to engage in rich mathematical discussions with your child.

• Here are some questions you can pose to your child as you engage with nature:

• What shapes do you see in that house?

• How tall do you think that tree is?

• How far do you think we walked today?

• How many piles of leaves do you think will fit into this bag?

• How many ___ did you see on our walk?

• How many windows do you think are in that building

• How long do you think it will take us to walk one kilometer?

• If we double our pace how long do you think it will take us to get home?

​

So the next time you spend some time outdoors with your child, take some time to engage in some math talk!

You may also be interested in reading a new article for parents written by Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University.

Developing Mathematical Mindsets, The Need to Interact with Numbers Flexibly and Conceptually