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A strategy that will let kids discover for themselves that math is everywhere
If you'd like to have your students - at any grade level - explore the mathematics inherent in their environment, whether at school or elsewhere in your community, consider a Math Trail. This is an activity that allows students to make strong connections between the math they're learning in your classroom and the math they use outside of it. With just a little planning and effort, a small team of teachers, or even a motivated individual, can organize and execute a Math Trail.
Choosing a good location is the first and most important step. Consider your own school building or any other site in the community that you find mathematically interesting. You'll find questions easier to write if you choose a place that has varied architecture or other aspects of math potential. I also consider student safety, the people we might impact and car and pedestrian traffic when I select a site for a trail.
Small teams. After you've chosen the site, try to get a colleague or two to accompany you on the scouting trip needed to write the questions. Different people see different things, so it's no surprise that the richest trails are created by small teams.
Walk the site slowly, with your mind and eyes attentive to math potential. You'll find that a playful attitude will help your ideas to flow.
The questions and problems that I include on a Math Trail do not introduce new material; rather, they require thought, discussion and cooperation among students just as it happens in the real world. I sometimes use slightly disguised clues for the location of a problem to add an element of mystery. I also limit the number of questions where students identify an item and write down its location. The best questions encourage students to participate actively as they generate predictions, estimations, calculations or extensions of patterns.
As I scout a location, I look for patterns, numbers, shapes, anything at all that might present a quick and interesting data gathering activity. For instance, I look at clocks, schedules, mirrors, shadows, angles, elevators, art works, fountains...actually, just about everything. I'm sometimes surprised to find that a location I thought...