Holistic Math Experiences

Holistic Math experiences

Below is a summary of the ideas that we discussed at our meeting. Any time that we can include FNM content it becomes more meaningful and valuable. If the students are allowed to act out the scenario, they develop a physical memory of the concept and a holistic understanding that makes work with numbers and symbols more significant.

Projects that get the students to identify and display math in their world get the students to realize that math is a living entity that surrounds us at all times.

Please be considering and looking for more ways to get students to experience math.

Volume

How much sand in our playground area?

How much earth has to be removed to make a (West Coast) Pit House?

How much ice do we need to flood our rink to a depth of 3cm?

River flows

Perimeter

What is the perimeter of: the school, the yard, the room, hallway etc.

Area/Surface Area

What is the surface area of a teepee that has n amount of triangular sides, how many hides did it take to cover it? (Model teepee with pipe cleaners or skewers)

What is the area of our school yard? Our school roof? Our gym? Treaty 6 land base? Reserves vs the rest of Canada (or Sask)

Measurement

Use perimeter questions but convert between cm- m, inches-feet, imperial to metric

What is the range of a wolf or bear? How far to Geese migrate? How far did Bison travel?

Fractions

Cooking Bannock using measuring cups, double or triple recipe

Measuring tapes have fractions that can be viewed

Part to whole fractions with gym balls, student populations, group breakdown (boys to group etc)

Time/ clocks as fractions

Ratios

Part to part ratios using manipulatives, Students from gr. 6 vs gr. 8, windows to doors, bison to people on the plains (historically and present), FNM to non-FNM students

Data Analysis

Input/output with different scenarios. Eg If one bison could feed 5 people for the year, how many bison would it take to feed 100 people. How many people can be fed by 10 Bison. It took 7 bison hides to cover a teepee, how many bison would be needed to cover 5 teepee’s.

Using sports page stats to compare teams or players.

Geometry

Symmetry in the world around us, dream catchers, medicine wheel, making animal shapes with pattern blocks

Angles of trajectory while throwing a ball (or shooting an arrow)

Using string to look at the value of pi

Multiplication

Make chalk Hop scotch squares using skip counting and multiples.

War card games that use cards 1-10 and the winner is the one who can say the product of each contest.

Division

Grouping of balls in equipment rooms, sharing of items among a group of students,

Snacks such as fruit gummies divided equally to each student.

Bison per person (from data management questions) etc

Rates

Speed of assorted Sask Animals; Eagle, bear, bison, deer elk, antelope,

Rate of Flow of river

Compare speed vs different times eg per second, per minute, per hour

Patterning

Comic strip layout with a legend in to 5 or 6 parts

Look for 4’s in our world eg: seasons, medicine wheel, life cycles, directions, elements,

Animals (4 legged, swimmers, 2 legged, flyers), Sun moon earth stars,

Integers

Play money to look at positive/ negative purchases,

Draw a number line with chalk and have students demonstrate by walking along it in positive or negative directions (see MMS gr 7 and 8)