Math and Science: Measuring Angles

Up until now, our studies in Math and Science haven't really overlapped much.  There has been some reading of thermometers and volume measures; we haven't even graphed results.  Use of the protractor is yet another form of measurement, though one that isn't used in our daily lives, so I consider this experiment to have led to as much math learning as science.

Snowflake Symmetry

We got a new microscope in the summer and around November, we saw some beautiful photographs of snowflakes.  I've also been telling the kids that real snowflakes have six-point symmetry, which they, of course, wanted to see for themselves.  I planned (without saying anything to anyone else) that at the first snowfall, we should bring our microscope outside and take a look.



The first snowfall of the year happened a week or two before Christmas.  I was tired from running around to rehearsals and concerts and parties.  I figured, we can wait until the morning.  Then, I thought, "You know what?  It will probably snow again." 

It never did.  Now, I'm thinking about getting the garden ready for spring.

Look Mom!  I can SEE the six-point symmetry.  She has excellent sight.

Scaling Tangrams

BatBoy loves tangrams and tangram puzzles.  Over the years though, our sets have a few pieces.  When it was suggested that was play with tangrams as part of Chinese New Year celebrations, it seemed like a good excuse to make a new set.  SpiderGirl also wanted to make a set for herself.

Enchanted Learning has a page on tangrams and how to make them.  They do it by folding.  Since we have graph paper, though, it seemed like a good time to introduce scaling diagrams.  We scaled the template on the website by a factor of 4.  The kids did their own multiplication. 

Then they glued the graph paper onto cardstock and cut out their new tangrams!  They made some zodiac animals off the Enchanted Learning page and did some puzzles from Fun O Rama.

What Have We Learned This Year?

As I complete weekly reports throughout the year, I ocassionally purposely slip in a little math, just for the record.  But really, this year, I had been feeling that we hadn't done a ton of math.  SpiderGirl never mastered the multiplication tables, worked much with area and volume, or advanced in fractions, all things that had been on her learning plan.  BatBoy has been exploring many mathematical concepts, but still, not much to go into a report.  So I thought.  When I began working on their final reports for our Distributed Learning school, I realized just how much they have learned this year.

Puzzle Books

Having embraced the idea that my kids are pretty right-brained when it comes to learning math, I feel more comfortable introducing problems that would normally be several "steps" ahead of where they are.  Enter into our lives:  the Maths Quest series by David Glover. 



The Museum of Mysteries focuses on number manipulation.

Fun with Parchment Paper

Eating gluten-free can be expensive, especially when it comes to bread products.  Hamburger-bun molds exist for baking your own, but not at your local retail store.  That's why I use parchment paper to make my own:  Take a rectangular strip of paper and tape it around into a ring.  Voila, a hamburger bun mold!  (If you're extra nerdy, like me, measure the diameter of the burger and multiply by pi to get the length of the paper strip to use.)

But the fun doesn't end there!  

The Little Things

Most of what we do when it comes to learning math is not blog material. Not every task contains an 'ah-ha!' moment; not every activity is new or surprising. This post lays out some of the little things we do to support mathematical thinking and learning, and some things that we don't do yet, but are in the works.

Pyramids

This week, as part of a unit on Egypt, we read Mummy Math.  It is a cute story about two kids who use their knowledge of hieroglyphics and geometry to find their way through a pyramid and into the tomb of an ancient king.

Afterwards, BatBoy got into making pyramids out of paper.

Where Are We Now?

I haven't posted anything here in quite awhile because we haven't actually "done math" in a long time.  Have we forgotten about math?  Not really.  I've brought it up a few times, but nobody is biting.  But we haven't entirely neglected math.

Structural Geometry

For SpiderGirl's learning plan this year, she expressed an interest in learning about building and architecture.  In addition to looking at some of the fabulous designs around the world and photographing archtectural details around town, we have explored the shapes used to hold these structures up.

More Math in the Car

A few years ago, I picked up a book called Carschooling, by Diane Flynn Keith.  So far, I love it.  It's full of fun ideas that can keep our family enjoying a long car ride without falling into arguments due to anticipation or boredom.

On a recent car trip, I dug it out to look for some new math activities.  A song that we enjoyed for at least a few verses was a variation of "99 Bottles of Beer On the Wall."  I substituted 'beer' with 'juice.'  The lyrics went something like this: