Introduction: Sara Forbing, a fourth grade teacher at Frank E. Schall Elementary School in Caro, Michigan, will address student knowledge and attitudes concerning STEM with a focus on mathematics through the use of hands-on and real-life activities.
Problem Statement: This project will address multiple problem areas. First, students have a difficult time making a connection between classroom content and mathematics that are used in real life, often not seeing a need for what is being taught. Second, students need tools and experiences that can assist them in remembering various mathematics skills throughout the school year. Finally, students lack the opportunities to problem solve and expand their critical thinking skills within the mathematics classroom.
Procedures: The teacher involved in this project intends to supplement the current curriculum through the use of hands-on and real-life mathematics activities. These activities will be used to address student knowledge of and attitudes toward mathematics. The teacher will show and explain real-life connections to mathematics. Then students will use those connections to deepen their learning.
Results: The expected results are that students will improve their knowledge of mathematics concepts and their ability to apply knowledge to real life situations. Also, students attitudes toward mathematics are expected to improve as they make connections between classroom mathematics and real world mathematics.
Conclusion: Through the use of hands-on and real world mathematics activities, students will gain knowledge and improve their attitudes toward mathematics.
Methods and Materials:
Throughout this year-long project, students will participate in a variety of skill specific hands-on activities and comprehensive real-life projects. These activities and projects will be embedded in the current curriculum to help students more successfully engage with the content and make connections between classroom learning and their everyday lives.
Hands-on Activities
The brief hands-on activities being addressed in this project involve mathematical manipulatives, music, movement, and art. The purpose of these activities is to reinforce mathematical concepts that students often find challenging. Each activity will focus on a single skill and will give students another entry point from which to learn and become comfortable with the corresponding standard. The materials required for these activities include: sidewalk chalk, foam base ten blocks, index cards, blue painters tape, tape measures, hands-on multiplication and division kits, and hands-on division regrouping kits.
Real-Life Activities
Several real-life project based activities will be used to reinforce the current curriculum. These projects will help to ensure that students are both understanding the content and making real-life connections to what they are learning in the classroom. Multiple skills and content areas will be focused on in each project, allowing students to make connections between concepts they have learned throughout the year. The projects are detailed below.
By embedding the following activities into the current curriculum, students will meet state expectations while expanding their skills in problem solving and making real-world connections, a deficit previously seen at the elementary level in Caro.
Hands-on:
Problem Statement: This project will address multiple problem areas. First, students have a difficult time making a connection between classroom content and mathematics that are used in real life, often not seeing a need for what is being taught. Second, students need tools and experiences that can assist them in remembering various mathematics skills throughout the school year. Finally, students lack the opportunities to problem solve and expand their critical thinking skills within the mathematics classroom.
Procedures: The teacher involved in this project intends to supplement the current curriculum through the use of hands-on and real-life mathematics activities. These activities will be used to address student knowledge of and attitudes toward mathematics. The teacher will show and explain real-life connections to mathematics. Then students will use those connections to deepen their learning.
Results: The expected results are that students will improve their knowledge of mathematics concepts and their ability to apply knowledge to real life situations. Also, students attitudes toward mathematics are expected to improve as they make connections between classroom mathematics and real world mathematics.
Conclusion: Through the use of hands-on and real world mathematics activities, students will gain knowledge and improve their attitudes toward mathematics.
Methods and Materials:
Throughout this year-long project, students will participate in a variety of skill specific hands-on activities and comprehensive real-life projects. These activities and projects will be embedded in the current curriculum to help students more successfully engage with the content and make connections between classroom learning and their everyday lives.
Hands-on Activities
The brief hands-on activities being addressed in this project involve mathematical manipulatives, music, movement, and art. The purpose of these activities is to reinforce mathematical concepts that students often find challenging. Each activity will focus on a single skill and will give students another entry point from which to learn and become comfortable with the corresponding standard. The materials required for these activities include: sidewalk chalk, foam base ten blocks, index cards, blue painters tape, tape measures, hands-on multiplication and division kits, and hands-on division regrouping kits.
Real-Life Activities
Several real-life project based activities will be used to reinforce the current curriculum. These projects will help to ensure that students are both understanding the content and making real-life connections to what they are learning in the classroom. Multiple skills and content areas will be focused on in each project, allowing students to make connections between concepts they have learned throughout the year. The projects are detailed below.
- Saving Electricity = Saving Money: In this project, students will use smart plugs to monitor the energy usage of various classroom devices or appliances. They will use the data they collect and their multiplication skills to determine the cost of running the appliance for an hour. The students will use this information to create posters to hang around the school encouraging other students to unplug devices when not in use by showing how much money can be saved per day, week, month, and year. The materials needed for this project will include: smart plugs and tagboard.
- Feeding Our Family: This project will require students to research a recipe that could feed four to six people. Students will then use their knowledge of fractions and multiplication to increase the recipe so it can feed a class of 28 students. As a class, they will decide on one recipe to make using the exact ratios the students decided on. Students will then determine if the fractions were multiplied correctly based on how the recipe turns out. The materials needed for this project will include: index cards and a small budget for recipe project supplies
- Building Our Community: Working in groups, students will use their multiplication, fraction, measurement, and geometry skills to design a bench for our school playground. This will require students to research blueprints, decide on a design, and draw their design to scale. Once the groups have their designs completed, the class will decide on one design to build. The class will work together in small teams to complete the construction of the bench. Required materials will include: graph paper, tape measures, and building materials.
- A Hole in One: Students will combine all of their geometry and measurement skills to create a mini golf hole. Their hole will need to include at least three angles and three obstacles of various shapes and sizes. They will need to measure and identify these angles and obstacles. Then they will show the class how to get a hole in one on their course. The only required material will be graph paper.
By embedding the following activities into the current curriculum, students will meet state expectations while expanding their skills in problem solving and making real-world connections, a deficit previously seen at the elementary level in Caro.
Hands-on:
- The teacher will create a place value chart of the floor so students can use movement to explore place value.
- Using jumbo base ten blocks, students will build multi-digit numbers. Then they will add or subtract the numbers to practice borrowing and regrouping.
- The teacher will create a calculator on the floor so students can use movement to practice basic math facts.
- Students will create multiplication flowers using art to practice multiplication problems.
- Students will use movement to explore multiples of various numbers by playing a musical chair style game.
- Using hands-on multiplication and division kits, students will practice double digit multiplication and division with manipulatives.
- Using hands-on division with regrouping kits, students will practice division with regrouping using manipulatives.
- Students will use music and movement to learn the steps of long division.
- Students will use art and movement to create a fraction hopscotch board.
- The class will compete in a relay race to practice converting mixed numbers to improper fractions.
- Students will use movement to explore area and perimeter by creating shapes using their bodies.
- Students will calculate the cost of various electrical appliances and create posters to hang around the school.
- Using fractions and multiplication, students will increase a recipe so it can feed a class.
- Combining the skills of measurement and fractions, students will work together to design and build a bench for the school playground.
- Using the principles of geometry, students will design a hole for a putt-putt golf course.