MATHEMATICAL MADNESS

Math Camp for the students was about doing math in the real world...their world!

Kids did research on birds, in particular on birds' wingspan, length and weight. They presented their findings on graphs and analyzed their data by finding the mode, median, and range. They also presented their work in front of their peers.

The kids did it...that's one of the valuable things about camp! Teachers guide and kids do a lot.

We moved from birds to airplanes (keeping the "Flight" theme) by constructing Bernoulli Bird Kites. There is lots of geometry to discuss while building these birds and students conducted test flights with an electric fan.

< Ashley tests her Bernoulli Bird Kite

Cazzie sends her Dart down the runway. (Below)

From there students constructed paper airplanes (in school?!), tested them on runways, gathered data on tables and graphed the data. Again they analyzed their data finding the mode, median, range and mean. They each made a poster and presented their work in our small group. Sounds a whole lot like what I've done while working with scientists from UW and Loyola Marymount. Real world stuff!

This is why airtraffic controllers are so important. Imagine all these planes taking off at once! It's a wonder no one lost an eye!

I even got to send my 18" Dart paper airplane down the runway!

The other piece of Math Camp for students is Math Academy. This is a 40-minute time period we spent in the cafeteria playing games. It's a sneaky way to get kids to think mathematically and interact with one another.

This young lady, Courtney, taught me to play Othello. >

Blockus (below) is one game I did not learn during camp. Up to four players can participate at once and I hear it is fun. Something for me to learn next year!

One boy challenged me to Connect Four which I had not played since my kids were little. It's kind of like tic-tac-toe yet you have to get four in a row. That young man beat me four times before I finally beat him...talk about a humbling experience.

I was warned that after two weeks of Math Camp I would be pooped. So true! Yet if you ask me, or any of the teachers who attended, it has been energy well spent! We're all looking forward to doing it again next year.