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By GLEN WERLING
Math, fun?
For a lot of kids those two words do not even belong on the same line unless their separated by the word “no.”
But Family Math Night at Ossian Elementary School shows students—and parents—just how fun math can be. It also demonstrates how math is used in everyday activities and gets parents into the classroom showing them how their children are being taught math.
Grades 3-5 had a Hawaiian theme for their math night this year while the theme was baseball for grades K-2.
The first warm night of the spring brought out more than 70 students and their parents to the hour-long event. They lined up to register and then received a brief orientation for the night’s events in the cafetorium of the school.
“We’re going to play a few games, have a little fun and learn a little math tonight,” said principal Shellie Miller.
Once registering and receiving instructions at home plate (the cafeteria), students broke into groups and advanced to various bases.
First base was titled “Grand Slam,” children were encouraged to estimate how far they could hit a stuffed toy baseball off a cone, then after estimating the distance in feet, they were allowed to hit the ball with a plastic bat and measure the actual distance the ball traveled.
They also estimated how much the ball weighed, its circumference, and the distance they could roll it.
After estimating, the children were able to do the actual measurements, comparing their estimations to the actual amounts calculated. In the outfield of the batting area, members of Norwell High School’s baseball team helped the children field their baseballs and signed autographs for the participants.
Moving on to second base, titled “Double Play” the children used a problem solving strategy called “Looking for a Pattern.”
They had to solve the problem by using baseball cards (cubes). Broken into imaginary weeks, the first week they bought one card. The second week they bought three cards. The third week they bought five cards. Each week they bought two more cards than the week before. They had to find out how many cards they would buy the 5th, 7th, and 9th weeks.
Second base was actually broken into two pattern solving exercises. The baseball card problem was posed to children in grades K-1 while the second graders encountered a group problem solving activity in logical thinking.
Using colorful designs on shirts and pants, students created 64 possible combinations of baseball outfits. The activity required seeing possibilities and then finding ways to record the data so that the known information could be used to construct what was still unknown.
Other problem solving experiences used deductive reasoning to find who, and how many, baseball cards were traded or how many baseball cards remained after various combinations were given to others.
There were seven possible activities from which to choose and all required logical thinking to find a solution. This GPS activity allowed parents to see what their children experience on their GPS days each month when problem solving is the school-wide math focus.
Heading toward third base—the cafeteria again—the students took part in “Catch a Fly Café.” Each child chose two mini hot dogs that they placed end-for-end and measured with a specially made ruler on a paper bat.
The next item they weighed was a Circus Peanut candy using plastic teddy bears as the counter weight.
Then each child measured out six ounces of soda pop so they really felt like they were at a ball game. Two high school ball players were present to autograph the children’s baseball pad.
The hour long activity was the brainchild of Ossian’s math committee members Judy Harkless, Betty Feay, Lindsey Fry, Sarah Baker, Joan Furey, Debra Waldron, Abby Houtz, Tami Fiechter, Carol Gerber, Mindy Eckert, Jeff Bryan, Julie Harvey, Monica Huffman, and Laura James.
This group of creative teachers showed kids and their parents that math can be fun. Following this year’s successful trial run, plans are already underway for next year’s Family Math night.
glenw@news-banner.com