Overview
Throughout the year, the mathematical processes have been showcased to demonstrate the learning that students engage in as they experience the math curriculum.
Here's a brief summary of the mathematical processes:
- Problem Solving: Approaching and solving various mathematical challenges through logical reasoning and strategies.
- Reasoning and Proving: Making conjectures, providing evidence, and constructing arguments to justify mathematical ideas.
- Reflecting: Thinking about the strategies and solutions used in mathematical tasks, and assessing their effectiveness.
- Connecting: Relating mathematical concepts to each other and to the real-world.
- Communicating: Expressing mathematical thinking clearly through written and spoken communication.
- Representing: Using models, diagrams, words, symbols, and other forms of representation to communicate mathematical ideas.
- Selecting Tools and Strategies: Choosing appropriate tools (like concrete objects, measuring tools, and technology) and strategies to solve problems efficiently.
If you want to explore math throughout the summer, here are some activities that incorporate the mathematical processes:
Geometry Search - When walking outside, look to see what shapes or patterns you notice! What are the characteristics of these shapes/patterns? How are they similar? How are they different? How much space do they take up? What other shapes could you make if you put them together or took them apart? Predict what the pattern might look like later on. Draw a route to get to a specific location from home.
Cooking Together - Cooking or baking together is alway a great opportunity to bring in mathematics conversations. Choose a recipe together as a family. Determine how much you will need so that everyone can share the food. How many batches of the recipe will you need to make? Estimate how much money will be required to buy the ingredients. How much will each person get? How long will it take to make, cook/bake and clean up? What if an additional friend was going to join you, how might that change things?
Math Scavenger Hunt - Use math to create clues that lead to objects in and around your home (e.g., “I have a circular face. I have 2 different hands that move at different speeds. You can divide my face into 12 equal parts. Each part represents 5. What am I?”)
Guess and Check - Practice using your estimation skills for a variety of different situations. For example, how many steps might it take to get to the park? How long will it take to drive to the splash pad? How much water will I drink today? How much sunscreen will we use this week? etc.