We are grateful to our MathFinder partner sites and other partners who infused our open-access resources during summer camp this year. Our friends at the Dallas Arboretum shared a little about MathFinder activities during summer camp this year!
The Dallas Arboretum partnered with our MathFinder initiative during this year’s Great Contributors Summer Camp! Campers were able to explore our current MathFinder stops using the short videos throughout the garden and then create their own MathFinder Stop. Students worked in teams using discussion protocols and the Design Journal Sheets (found on the MathFinder website) to work through the creation process. This activity allowed the 1st-3rd graders to engage with nature in a real sense, instead of theoretical. They could touch the bark, leaves, and water, instead of seeing pictures of those things.
We were excited to see that 100% of the campers were engaged and involved. Campers exhibited engagement by asking questions, observing the children’s garden, noticing variations in flower petals, averaging seeds, and wondering about the growth process.
Not only the campers, but the staff had a terrific time finding math in nature and designing ways to answer mathematical questions with their peers, in a creative manner. We will definitely be using MathFinder resources again, in future camps.
Great Contributors Campers on the prowl for math.
