TIP #8 - Science and Engineering Practices: Math & Computational Thinking
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Beyond the Numbers:
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We all probably know someone who has said they are “no good at math” or “ not a numbers person," but then turns around and creates a beautiful quilt (geometry), bakes a stunning dessert (ratios), or plays a beautiful piece of music (patterns, time, frequency, arrays). What about when we’re teaching kids to share (ratios), or what is “fair” (equivalence), or how to put away the game so that every piece fits back in the box (geometry again)? Math is everywhere!
We use math and computational thinking more often than we realize, yet rarely identify it as such outside a traditional math or computer science lesson. Imagine the potential if every student could say with confidence that “they were good at math” or that they were, in fact, “a numbers person,” even if they struggled with arithmetic or their multiplication tables? The beauty of math is that it is everywhere, so let’s bring it into the forefront and let it shine!
We use math and computational thinking more often than we realize, yet rarely identify it as such outside a traditional math or computer science lesson. Imagine the potential if every student could say with confidence that “they were good at math” or that they were, in fact, “a numbers person,” even if they struggled with arithmetic or their multiplication tables? The beauty of math is that it is everywhere, so let’s bring it into the forefront and let it shine!
The CreositySpace approach
Just as math and computational thinking can be found throughout our daily lives, each CreositySpace unit is full of opportunities to see them in action. The hands-on investigations have students measuring, mixing, arranging and analyzing.
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Students measure, mix, and weigh during the Mushroom Maestros mushroom packaging investigation.
The focus on invention, entrepreneurship, and their community have students making links between the skills they use in their technical classes (math and science) and the skills they use to form arguments and explanations in their non-technical classes (ELA, social studies, art).
Slides from the Makerspace Challenge unit. Students must consider things like market size, the cost of using different materials, and the value of various product features.
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And finally, the explicit math problems in each unit connect specific math standards to the real-world applications they are learning about.
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Some math problems included in our K-5 Contagion Crushers unit.
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Click here to learn more about our K-5 science units and supplemental curricula.