Mathematics and FCIT

Do students ever ask you, “Where are we ever going to use this?”   On April 5, 2009 an article written by Gregory McColm, an associate professor of mathematics at the University of South Florida, appeared in the Tampa Tribune to promote Math Awareness.  Figuring Out The Pattern Of Math answers that age-old question.  April is Mathematics Awareness Month.  This year’s theme is Mathematics and Climate, as announced by The American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.  For resources, visit the Math Awareness website.  Take this opportunity to show your students how important math is in their lives.

There are some wonderful activities linking literature to mathematics on the Lit2Go site.  “Five Little Tadpoles” has both Language Arts and Mathematics activities to go along with the poem.  After reading the poem below, students can complete the math activity that addresses addition and subtraction word problems about tadpoles.  This is a fun cross-curricular activity that catches the students interest with the poem and then addresses sunshine state math standards with the activity sheet.  This particular activity sheet is designed for kindergarten students, but there are activities on the site that pertain to all grade levels.

“Five Litte Tadpoles”
Traditional rhyme

 Five little tadpoles swimming near the shore.

The first one said, “Let’s swim some more.”

The second one said, “Let’s rest awhile.”

The third one said, “Swimming makes me smile.”

The fourth one said, “My legs are growing long.”

The fifth one said, “I’m getting very strong.”

Five little tadpoles will soon be frogs.

They’ll jump from the water and sit on logs.

There has been a push for incorporating reading into every classroom.  Middle school and high school mathematics teachers often find it a bit challenging.  Lit2Go has math activities that go along with the literature.  There are various ways to incorporate this into your curriculum.  Here is an activity that you can use while working with an English and/or a science teacher at your school.  The reading is about white blood cell counts.  There are several more on the site.  I chose this one to showcase because I like the idea of an activity that incorporates science and literature with the mathematics.  Browse the site for other interesting ideas.  I will discuss Lit2Go for elementary teachers in another post.

Visit Lit2Go

Today’s lesson uses a map from FCIT’s Florida Maps project. The project takes historic maps - state, county, and city - from the entire history of Florida and makes them available for download for classroom use.

Image from Florida Maps at FCIT

This is an example of how you can use the Florida maps site in mathematics. This activity addresses proportionality while referencing a 1975 map of Florida showing hardness of water state-wide. This is a great example of a cross-curricular activity that addresses math, science, and social studies. I’ve also included an activity sheet that you can download and print for your class.