Category: Maths

Maths Maps – A New Collaborative Project

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I am excited to introduce you to my new project idea that I hope will result in some engaging content for our classes. It is collaborative in the same way the Interesting Ways resources are and I will need your help to make it a success.

Elevator Pitch

  • Using Google Maps.
  • Maths activities in different places around the world.
  • One location, one maths topic, one map.
  • Activities explained in placemarks in Google Maps.
  • Placemarks geotagged to the maths it refers to. “How wide is this swimming pool?”
  • Teachers to contribute and share ideas.
  • Maps can be used as independent tasks or group activities in class.
  • Maps can be embedded on websites, blogs or wikis.
  • Tasks to be completed by students and recorded online or offline.

Some background

Four years ago I created Google Earth resources for the classroom and posted them to the GE Community Forum. Two of them were called Maths in Madrid and Maths in Las Vegas. These were based on the fact that there is maths all around us, every day, everywhere we look. Google Earth (and Maps) gives us a great perspective on it all. It also provides easy access for our students to see rich visual content that depicts everyday maths. I have always loved the idea of children seeing the maths they are working on.

The only issue with Google Earth is that it is restrictive in two ways. It is not browser based and it is impossible for me to create a resource for others to collaborate on.

Luckily Google Maps has caught up and using the collaborative features I can now invite other teachers and educators to help build on these resources. It is exciting to return to these old ideas and work on them with you all.

First Attempts

Earlier today I invited some people on Twitter to help me make a start and it was great to see loads of ideas added to the Maths in Madrid map I had generated, based on my original work. There were questions about shape, time, money, rotational symmetry, you name it! (Thanks to all those who helped!)

View Maths in Madrid in a larger map
Please don’t add to this map any more – see the Measures in Madrid map below.

The problem here is that although the ideas were organised under maths topics (see map) with different coloured pins, there was no distinction between age appropriateness. There would be too much to filter out for the teacher or student.

With help and direction from those collaborating, I took a simpler approach and created a Measures in Madrid map that collates maths ideas about the one topic. This time the placemark icons are used to distinguish which age group it is best for. See below.

I think this is much easier to use because the map is about one topic, but shows the grade/age level too. Many different maps can be created to cover lots of different maths topics.

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Measures in Madrid – How can you contribute?

  1. Explore the map below for the ideas already added, follow the link to open it in a new window.
  2. Make sure you are signed in to your Google account.
  3. Click on EDIT in the left panel.
  4. Zoom close to the city and it’s surroundings. (Don’t forget Streetview)
  5. Find some MEASURES ideas you can see.
  6. Add a placemark (use the right colour for the age group it is best for – see purple pin)
  7. Explain the activity in the description.
  8. Change the title to show how many ideas there are.
  9. Send out a Tweet or write a blog post to highlight this resource and encourage others to contribute.


View 7 Measures Activities in Madrid in a larger map
There are endless amounts of maps we could make and once this one is up and running I will be highlighting some more. I will be embedding them all on the MATHS MAPS page of this blog too.

Please help by contributing just one placemark – let others know about the maps so we can gather lots of ideas.

Aaargh Too Many Google Forms!

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This post includes some reflections on the use of Google Forms in data handling teaching and some problems we encountered in using them in the classroom.

For a few weeks now we have been exploring data handling in our numeracy lessons – we have included lots of work to allow children the choice of some current tools to use in their own investigations. In separate lessons we have explored how to use Create-a-Graph, Google Forms for collecting data and Excel for charting data. All of this exposure and practice in using these tools was a precursor to the children making some choices in the design of their own data investigation.

The children were working in small groups of 3s (about 10 groups) and the majority of them chose to collect the data for their investigation questions using a Google Form. I directed one child from each group to author the form and to share with all of their peers within the domain. (This was done by clicking on “EMAIL FORM” when editing the form and clicking on “CHOOSE FROM CONTACTS” and choosing “ALL CONTACTS” from the drop down menu)

I decided to build in some time for the children to complete the forms that different groups were sharing with them. And this is where we began to run into problems. The progress of each group was starting to stretch out – some were completing forms and some had lots of data, others had only a few results because the forms had not been completed yet. The difference in what they may be doing was also beginning to mean that I had no way of ensuring a specific group was at a certain stage.

The simple fact is that I had no way of ensuring that every child completed every form. As a result the pool of data was different for each group.

I still believe that using a Google form is a valid way of collecting data – it also organises info and even produces a graphical representation of it. A powerful tool. But it is difficult when trying to collect lots of data from a year group at the same time. If their are lots of forms from lots of different groups it becomes unwieldy and difficult to steer on the right track. Saying that, I still wanted to provide the choice of tools to the children, attempting to replicate what happens in real life.

Here is a possible solution that we have thought of:

  1. Children work in small groups of 3s
  2. Generate a question for their investigation eg “What is Year 5s favourite lesson?”
  3. Plan for the process and choose from a range of tools that have been covered in previous lessons. The children still have the autonomy to make a choice, which is key.
  4. Draft their investigation question – a single multiple choice question.
  5. Teacher/TA or children from the different groups author a single form including all of the questions from the different teams.
  6. Form is shared with whole class or year group.
  7. Children are given time to answer all of the questions in the form via their GMail- this way you can guarantee that all of the groups have responses.
  8. Once all of the responses have been submitted then the resulting spreadsheet can be shared with the whole class. Children would then be able to view a single column of information for their own question.
  9. Further graph work could be completed from then onwards.
I think this method provides children with access to a guaranteed set of data from their peers (which was lacking before) and their progress in terms of analysing the information is much more easily tracked by a teacher. I would recommend such a method in the primary classroom and perhaps look to do larger numeracy groups if you did want them to create their own forms. The process outlined above does allow you to still utilise the power of Google Forms, and worry less about the collection of data and more about the analysis, questioning and representation.

Using the Nintendo Wii to Support My Numeracy Lesson – Block Spot, Symmetry and Visualising 3D Shape

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As part of my numeracy lesson yesterday I used our class Nintendo Wii to support some of the shape work we have been doing. I identified the mini game Block Spot within Big Brain Academy as an opportunity for the children to continue to practice visualising and consolidate their understanding of 3D shapes.

After a short times tables test, which we do at the beginning of every week with our Year 5s (9/10 yr olds), I explored some vocabulary and basics of reflective symmetry on a grid using SMART Notebook. We briefly revisited the shape symmetry we had covered in the previous week and I ensured the children were now thinking of a line of symmetry or mirror line independent of any one shape. 

As a precursor to reflecting different shapes in vertical and horizontal mirror lines we used simple colour patterns reflected in a grid and a simple flash activity from Primary Resources. On the class IWB we completed some together and I highlighted some possible areas that could be problematic – we counted the squares to and from the axes and all of the methods used to check the position of reflective symmetry.

reflection

I remember using this in my first year of teaching in a computer suite. On Tuesday the children worked in pairs on our class laptops to challenge each other in making a pattern and then completing the correct reflection. I had planned to continue on to do some work on paper but the practice and familiarity they gained from just working with different coloured squares will contribute to their work later when reflecting shapes. For a challenge children could work on a grid of four quadrants (2 mirror lines) and a random pattern and for those needing more support they could continue with the single mirror line with adult support.

As the children were working on their laptops I had the class Nintendo Wii running with Big Brain Academy and called out a pair of children at a time to use it. I used it in Solo mode and the Practice of the game Block Spot (Visualise category). I would have preferred them to have played against each other or in a small group but that would have included other games – I wanted them to just focus on visualisation of shape to support the week’s topic. In the pair they took it in turns to answer 10 questions about matching a random 3D shape made of coloured cubes to a choice of four. All of the blocks on screen are spinning and so recognising the features quickly and their similarities is tricky.

You can see what they got up to in the Block Spot game in this short film taken during the lesson.

I was pleased to see that the rest of the class were not distracted by the Nintendo Wii being played on the IWB and other then a few cursory glances were getting on with their own reflective symmetry task. The novelty of using the Wii in lessons has already worn off!

The motivator of using the Nintendo Wii as a way to support learning is a no-brainer to me with this age of children and I am pleased to further establish it as a learning tool in the classroom. It is not simply good enough anymore to adhere to the argument that they use too much of these things outside of school – they are very powerful ways to deliver learning and engage children. It is just a case of finding the correct game and context.

I also discovered another game within Big Brain Academy that I would use within any future lessons on symmetry. It is called Art Parts and is described as follows:

In this Visualize activity, players must complete the sample painting by stamping the missing pieces onto an unfinished scene. When it becomes more difficult, Art Parts flips the unfinished scene sideways or flips it upside-down.

There is much more to explore in terms of using the Wii to support the general learning environment of a primary classroom – but I think that in my classroom I have seen it become a source of great fun and an engaging learning tool.

Please let me know any games or ways you have used your own class Wii to support your lessons.

 

My Maths Lesson Today – Using SMART Notebook and Google Earth for 3D Shape

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Our class had a very enjoyable numeracy lesson today in which they were further exploring nets of 3D shapes and developing their ability to visualise them. We used SMART Notebook on the class laptops to help record our work as well as Google Earth for our shape of the week.

This week we have been exploring nets of 3D shapes and for the lesson’s “Shape of the Week” starter I had Google Earth running with the Pyramids (Egypt) placemarked – we zoomed, from right out in space, into the location of these great monuments. (I still love the awe and wonder of that, so do the kids!) It was a good link with our Ancient Egyptian history topic. I had switched on the 3D Buildings layer and I panned and moved about the modelled pyramids. We then spent some time talking about the properties of square based pyramids, their nets and the pyramid family in general. I scribed their ideas straight onto Google Earth using the SMARTBoard pens and annotated the pyramids. I good start to the session.

For the main part of the lesson and the independent task I wanted the children to visualise the top and the bottom of a net. Which face in a cube net does not move and which would become the top of the cube? So we combined the practical use of Clixi with a SMART Notebook that allowed the children to easily recreate and record the nets.

I shared a notebook file on the network, which the children accessed and opened on their own laptop. The children were working in pairs on their numeracy tables. They made the possible nets with the Clixi and then generating the same net in the notebook from some infinite cloned shapes I had setup. I then wanted them to colour the top RED and the bottom GREEN to show they understood how the net behaved when folded. The technology was not complex but it allowed them to quickly recreate the nets and show what was needed – less time was spent recording due to the technology. Which meant that more time was spent visualising how the net worked, exploring the Clixi nets they had made and discussing the possibilities in their pairs.

I was really pleased with the progress made throughout the lesson as the children discussed and explored the nets of cubes, cuboids and pentagonal prisms. I was equally impressed, however not surprised, in the successful way the blended learning resources worked – how they complimented each other and how the no frills technology began to become invisible amidst the learning going on.