Integrating a Holiday into Math (4th of July ideas)
Happy Fourth of July!
Did you ever stop to think about the mathematics in holidays and special events? Just think of the opportunities for students of all ages to experience a celebration of mathematics beyond the color-by-the- number or connect-the-dots holiday worksheets! And what a connection to other subject areas!! In our hectic classrooms we have to find opportunities to apply skills from ALL subject areas in a meaningful and timely manner. Investigating holidays has been in language arts/social studies units forever. Why not bring in “meaningful mathematics!”
Probing questions about dates, people, places and things can spark interest beyond the glitz of the holiday to the true meaning it conveys. Phrase your questions in age-appropriate terminology. For example, “Compare and contrast the baking of bread in the colonies and today,” might be appropriate for a 5th grader, but a primary student would be asked to “Explain how baking bread might be different now than in the colonial times. How do you think it is the same?” Of course, all ages should have to bake the bread!
Even 1st and 2nd graders can enjoy answering questions about dates and duration by associating a timeline with a number line. When students understand the addition and subtraction model on a number line, moving to a timeline is a natural. This is a “crackerjack” opportunity for meaningful use of the calculator in the primary grades by providing calculators for students to use when the arithmetic of subtracting 4-digit numbers is beyond their arithmetic skills. There is also opportunity for emphasizing ESTIMATION at every grade level!!
And where do you find the answers for questions you’ll ask about the Fourth of July or any other holiday? Why the Internet, of course! Just putting a search out for the Fourth of July will provide you with more resources than you can ever use with your students. My favorites are sites designed especially for kids because they include crafts, snacks, skits, games, etc. as well as historical information. Imagine all of the mathematics used as students measure and mix and determine the probability of winning a fair or unfair game!
Our little “extra” this time is just a page of pertinent questions that can be asked about holidays nothing fancy, but perhaps a catalyst to help you begin to think about all of the holidays during the school year. We hope that you enjoy them!
See you next time,
Ms Fritzie!
