Autumn Math Walk

 “I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
― L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables 

What a beautiful time of year it is in Southern Ontario! We have been spending much time outside each school day exploring the changes in our school yard. The children are curious about the world around them and ask many questions about their surroundings and the autumn treasures they find. Many of their wonderings have been mathematical in nature - Why is there a pattern on the sunflower's seed head? What are those holes in the stump and where did it come from? Why is a Daddy Long Legs an arachnid and not a spider?  How do leaves change colours? Why are the clouds moving so fast in the sky?

There is math everywhere. If one looks deeply enough, there is always a mathematical connection in nature. The sunflower seeds follow the Fibonacci Sequence - a numerical pattern meant to help maximize space and fit as many seeds into the head as possible. The perfect little circles in the stump might have been caused by a wood boring insect or bird looking deep into the bark for food. Daddy Long Legs have a different body than spiders even though they have eight legs. Leaves change colour because the amount of sunlight they need to create their own food lessens in cold weather (as the Earth's axis tilts us away from the sun), resulting in a chemical change in the leaves. 

I've been motivated to continue to look for rich mathematical wonderings and opportunities for inquiry each time I'm outside - even on the weekend with my own children. I find it fascinating to see math applied in an authentic, interesting, real world connection. The math in nature is beautiful! Inspired by this mathematical beauty I have written a book called Autumn Math Walk that includes photos and narrative to help readers delve deeply into exploring math in the outside world. I've appreciated the interest in this book and loved seeing the ways educators have used the text in their classrooms. Learning from one another is so inspiring!

 

    

I'm so very excited to partner with Pembroke Publishers and offer a free teaching resource to complement my book Autumn Math Walk!

Autumn Math Walk Teacher's Guide is a free resource that can help educators understand the math that exists in the natural world, and use this information to provoke conversation and understand with children as they explore nature. Perhaps children will be inspired to author and illustrate their own Autumn Math Walk book unique to their specific surroundings!

Autumn Math Walk

"Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature."

 Friedrich Nietzsche

What better time of year to head outside and enjoy the beauty of nature than in the fall!

We have been spending long amounts of time each day exploring the treasures in our yard. The children have been fascinated by how the world around us is changing - leaves are changing colours and falling from trees, Monarchs are gathering the last bit of nectar from the garden before heading South, and we are enjoying the last flowers in our gardens before they wilt and dry.

The children have had many questions about some of the interesting objects they have found in the yard - stumps, leaves, creatures and flowers.

  

   

Many of their wonderings have been mathematical in nature - Why is there a pattern on the sunflower's seedhead? What are those holes in the stump and where did it come from? Why is a Daddy Long Legs an arachnid and not a spider?  How do leaves change colours?

There is math everywhere. If one looks deeply enough, there is always a mathematical connection in nature. The sunflower seeds follow the Fibonacci Sequence - a numerical pattern meant to help maximize space and fit as many seeds into the head as possible. The perfect little circles in the stump might have been caused by a wood boring insect or bird looking deep into the bark for food. Daddy Long Legs have a different body than spiders even though they have eight legs. Leaves change colour because the amount of sunlight they need to create their own food lessens in cold weather (as the Earth's axis tilts us away from the sun), resulting in a chemical change in the leaves. 

I've been motivated to continue to look for rich mathematical wonderings and opportunities for inquiry each time I'm outside - even on the weekend with my own children. I find it fascinating to see math applied in an authentic, interesting, real world connection. The math in nature is beautiful! Consider going on your own autumn math walk and seeing what amazing questions and connections emerge with on your journey!

I'm excited to publish my first children's book Autumn Math Walk (Kindle edition) on amazon now. Stay tuned for a print version!

Exploring Sunflowers

Sunflowers are such a fun, vibrant flower to explore as we begin to notice the seasons changing and autumn arrive. We explored a wonderful text called "Lilla's Sunflowers" last week that discusses how many sunflowers are planted all over the country when a young girl shares seeds with her military father. This text is beautifully written with easy to understand narrative and captivating illustrations.

 

In order to help our children make connections to the book, we offered real sunflowers and dried sunflowers at a table along with the book and tools like tweezers, sorting trays and magnifying glasses.

The children were encouraged to visit the centre and use the tools to examine the sunflowers up close and then pick out the seeds. This activity required detailed fine motor work and helped strengthen children's patience as well as their pincher grasp.

The next day we offered the large dried sunflowers as tools for making prints. The children were interested in how the stems acted as handles and kept their hands clean during the activity.

We pressed the sunflowers into paint and made a beautiful print!
 

Sunflower Still Life

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." 

Albert Einstein

Our children created delicate black outlined water colour paintings today. There work is stunning; with time and practice they have emerged as observant and skilled artists. We love still life art because it really encourages the children to take time to carefully observe the many details of the subject and use the materials and tools they feel will help them best represent what they see. It's always so interesting to see their interpretations of the same object and how different the finished pieces are.