Maths in Muddy Puddles
Maths in Muddy Puddles
There are tonnes of learning in the very simple life of a muddy puddle. You just have to open your eyes and see it for what it is.
We have become obsessed as a society in over complicating the area of teaching and learning. We have over-resourced our teachers with too much technology, materials and taken aware their innate ability to focus on the learning not what their teaching with.
Too much stuff, dilutes the teacher’s true powers which is for them to connect with the child, get to know them, get to know their learning abilities and guide them in the right direction. If we are filling our time up fussing over what we use to teach wit, we are wasting valuable time getting to know our learners needs. Strip back the apps and screen time and step outside.
So strip all of that back and teach using the muddy puddle approach to help you reconnect with what you were born to do, teach!
Maths is one of the easiest subjects to take outside and her are some ideas for your o explore the maths in that puddle.
- Measure the width of the puddle, measure lots of puddles then compare. Which was the largest and smallest puddle. What if we added water to the puddle or it rained more what would happen?
- Measure the circumference of your puddle by taking a piece of string outside. Lay it around the puddle and have rulers out ready to work this out. Like above, measure many and compare. Discuss how some may have looked larger than others. Jump in the winning puddle!
- Work out the volume of the puddle, suck all the water up (best you can) using syringes and beakers and place in a jug, measure its contents and do the same for several other puddles around you.
- Use the puddles to paint numbers with. Take some powder paint out and use the water from the puddle for you to dip a paint brush in and practice number formation, decimals or fractions.
