09/24 - Iconic Numbers

This week we talked about iconic numbers.  There is math and numbers all around us and everything can represent a number.  For example we have 2 arms, legs, eyes, and ears.  We associate 10 with fingers and toes, the number 8 with an octopus, 6 with legs on an insect, and 4 with legs on most animals.

We also talked about that there are multiple ways to get a number.  For example the number 5 can be represented by 2+3, 1+4, 5x1, 10-5, etc.

We then had an activity with Legos!  Each child got a handful of Lego bricks, and they were able to draw pictures of the Legos showing the different amount of studs on each brick.  Again, different methods could be used to find the amount of studs, multiplying the row by the column (2x4=8) or by adding each row (4+4=8).

09/17 - G is for Googol

Class started with each child having a chance to draw on paper what they think math is.  There were many interpretations!  We then read the book G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book by David M. Schwartz.  The book is full of math concepts ranging from abacus to zillion.  The kids enjoyed the book and had many questions and comments about the math related words.