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Scottish Mathematical Council's Maths Week Scotland activities

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Scottish Mathematical Council's Maths Week Scotland activities

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We hope you have enjoyed working through the activities and have learned a little bit more about how amazing mathematics can be.
If you want to try out other exciting mathematics puzzles or problems, visit the NRICH website https://nrich.maths.org

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Welcome to the Scottish Mathematical Council's activities for Maths Week Scotland 

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Welcome to the Scottish Mathematical Council's activities for Maths Week Scotland 

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This Padlet page contains all that you will need for a week's worth of mathematics activities, aimed predominantly at Early Years but adaptable to other ages/stages.
The format of each column is the same for each day's learning: introduction video and resource list; followed by a Note for the teacher/adult section. In the notes post, adults will find information about extension activities for older children, things to consider when preparing to undertake the activity, and teaching points to emphasise.

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Instructions
Watch the video to find out about COLLECTING, SORTING and CLASSIFYING.
Stop the video when you need to go and collect and sort objects.

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Watch the video in advance and think about your local environment. What learning do you want from this activity? Is it specifically about mathematical shapes or more generally about 'noticing' shapes and objects in the environment? Do you want the learners to go outside to collect objects or will this be a classroom-based hunt for objects? The answer to these questions will impact on the type of objects the learners will have to sort and classify. Think about what the criteria for sorting the shapes will be and that will also help you to decide where and what you want the learners to collect.
When you are at the sorting stage, you can initially suggest how the objects are sorted. Eventually you want the learners to 'notice' things that are the same and different about the objects and thereby sort and classify the objects according to these criteria.
Extension
For older learners, encourage them to collect and sort mathematical shapes and objects. The learners should be noticing what is the same and different about the shapes and objects to sort them according to criteria you set and then criteria the learners decide upon.
By concentrating on what is the same and what is different about shapes and objects, specific mathematical vocabulary to describe the sameness and difference can be introduced, consolidated and extended - see 0-16a, 1-16a and 2-16a.

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Instructions
Watch today's video to find out about STACKING.
Stop the video when you need to go and collect objects or when you need to build something.

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SHAPE UP - episode 2 - STACKING PROGRAMME

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Best to watch this video before you show it to the learners.
The learners will need to collect items from either inside or outside. As with 'Classy', you need to consider what the main purpose of the learning is to decide on which you choose for the learners to do.
This activity is about sorting things into those that will stack and those that will not. You want the learners to describe how the objects/shapes feel and what they look like and then sort them.
Watch the video with the children. There are two games to play: Pile On; and Stand Tall. Stop the video when you want the learners to follow the instructions given.
Extension
Whilst stacking for early years learners is about experimenting with different shapes and objects to find out if they will stack or not, for older learners, it is about identifying and describing the properties of shapes and objects which allows the shapes and objects to stack, and identifying why and which ones will stack. The learning can connect to other areas of the curriculum such as art and design and history, where the learners can explore and create stone stacks and learn about how our ancestors used stone stacks for religious and navigational purposes - please create stone stacks responsibly and replace the stones once you are finished; leave no trace.
Stacking is excellent for linking to real-life contexts by investigating bridges and buildings, and determining how the properties of shapes are utilised to ensure that bridges and buildings are structurally sound as well as aesthetically pleasing - 9 most mathematically interesting buildings in the world.

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Instructions
Watch the video to find out what we are learning today about PATTERN.
When it is your turn to make a pattern, or think about what might come next in a pattern, then stop the video.

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Whilst you are watching the video with the children, ask them 'What do you notice? What do you wonder?' Stop the video and get them talking about the photos and identifying the things that are the same and things that are different.
The learners will need to collect a variety of objects that they can sort and then use to make a pattern. Again, consider whether you want them to collect objects from inside the classroom or outdoors.
You should concentrate on learners continuing patterns you have started, continuing patterns their friends have made and then creating patterns for other children to continue. The importance of describing 'what next', explaining their choices and hypothesising are the skills to be developed through learners talking about their patterns.
There are overlaps here to stacking.
Extension
This is a rich source of learning for any age group. Mathematicians are pattern-seekers. They search for the things that are the same and are different, and look for the pattern and structure in shapes, numbers and data.
Pattern is at the core of mathematics if you consider the pattern in: number systems, place value, multiplication tables, etc. There are connections to the natural world in relation to: spiral leaf growth as it relates to the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci numbers; and to tessellation in relation to repeating patterns of shapes, for example in a bee hive.
Aesthetically pleasing architecture is about pattern, particularly the use of the Golden Ratio.
There are connections to art and design and RME, as geometric pattern has religious significance, particularly in Islamic art. Consider, for example, the variety of mathematical skills employed in How to draw a simple Islamic geometric pattern.
Pattern as art is closely connected to tomorrow's topic of symmetry too. For further pattern in art inspiration check this out from James Brunt.
The pattern in, and of, music is something else that should be explored; how are the notes combined to make a chord and why does it make a pleasant sound? It is all about pattern!
See 0-13a, 1-13a, 1-13b, 2-13a, 3-13a.

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Instructions
Watch the video and find out all about SYMMETRY and the SymmeTREE.
Stop the video to give you time to identify when things are symmetrical or not.
You will also need time to go and collect objects so you can make your own symmetrical patterns.

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Watch the video with the children and stop it to talk about the symmetrical shapes by 'noticing' where the line of symmetry goes. Once you have watched the video, you might want to get the learners to 'Strike a symmetrical pose' and play 'Here's your change'.
For the SymmeTREE, the children will need to collect a variety of leaves and materials that are similar in size and colour - the objects do not need to be from outside. This is an extension of the other collecting activities because there is now a criterion for the objects that need to be collected. The sorting activity is also extended because the learners now have to pair up objects that are the same.
As an aside, look at the symmetry of leaves; leaves are very nearly symmetrical but not quite - why?
Stop the video to discuss with the learners how the presenter is placing the objects - why is he doing it that way? Pause the video on the last picture of the SymmeTREE and talk about whether it is or is not symmetrical and why.
If you have collected objects from around the classroom, and not outside, you can still make a SymmeTREE because it is about the pattern and the placement, not the materials.
Extension
Combined with the ideas and skills from the Pattern work, you can make, draw and paint structured symmetrical patterns. What about engaging with an activity like this Stone painting; this technique connects to indigenous artwork from Australia. It is also loosely related to Henna tattooing, a wedding tradition from Africa and Asia.
Again, concentrating on 'noticing' when engaged in work on symmetry and talking about sameness are important.
See 0-19a, 1-19a, 2-19a, 3-19a.

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Instructions
Watch today's video to find out about WEAVING.
When you need to go and collect materials or make something, then stop the video.

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How to make a loom and how to weave the strips.

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How to make a loom and how to weave the strips.

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Watch the following video from the Royal Academy of Arts to find out how to make a cardboard loom and how to get started with weaving plastic bags.

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Adults should watch the Royal Academy of Arts video in advance. For an alternative see the Play With Purpose: Plastic Bag Weaving video or the Plastic bag weaving - step by step video. N.B. Using string or thick wool as the warp provides a more sturdy loom on which to weave.
Depending on the age and stage of the learner, an adult may need to prepare the cardboard looms in advance, perhaps enlisting the help of older learners.
It would be advisable for an adult to prepare the plastic bags by cutting off their handles and along the bottom. Depending on the dexterity of the learners, the adult may decide to cut the plastic bags into strips for them and to make the gap between the warp threads on the loom wider to aid with fingers go over and under.
The key mathematical skills that learners will be engaged in are: planning for doing, creating a pattern and then following the over and under pattern as they are weaving. If the learners make the loom too, then they are using their measuring skills to create the prongs which will hold the warp in place on which to weave.
Extension
For older learners, the Royal Academy video can be used as a stimulus for them to independently make the loom and plan out more complex patterns, like the one shown in the Royal Academy's video. A further extension could be to investigate the patterns created in tartan. Exploring the similarities and differences between tartans, what is the significance of the different colours and patterns of them?

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SMC is grateful to https://mathsinside.com for granting permission to use the following images. Have a look at the photographs below.
What do you notice about the pattern in these photographs from maths inside? What do you wonder?
Talk to your teacher, an adult or a partner about the patterns you see.