Squeezing a Little Science into Your Math Lessons
There's a mindset that I see students developing over and over, and it frustrates me. It's not their fault, though, that they start to think "math and science are separate things." This perspective is really reinforced once they leave integrated classrooms and start moving between teachers for different subjects.
I totally disagree with this take! Think of all the great science advancements that have required crunching data. 🧮 Landing rovers on Mars, predicting solar eclipses, designing safe cars through test crashes... it's almost impossible to separate real science from math.
You can help fight this misconception! Weaving science topics into your math lessons also allows you to hit those science standards when you have limited time. The crossover between math and science is easier than you think - here are some quick lesson ideas to get you started!
🔢 Graphing: I saw an activity where students received eight pennies and placed them heads-up in a line according to their "dirtiness." This is a great way to practice making observations - the students are specifically looking at the reflective properties of the copper metal.
The students then ranked the pennies with a labels from 1 to 8. Next, they flipped the pennies to see the year. The info gets plotted on a graph where "year of penny" goes on the X axis and "dirtiness" (1-8) goes on the Y-axis. Great way to get students looking at some overall trends!
🔢 Geometry: this setup is so simple, but students can learn a lot about space systems from it. For this activity, each group needs a paper plate, a pencil, some gravel or rocks, and a marker.
Have your students poke a hole through the plate and push the pencil through it so the pencil is standing upright. Use the marker to make a line on the pencil where the plate is sitting.
Next, find a place on your school grounds that gets good sun exposure throughout the day. Students should weigh down the plate with rocks or gravel so it doesn't blow away, then trace the first shadow's length and position on the paper plate (it's okay if it is longer than the plate). Write the time next to this line.
Have your students visit the paper plate throughout the day to trace and time stamp more shadows. At the end of the day, you can break out the protractors to see how many degrees the shadow moved from the original line over time.
If there is a shadow short enough not to go off the plate, use that length and the height of the pencil to draw a diagram on the board where those two measurements meet at a right angle. Make a triangle to connect the two endpoints and show how the hypotenuse would be pointing right at the Sun!
Students can talk about why the shadows moved and changed length (is the Sun moving or the Earth?), and ask questions like, would the triangle change shape throughout the day as the shadows changed length?
🔢 Linear Measurements and Averaging: I stumbled on this activity and thought it was a great way to predict outcomes from collisions. This activity requires a metric ruler with a center groove and three marbles.
Students observe the transfer of energy by placing the marbles along the center groove of the ruler. Two marbles are placed near the middle of the ruler, while one is placed at the end.
The students tap or flick the marble at the end to send it rolling along the groove (but not hard enough to send it flying!). That first marble will strike the middle marble, then transfer energy to the outside marble.
Next, students can measure the distance traveled by the outside marble (it all takes place directly on the ruler, so this is easy!) and test out easy, medium, and hard taps to start the marbles moving. 📏
They should repeat their test strengths three times each and write down their results in a table to show the trial results. You can show them how to take the average of the trials for each strength of starting tap, and, if you have time, turn the data into a graph comparing "Tap Strength" and "Marble Distance Traveled."
See what I mean? No reason for math and science to live in totally different worlds all the time.
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