Hardhatting in a Geo-World

Posted by Cindy on December 5, 2008

We are having SO much fun with this book! A little break from the regular math schedule has turned out to include such exciting math and science that my kids are actually asking to do more.

Here are some photos from one of this week’s investigations….

Cylinder structures – Using various sized cardboard tubes and homemade paper cylinders, the kids had to estimate and find out how many books each cylinder would hold. Their estimations and actual results were kept on a data sheet provided in the book. We then went on to talk about why cylinders are so strong, why certain heights might be better than others and where in creation and the man-made world we find the use of cylinders.

I’ve also recently discovered a wonderful blog called Think! that offers weekly math/science/art related challenges for children. To go along with the math investigations, I gave the kids this challenge. Using only 12 straws, 12″ of tape and a pair of scissors, they had to create a structure that would hold an egg at least 1″ off the ground. No tape was allowed to adhere the structure to the surface or the egg to the structure. Fun!

Caleb’s structure.

Mahayla’s structure.

Today, math was in the form of a cookie baking day in preparation for our annual cookie baking and exchange party at my mom’s house tomorrow. I’ll probably post pictures and few recipes soon. Have a wonderful weekend!