Week #9 Blog

How to Make Math Meaningful!

Hi everyone,

What an exciting time of the year, Halloween has passed and Christmas is about 5 weeks away! Keep pushing, you can do this. 

What is geometry and spatial sense? 

Last week our class learned about geometry and spatial sense. This is one of my favourite strands of mathematics because of the interconnectedness of curriculum context to the world. 

Spatial sense is known as "the intuitive awareness of one’s surroundings and the objects in them, while geometry helps us represent and describe objects and their interrelationships in space" (OME, 2005, pg. 10). With this, I learned that spatial reasoning is a key concept in mathematics that is essential when making real-world connections. Students should be able to apply spatial sense to many aspects of life, such as navigating, orienting, manipulating objects, creating or designing objects, moving one's body in space, and many other area's (Ministry of Education, 2014, pg. 4). 

(Melson, 2018). 

Spatial sense is a key concept of mathematics that is required for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Now, the acronym STEM has changed to incorporate an A as in arts, to make it S.T.E.A.M. Moreover, spatial sense is just as important in other areas of field work, such as architecture, graphic design, computer science, biology, physics, chemistry, geology, geography, and even medical sciences. Therefore, as an educator, teaching spatial sense is not only necessary for meeting curriculum expectations, however, it is an important concept that is considered a predictor of success in life.

Amazon, n.d.

How is this important?

Well, as previously learned about, geometry and spatial sense are important mathematical concepts to consider when looking at 2-D and 3-D shapes. When making real-world connections we see geometry and spatial sense in many aspects of our lives. As already mentioned, geometry can be seen in art, architecture, astronomy and physics, and even geographic information systems (Mehta, 2018). 

Geometry & Spatial Sense in the Classroom

Recently, in my placement, we used geometry to determine coordinates on a graph that made up a shape (i.e., rectangle, square, triangle, irregular shapes, and others). These made all the shapes come together to make a Halloween character. Not only does this type of activity involve geometry and spatial sense however, number sense is important for understanding the values given, measurement is important in being able to count how many squares you need to go horizontally or vertically when given a coordinate point, and patterning and algebra is used to identify and determine patterns in shapes, designs and movements. Additionally, in the junior grades, students are expected to use graphs, as the class did for this activity. The example that was used from class is attached below.

Teachers Pay Teachers, n.d.

This activity was quite enjoyable for the students, and they learned about mathematics in the process. This activity was found on the website Teachers Pay Teachers, which is a valuable resource when trying to find other handouts that help develop students learning while keeping them interested. Also, when taking a look at the website, I found handouts for Christmas too that could be useful when the time comes, as well as fun to participate in. Overall, I really liked helping the students with this math activity because they were extremely engaged and could barely put down the work when asked too. 

Where is My Phone Charger?

During one of the classes, a specific presentation stood out to me because of the opportunity the student took to put a spin on the learning activity. Instead of taking the activity straight from the textbook Making Math Meaningful, this student used the activity and added a component of real-life applications, for students to make connections. The activity consisted of using geometric transformation, reflection, rotation, and translation to find a "shape" that was considered the missing phone charger. This activity was interesting, interactive, and made math meaningful in a sense that the students could relate and apply it, well done. 

Finally, I am looking forward to the rest of the semester and cannot wait to implement my learning from this class into my future teaching practices.

Resources:
Amazon (n.d.). 2D & 3D Shapes-Educational Poster. Retrieved fromhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/2D-3D-Shapes-Educational-Poster/dp/B000PHB2GY

Mehta, M. (October 4, 2018). Bytes: Use of Geometry in Daily Life. Retrieved from https://www.toppr.com/bytes/geometry-in-daily-life/

Melson, K. (2018, February 11). KTSM:Young Women’s STEAM Academy hosts open houses for prospective students. Retrieved from https://www.ktsm.com/news/young-womens-steam-academy-hosts-open-houses-for-prospective-students/
Ministry of Education (2014). Paying Attention to Spatial Reasoning: K-12. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/lnspayingattention.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education (2005). The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8: Mathematics. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/math18curr.pdf

Teachers Pay Teachers (n.d.). Halloween Math Coordinate Graphing Pictures Ordered Pairs - Halloween Activities. Retrieved from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Math-Coordinate-Graphing-Pictures-Ordered-Pairs-Halloween-Activities-1469797