We’re excited to announce a new series of MathFinder educational videos featuring and filmed at the Twelve Hills Nature Center, a wonderful blackland prairie restoration project and gardens right here in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas! You can now take an app-guided (in-person) Math Walk or a virtual Math Walk at Twelve Hills Nature Center and enjoy specific aspects of natural life that is thriving there in unique ways. Why is that special live oak tree like a cave? Why does the yucca have a pom pom-like shape? Why do the leaves on the cottonwood tree rustle so much more than the surrounding leaves on other trees there? Explore these and other questions by looking at the plant life through the lens of mathematics. We use the theme of geometric shapes at Twelve Hills to go on a fascinating math walk with the goal of gaining deeper insights into nature and appreciating the space we are in even more! We invite you to ask your own questions as you go on the math walk we designed and share your questions with us on social. Now, for the month of March, the Nature Center is one of the 15 participating locations in the March Mathness Challenge – so you can earn your digital badges and win prizes each week by visiting this beautiful location. More information about this freely accessible challenge, open to all students in grades 4-12, educators, and parents is available here. You can also create your own Math or STEM walk – information is provided near the bottom of this article.
Join our curious explorers as we use geometry, estimation, and other Math concepts to take a closer look at nature and try to figure out where birds live, how trees grow, and more!
walkSTEM@Twelve Hills content can be viewed on the talkSTEM YouTube channel, the MathFinder video library, or on the free Otocast app, where you can also view maps and locations of the tour stops. You can also create your own Math or STEM walk in any location you are. Click here to download free guides for parents, educators, or students. It’s all really easy and we’d love to hear from you once you have created your walking tour. Be sure to share your photo and your questions with us on social – and tag us @talkingSTEM (Instagram / Twitter) @talkSTEM (TikTok /Facebook). Use #walkSTEM or #MathFinder.
Be sure to visit the Twelve Hill Nature Center in person too, for hands-on STEM activities, additional STEM walking stops, and even more information about the wildlife around us!
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL 2115393. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This tour is designed for upper elementary, middle and high school students.
Dr. Koshi Dhingra has dedicated her career to STEM education and is passionate about having every child live up to their potential. Seeing a lack of girls and other underrepresented youth in STEM programs, she founded talkSTEM in 2015 to address the imbalance. She has a doctorate in science education from Teachers College, Columbia University, has years of experience teaching in graduate and undergraduate programs, and has held leadership roles in universities. She advises and collaborates with a broad range of educational institutions globally. Dr. Dhingra began her career teaching science in middle and high school in New York. She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and two dogs.
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