We are grateful to our MathFinder partner sites and other partners who infused our open-access resources available here during summer camp this year. Our friends at the Dallas Arboretum shared a little about MathFinder activities during summer camp this year!
The Dallas Arboretum partnered with our MathFinder initiative during this year’s Great Contributors Summer Camp! Campers were able to explore our current MathFinder stops using the short videos throughout the garden and then create their own MathFinder Stop. Students worked in teams using discussion protocols and the Design Journal Sheets (found on the MathFinder website) to work through the creation process. This activity allowed the 1st-3rd graders to engage with nature in a real sense, instead of theoretical. They could touch the bark, leaves, and water, instead of seeing pictures of those things.
We were excited to see that 100% of the campers were engaged and involved. Campers exhibited engagement by asking questions, observing the children’s garden, noticing variations in flower petals, averaging seeds, and wondering about the growth process.
Not only the campers, but the staff had a terrific time finding math in nature and designing ways to answer mathematical questions with their peers, in a creative manner. We will definitely be using MathFinder resources again, in future camps.
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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