Mayflower Math

By Julie Williams

Okay, it’s true: the Mayflower is generally a social studies topic, not a math one. But if you’ve got an elementary school math maven, we think the historical record also contains some great opportunities for number practice!

Here’s an activity to pull out for Thanksgiving, as everyone talks about the history of the holiday. You’ll notice that some questions are much easier than others, and that’s on purpose. We think that sixth graders should be able to handle the whole thing; but younger kids may also be able to do parts (and feel very proud of themselves in the process!). Of course, parents, you’re also welcome to “hop on board” as well!

What You Need:

• “Mayflower Math” worksheet (download here)
• Pencil
• Scratch paper for working out the problems (Psst: parents, you may be tempted to use a calculator, but we recommend some old fashioned pencil and paper figuring to help kids reinforce the math behind their answers.)

What You Do:

1. Before you even put out worksheet or pencils, try engaging your child on the topic of the Mayflower. Remember: elementary classrooms almost always include Thanksgiving books and activities, and your child may know more than you think. For example, does anyone in your family know how many days the ship sailed? How many people were on board? How many were women, men, or kids? How big was the ship?
2. After guessing, download our “Mayflower Math” worksheet and get to work. Don’t worry if your kids skip around—as we’ve noted, these problems vary widely in difficulty. Encourage your young mathematician to try lots of strategies, and to ask for help along the way, too.
3. When you’re done, talk about your answers. You may all be impatient to check right and wrong, but an important math standard is “reasoning”—the ability to track your thinking and explain it. Your math teacher will thank you for the extra care.
4. Want to check your work? Download our answer sheets here: Answer Sheet 1, Answer Sheet 2.

Do We Wear the Same Colors?

By AydeeSalas

Data analyzation may seem like an intimidating subject at first, but it's all in the approach; choosing the topic to analyze can make all the difference. What's more, getting family and friends involved in an activity is a surefire way to ramp up the fun, as the data gathering will seem like less like work and more like a game. Have your kid create a chart to keep track of the different colors that everyone wears. This activity is a fun way to hone your kid's observational skills and introduce the basics of data interpretation.

What You Need:

• Poster board
• Markers
• Ruler

What You Do:

1. Have your child draw a graph using the markers and rulers. The chart should be for two weeks and have friends or family members names on it.  
2. Explain to him that for two weeks he will be keeping track of the colors everyone wears. Each day he must write down on the chart what color everyone is wearing. To make it easier, have him focus on the color of peoples' tops. It doesn’t matter if they're wearing shirts, sweaters or tanks. Make sure he's recording the color of their tops.
3. At the end of the two weeks he should examine the chart and analyze the data he has gathered. He can look for information such as who wore a specific color more often or who wore the same color. 
4. Gather up his subjects so he can share his findings with everyone.

Aydee Salas has a MA in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College. She has many years of teaching experience and is passionate about early childhood education.

Study of Names

By Ellen Dean

Graphs are a way of communicating the relation between two variable quantities measured along a pair of axes at right angles. There are several different types of graphs and they typically are used to visually explain information that may be difficult to understand through words alone. In this activity, your child will get to practice creating a bar graph and pictorial graph after gathering data about the names of her friends. It's a fun way to begin learning the many uses of graphs for presentations and mathematics.

What You Need:

• White paper
• Markers

What You Do:

1. Have your child divide her piece of paper in half using the marker. In one section write the heading "Bar Graph." In the other section write "Pictorial Graph."
2. Under each heading ask her to write the question: How long is your first name?
3. Ask her to draw a pair of axes at right angles in each square. They will look like the bottom line and left line of a square, meeting in the corner.
4. The first section should contain the bar graph, have her write numbers 1–10 along the bottom and the side. The side will have the 10 at the top and the 1 where the axis meets at the bottom. Then, on the left side have her write, "Number of Friends" and on the bottom have her write, "Number of Letters."
5. On a separate sheet of paper, encourage her to write out up to 20 names of her friends and count how many letters there are in each of their names.
6. To begin the bar graph, ask her how many friends have names that only contain 1 letter?  If the answer is "0", she should leave that column alone. If she has 3 friends with 4-letter names, then she will create a bar to represent that fact and color it in. Have her repeat this process until she's created bars for each letter amount.
7. The pictorial graph uses individual symbols instead of bars to represent amounts. Have your child write numbers to represent the amount of letters in each of her friend's names along the y-axis, starting with 1 on the top and create long horizontal lines in between each number that extend out from the y-axis side. Then make one vertical line just after the numbers along the y-axis. (Our chart had 8 letters as being the longest first name.) At the top of the graph have her write, "Number of Students."
8. Have her choose a symbol or picture to represent each friend. (We used stars.) To conserve space, she can create a key at the bottom of the graph to indicate how many people each symbol represents. For example, one star can equal 2 people. Therefore, if there are only 3 people with 4 letters in their name, one full star and one half star would be the correct representation of how many of her friends have 4-letter names.
9. Ask her to complete her pictorial graph by drawing the right number of symbols in each row.

Backyard Bugs Graphing

By Sally Ann Stanley

When it comes to kids and bugs, there's some kind of magnetic attraction. While they may seem ho-hum to adults, for example, pill bugs have a way of curling and uncurling that can keep a kid mesmerized; while a ladybug can charm a whole crowd.

Want to take advantage of these simple thrills while boosting math and science knowledge at the same time? Try taking a walk outdoors with your Young Biologist, and give her some practice observing, tallying, and categorizing while you're at it. Here's a simple hands-on activity to try together.

What You Need:

• A patch of bug-filled open space such as a yard, park, or neighborhood garden
• Paper
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Clipboard

What You Do:

1. Discuss with your child the type of insects he'd expect to find when you take your walk. He may suggest ants, bees, pillbugs, and butterflies. Make a chart showing these insects, but also leave some blank spaces for any other bugs you find along the way. Place the chart on a clipboard so you can walk around and take notes.
2. Get outdoors, whether it's your yard, a park, or a neighborhood garden. Have your child make a tally mark in the appropriate column each time he spies an insect. You may want to add an “unknown insect” category to your chart, just in case you come across anything that's not easily identifiable. While you're walking, take time to observe the insects, noting their size and pattern of movement (flying, crawling, or both).
3. Make a bar graph to show the insects you found. List the types of bugs on the left, and then on the horizontal line, the y-axis, write numbers 0 to the greatest amount you tallied. Using your tally chart, help your child make bars to show the data. For example, if your data shows 4 bees, have your child draw a bar to number 4 on the graph. Continue until you and your child have represented all of the tally marks on the graph.
4. Discuss the data shown on the graph. Have your child tell you what each bar shows. Ask him which insects he saw most or least often. Explain to him that bar graphs make your comparison of insects easy and fun--and they're also a skill that will show up again and again in Big Kid Math!

Olympic Games for Kids

By Sally Ann Stanley

In first grade, students are developing their graphing skills. They’re learning how to record, organize, and show data. Of course, all of that can get a little dry. To spice it up, form your own Olympics committee and host The Olympic Games for Kids, right in your own backyard! Appoint your child statistician, and collecting data and showing the results on a graph will be serious fun. Let the games begin!

What You Need:

• Ball suitable for kicking
• Yard or play area
• Measuring tool (yardstick, tape measure)
• String or rope for a starting line
• Paper
• Ruler
• Markers or crayons (at least 5 different colors)
• Pencil

What You Do:

1. Set up a “Kick Ball” venue. Decide where to position the “kicking lane" and use a length of string to mark the starting line. Give each child five opportunities to kick the ball. After each kick, measure the distance and record it.
2. Set up a bar graph. This will help your child show and compare her results. On the x-axis (the horizontal line) label the number of each kick, using ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, etc.) On the y-axis (the vertical line) show the number of feet. Begin with 0 feet and then continue the numbers until you reach the number that is a few feet farther than your child’s farthest kick. You can show the numbers in increments of 2, 5, or 10. To create a grid, draw a horizontal line to the right of each number showing feet. Draw intersecting vertical lines to the right of each labeled kick (1st, 2nd, etc.).
3. Record results. Show your child how to make bars on the graph showing the distance for each kick. Let your child color the boxes of each bar.
4. Talk about the meaning of the graph. Compare the results with your child. Ask questions like, “Which kick shows the greatest distance? How do we know it from the graph?” (It shows the longest row). Ask which row shows the shortest kick, and how we can see that on a graph as well. Finally, show your child your preliminary recording of his kicking distances and and ask him to compare this with the bar graph you’ve made. Ask him which method of showing data is easier for him to understand. After you’re discussion is finished, be sure to congratulate your child on his success in Backyard Olympics!
5. Once your child gets the hang of graphs, you're ready to add more events to your Olympic games! In the summer months the long jump works well; so does swinging on monkey bars (How many bars can you reach in thirty seconds? One minute?); or jumping rope. If it's cold out, you could hold a snowball throwing contest or play bocce ball and have the kids pretend they're curling. Whatever you choose, keep a record and talk it over. You’re helping your child build crucial intellectual skills while using the power of his entire body.

Make a Winter Weather Pictograph

By Erica Loop

Watching the winter snow pile up on a grassy yard is nice, but investigating it is even better! Boost your child's science and observation skills by guiding her through this winter weather-filled project. She'll chart the amount of snow or hours of rain that have fallen at your house this winter using a ruler, measuring tape, or even her hands! This ongoing seasonal graphing activity will even enlist her math skills and organization ability.


What You Need:

• Poster board
• Markers
• Ruler or other measuring device

What You Do:

1. Discuss the season of winter with your child. Ask her to tell you what types of weather might be seen and felt during this season.
2. Use a dark marker and a straight edge, such as a ruler, to help your child create a grid graph on the poster board. Make sure that each cell is large enough for a picture or a number to fit in.
3. Have her choose what she would like the rows and columns to represent. For example, each row may be labeled with the month and date number, while each column might be for possible winter weather types. Remind her that it does not just snow in the winter. She will want to include pictures of snow, rain, sleet, ice, clouds, and sun.
4. Ask her to draw pictures of the winter weather types at the tops of the columns.
5. Observe the weather. If it is sunny or cloudy have your child note that by finding the weather type column and the date row. If it's snowing, try measuring the accumulation with a ruler or other device. Make sure that you use the same device all winter. Ask her to write down the correct measured snowfall total in the corresponding graph cell.
6. Repeat every day until winter ends (or until the chart runs out of space)!

Try making other types of graphs with your child. Bar graphs or pie charts are other fun ways to explore basic math concepts.

Best Children's Books for Teaching Graphs

Tally O'Malley
(story of a family on a road trip--
use it to teach tallying)
by Stuart Murphy
Kindergarten - 2nd grade

Less Than Zero
(graphing savings for a scooter--use it to teach graphing)
by Stuart Murphy
2nd grade - 3rd grade

Lemonade for Sale
(graphing lemonade sales
--use it to teach graphing)
by Stuart Murphy
1st grade - 3rd grade

Great Graph Contest
(contest to make best graphs--use
to teach different types of graphs)
by Loreen Leedy
1st grade - 3rd grade

Tiger Math
(learning to graph from a baby tiger
--shows real world appl of graphs)
by Ann Whitehead Nagda
2nd grade - 5th grade

Who's Got Spots
(charting chicken pox in a class
--use to teach why we graph)
by Linda Aber
2nd grade - 4th grade

Family Reunion
(graphing traits at a reunion--use
to teach different types of graphs)An All Aboard Math Reader
by Bonnie Bader
1st grade - 3rd grade

Tally Cat Keeps Track
(cat friends tally different
contests--use to teach tallying)
by Trudy Harris
illustrated by Andrew Harris
Kindergarten - 3rd grade


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