“Maths Around Us” project
A project in which maths is used to solve real school issues: what has been calculated can be measured and checked.
Project goal
In maths lessons students often ask why they need to learn a topic. The project answers with a task, not a lecture. Students see that percentages, scale and averages help with everyday decisions.
Who it is for
All Grades 4–8 take part in the project. Once a month each class solves a problem based on a real situation at school or in the neighbourhood. The task requires collecting data, not just working with ready-made numbers.
How a month in the project works
Announcing the task
On the first Monday of the month the maths teacher presents a new task to the class.
Collecting data
During the first week students measure, count and ask school staff, such as the catering manager or the caretaker.
Group work
In the second and third weeks groups calculate, compare options and prepare a conclusion.
Presenting solutions
In the fourth week groups present their solutions to the class and check together whether the conclusion follows from the calculations.
Sample tasks
| Grade | Task |
|---|---|
| 4 | How many litres of water do we use a week to water the school garden? |
| 5 | How should the tables in the canteen be arranged to fit ten more people? |
| 6 | How much paint is needed to paint the ground-floor corridor? |
| 7 | At what time is the queue for the canteen shortest – and how can you back this up with numbers? |
| 7 | How much does one day of lighting at school cost? |
| 8 | What is the budget for a class trip with three different ways of travelling? |
Solutions are not graded. We assess them together in class: whether the data was reliable and whether the conclusion follows from the calculations.
Maths league
Students who want to take on harder problems can compete in the Zielonogaj Maths League. League problems are solved individually, but they are based on the same idea – maths in practice.
The league has three rounds: in November, February and May. Taking part is voluntary, and maths teachers take entries.
Outcomes
We collect the problems from past years in a set available in the library. Students and teachers use it.
Some of the solutions have actually been put into practice. The new table layout in the canteen and the change in lunch times for Grades 4–8 came from students' work.
The project in numbers
I thought the queue for the canteen was always the same length. After a week of counting we knew what time to come so we didn't have to wait ten minutes.
Andrzej Stępień, maths teacher – project coordinator
We reply on working days, within three days.