2.29 Math Madness

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Program Connections:
  • Key to STEM interest badge:
    • Number Magic
 numbermagic
  • BC Girl Guides STEM Math Challenge
 BCSTEMmath

Gathering Activity (in their circles)

Opening

  • Circle Songs
  • Brownie Song

Discussion

  • Discuss why math is important. Name five ways we use math in everyday life.
  • Have you ever cooked anything? Recipes are all about measuring, counting, adding, multiplying and following prescribed steps toward an end result. Just like a math problem, only much tastier.
  • Do you go camping/touring/hiking/etc.? You need to figure out how many tents/vehicles/packages of trail mix/etc. you need. That's math with a practical application, which is always the most interesting kind.
  • How about playing card or board games? Games that require counting and adding, like cribbage, have very obvious connections to math, and strategy games like chess, checkers or Risk (to name just a few) take plenty of logical thinking. Jigsaw puzzles count, too—there is a lot of geometry and spatial awareness involved in putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
  • Clocks tell time, but only if you know how to interpret them, which uses math. In particular, telling time uses addition and subtraction. How much longer until school gets out? How long did I sleep last night? When's my favorite TV show on? And if you know how to use it, clocks involve what is called sexagesimal counting; that is, counting by sixties. There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour. So we think of 15 minutes as a quarter of an hour, for example. That uses fraction concepts.
  • Shopping involves lots of math. How much change would you get if you paid for a $25.99 sweater with two twenties? How would you calculate sales tax, or a 30% discount? Tons of math there.
  • Maybe you love to build things, so you decide to get into furniture design. You'll use geometry like there's no tomorrow.... How long do I need to make that cut, or what size should that dovetail joint be? How many square yards of fabric do you need to upholster that couch? What angle do I need to cut the panel by, to make it fit?
  • If you were going to buy seeds for your garden, you need to know how big your garden is and how far apart the seeds have to be planted – you will need to use math to figure out how many seeds to buy, then more math to figure out where to plant them.
  • These are just some ideas – we use math all the time, and we just don’t realize it!
  • Count the girls in your Brownie unit. How many girls have black, brown, blonde or red hair? How many have green, blue, grey or brown eyes?
  • Make a couple of bar graphs – one for hair colour, one for eye colour

Round Robin Activities

Active Game

  • game of choice, if time

Brownie Closing