How do you make math fun? The Junior School found a way to make math an exciting battle of wits – through a series of puzzles, games and ‘top secret’ missions during “Math Mission Impossible”.
Participants were assigned the role of either “spy” or “detective”. Dressed in costume, the students used their mental math and problem solving skills at each station. Some of the stations had ‘top secret’ envelopes with clues to a scavenger hunt or puzzle. Other stations involved climbing through a ‘laser beam’ (red yarn) to fetch a puzzle piece, or throwing bean bags into hula hoops and mentally calculating their score. One of the more popular stations was “Battle Ship”. Using coordinates and reasoning, the girls had to ‘sink’ the opposing team ships. They loved using the class phone to call next door and guess the coordinates.
With spy music playing in the halls, a few teachers also got in on the act. Acting as enemy spies they tried to capture the girls in hula hoops. The way to get free was to answer a mental math question.
The afternoon finished up with the whole school trying to solve a very serious problem in theatre. Apparently one of the teachers had stolen the cookies that had been ordered as their treat. All the teachers came on stage and were put through a series of eye witness statement and logic clues. After they figured out who the culprit was, all 300 students enjoyed a cookie before heading home for the day.
What a fabulous afternoon. It was a great joy to see all the students excited and engaged in mental math and problem solving. Make math a fun and interactive subject? Mission accomplished.
