Ongoing projects and programs!
At Strength in Numbers DC, we do plenty of worksheets (yep people -- it's public school!) but our driving passion is for ongoing hands-on projects that utilize math and leverage their interest in environmental justice (or ramen or football ...) to apply calculations that mean something to them. There's the long division algorithm ... and then there's PIE.
Our projects
Ever wonder how much food gets tossed into the trash at schools across the United States?
Compost Project
At lunch, we are learning about compost: why should we try to find a better way to dispose of food scraps? The math of it is pretty convincing. We will upload some of our math work and videos soon ... all with the aim of convincing a local compost company to partner with us. Our current estimate: lunch food waste alone at our school is likely over 1,072.8 pounds ... A WEEK. Not including breakfast!
Schools throw a lot of paper in the trash too ...
Recycling Project
For one month, we entered a DCPS-wide recycling competition. Until our six-member team of fifth graders made the effort, there was no recycling in any of the classrooms at our school. We are working on doing the math of recycling by modeling this crucial math question: how many trees are needed to make all our Eureka math books?!
Thank you to The Wild Gifting Project
During our study of the coordinate plane, fifth graders created a "thank you" banner to the extraordinary foundation that gave Strength in Numbers DC its start. Students identified the coordinates in the block letters they designed for the banner. Bling was added to vertices!
Standardized testing ... for teachers and students!
A key skill that must be mastered in today's world is standardized testing. Strength in Numbers DC is now tutoring DCPS teachers who need to take the PRAXIS exam in order to gain additional certification for their careers.
Coming soon: partnership with Open Goal Project
SAT tutoring for students served by Open Goal Project! insert web link here
Internships and community service for middle school, high school and college students
Strength in Numbers DC has had great success bringing in volunteers to help tutor DCPS students getting ready for CAPE standardized testing. We will continue to grow our program and handle volunteer logistics!
Ongoing Programs
Here are some of the programs that Strength in Numbers DC does on a regular basis.
Kung Fu
Okay, it's the least math-y thing that Strength in Numbers does. But it is a great way to get moving and connect with students, particularly those who are on the autistic spectrum.
Lunch Bunch
Students in pairs come for Lunch Bunch ramen ... but before they get to eat, we study the nutritional guidelines that talk about sodium content and tap into measurement conversions (milligrams to grams).
Annual Pi Day Celebration
Every year on 3/14, students hand-calculate the "pi" of different circles to see who can get the closest to the real value of pi.
Then we eat PIE.
