Math, fun make unlikely combination
Glow-in-the-dark fish, airplane toys provide inspiration

Milton Stateline School students on a Wednesday field trip to Harris Junior Academy in Pendleton experienced an unusual hybrid of education and carnivalesque fun.

With nine themed stations of elaborate color and design, small groups of students performed various activities while utilizing math skills.

For correct answers to problems, children received tokens used to buy prizes at the end of the event.

At one booth, designed with an underwater mural, children climbed through a gaping shark's mouth into a room lit by black light. Glow-in-the-dark fish and plastic sea plants covered an area of the floor, with other fish decorations hanging from the ceiling.

Students took turns catching fish with a toy rod, attempting to solve the math problems attached to the fish.

At the "library" station, students each took a small bag of trinkets and used the contents to help phrase their own story problems.

Second-grader Kyler Barnett used airplane toys for inspiration.

"There were 50 planes, 10 of them crashed, and there were 40 left," he said, good a token.

In another booth, painted on the outside as a beautiful lake scene, students entered to find a swamp-like environment. A green light and fog machine helped create a fun, spooky atmosphere.

Students at that "duck-hunting" station picked up two floating duck toys and had to add up the numbers written on the bottom of each.

Third-grader Matt Pope of Harris Junior Academy took his turn, drawing ducks with the numbers 86 and 70. After a brief mental calculation, he told his answer of 156 to the booth attendant and received a prize token.

Tenth-grader Stevie Cleveland was in charge of that booth. She was one of several academy students who helped facilitate the event.

With no cheat sheets or calculators, the booths also are a test of knowledge for the older students, who must be careful to not make mistakes when awarding tokens.

"Sometimes it takes me a little bit longer," Cleveland said, adding she also has helped operate the math fair for other visiting schools. "We have everything from kindergartners to seventh-graders, so you really have to adjust your math."

Laurie Hosey, Harris Junior Academy principal, began the math fair project close to five years ago while teaching in Washington state.

Hosey recalled she was bothered when teaching one seventh-grade student who didn't know her basic math facts. Incorporating math skills into something fun and festive seemed like a good idea.

After making a couple of booths, inspiration for new ones kept coming, one for time-telling and a "store" booth for money-counting skills. Built as mobile pieces, they could be moved to other places for kids to enjoy.

"Then it just got too big for us," she said.

Camp MiVoden in Idaho purchased the math fair exhibit and uses it for summer camps. Hosey is using it in Pendleton and inviting nearby schools to try it out.

She said she hopes to continue expanding the project to incorporate other skill sets, such as measurement.

"We're trying to make a booth that meets every national standard for math," she said.

"It's just so interactive," said Jamie Wallace, visiting first- and second-grade teacher, who appeared to be having just as much fun as her students. "Everything is big and bold and exciting, so that math takes on a whole new dimension."

Teacher's aide Colleen Nilsson commented on how focused the students were at each station's activity.

"This bunch of first- and second-graders are very easily pulled away from things," she said. "They seem to be very wrapped up in it."

Copyright, 2007, East Oregonian (Pendleton, OR). All Rights Reserved.

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