“Our World, Our Numbers” – New Global Project

In our class we love to connect and learn with our friends around the world.

Today we are launching a new global project called Our World, Our Numbers.

We have a blog http://ourworldournumbers.edublogs.org where we’ll meet up with our blogging buddies to learn together for the next five weeks.

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In late 2011, many of us worked on an award winning global project called Our World, Our Stories. This latest project is based on a similar format with a mathematical focus.

Classes involved

The students are all from primary (elementary) classes and are from three different continents and five countries.

Mr Avery’s sixth grade class from Massachusetts, USA

Mrs Monaghan’s 3/4 class, Room with a View, from England

Mrs Morris and Miss Jordan’s grade four class, 4KM and 4KJ, from Victoria, Australia

Mrs McKenzie’s 2/3 class, B4, from New Zealand

Mrs Yollisí 2/3 class from California, USA

Mr Salsich’s third grade class from Connecticut, USA

Mrs Watson’s K/1/2/3 class  from Canada

How will it work?

Students from all classes will connect and collaborate by sharing their mathematical lives. This will happen through the blog and involve a variety of media.

A different class will lead a mathematical topic every four days or so, publishing posts and replying to comments.  The other classes will read the posts, possibly publish their own posts, and leave blog comments.

We will share topics such as currency, seasons, time zones, population data etc.

The learning

Through blog posts, the students will teach each other about different aspects of mathematics based on aspects of their own culture.

The learning will continue in the commenting section where students, teachers and parents will engage in conversations to explore mathematical and cultural topics further.

Students will gain an understanding of mathematics through the eyes of children in different countries and cultures. They will make comparisons and contrasts between their lives and other students’ lives.

If you want to keep up to date with how the fun and learning unfolds, there is a “subscribe via email” box on the right hand side of the Our World, Our Numbers blog.

Get Involved
We encourage all members of our blog community to get involved!
4KM and 4KJ are leading the first topic by sharing about Australian currency.
Head over to the Our World, Our Numbers blog now to check out 4KM and 4KJ’s post and leave a comment.

What do you think about our new global project?

Using Math to Build Kites

Last month we used lots of the math skills we have been learning to build our own kites.

This is part of a project we are participating in called Kites Around The World.

Click on the image to visit the wiki

Click on the image to visit the wiki

Schools from around the world have shared their experiences making and flying kites. Now it’s our turn!

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We built sled kites in math class. We had to use fractions, division, and careful measuring to build them accurately.

Here is a video showing how we worked together to plan and design our sled kites:

(If you would like to try making your own sled kite, here is a video tutorial.)

Making the kites was lots of fun, but it was even more fun flying them! Stay tuned for a post about our flying experience.

A finished kite!

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What did you think of our video?

Have you ever made a kite? If so, what was fun about it and what was challenging?

Do you know any facts about kites in history, or kites from around the world?