Students learn best when they can connect what they are learning to their real life. So, I’ve compiled a list of ways to connect the serene fall season to your math curriculum, in order to engage your students and get them excited to learn. Many of these lessons can be adapted in their difficulty level in order to be suitable for various grades. Take a look at these fun fall math activities.
Measurement
Here is a great way to get students measuring with pumpkins! What I love about this activity is that it has students estimating first, and then measuring using a variety of units.
The first step is to have students estimate what the height of the pumpkin is. You can use any unit of measurement you prefer. This example uses linking cubes. Estimating could be done as a class, or in groups. (Taken from Under The Big Top)The second step is to have students measure their pumpkins in groups. Or, if measurement is still a new concept, you can model measuring the pumpkin. Have students record the results and discuss as a class! (Taken from Hummingbird Educational Resources)Here is another version of estimating and then guessing the measurements of the pumpkin. What’s cool about this is that students can then measure the length of the ribbon using a ruler. This would make for a great math center idea (set up various pumpkins with respective ribbons). (Taken from PreKinders)
Geometry
Here are some creative ways to incorporate your geometry curriculum into celebrating Fall.
Turn a pumpkin into a geo-board! Secure pushpins in various locations on a pumpkin, provide students with rubber bands, and have them create various shapes. Be sure that the push pins are very tightly secured. (Taken from Fun-A-Day)Allow students to create their own jack-o-lanterns using geometric shapes. (Taken from Learning Liftoff)Alternatively, have students make a scarecrow out of geometric shapes! (Taken from Chalk Talk)(Taken from Chalk Talk)
Data Management
Fall brings about such wonderful change; have your students track and graph it all.
Ask students to bring one leaf into class, and then graph them to see which leaf shape/color is most popular. This is a fun and educational fall display to have up on your class wall. (Taken from Creative Tots)This is an awesome way to have students practicing pie graphs and tallying. The idea is that they survey their peers to figure out which kind of apple is their favorite. They then represent the data in a pie graph. To make this more engaging you could have apple tasting before conducting the surveys. (Taken from The Polka Dot Patch)Get students talking about probability with this awesome activity. This works great as a math center. First have students make predictions about which colors they are most likely to land on. Then have them experiment and record their data. (Taken from Krazy for Kindergarten)
Number Sense
Since Fall has so many unique traits, they can be easily represented when discussing number sense curriculum strands.
Here is an autumn inspired way to represent fact families. (Seen on Pinterest)Students need to be able to represent numbers in various ways, and this is a great exercise for that. (Taken from Sunny Days in Second Grade)Use fractions to discuss a scrumptious pumpkin pie! (Taken from The Bubbly Blonde)
What are some of your favorite Fall math activities?
