Thank you to everyone who has been sharing on social media what you got up to in this year's Maths Week Scotland. In particular, we have really enjoyed seeing the different ways everyone was inspired by this year's theme of 'Maths Tales'. It was difficult to choose any favourites, but we've picked out a few of our highlights.
Book Displays
Many schools and libraries created book displays to celebrate Maths Week Scotland. We particularly liked this fantastic display from Buckie High School:
It's Maths Week Scotland! The Library and Maths department are running challenges in the library with all the S1 pupils this week. You'll be locating books in the library to answers questions - all numbers, then using these to do sums to break a code! Enjoy! #MathsWeekScotpic.twitter.com/sm0nN0ng1T
One of the most popular things shared, was classes sharing maths themed pictured books that covered topics such as shapes, numbers, counting, measuring and more! Children enjoyed reading the stories first, then following up with a related activity. The most frequently mentioned book was 'The Perfect Fit' by Naomi Jones & James Jones:
Other books that were mentioned frequently included Mummy Math, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Octopus Shocktopus, How Many Legs?, How Many Jelly Beans?, Molly and the Mathematical Mystery, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Counting on Katherine, The Three Little Pigs, Centipede's 100 Shoes, and Alice in Wonderland.
P3S have been learning Maths through Literacy and our topic this week. We read the centipede’s 100 shoes and took part in a bug hunt. We recorded our results using tally marks and are looking forward to using our results to create bar graphs next week! 🐛🐞 #Mathsweekscotlandpic.twitter.com/3lOnsOfBIS
One activity that involved lots of different picture books, was the clock activity from our 2024 Primary Level Activity Pack, using the covers of books featuring numbers to create a Maths Tales Clock. Whitecross Primary School shared their progress:
Elsewhere, reading stories and books wasn't enough, as schools got creative to make their own. Laurieston Primary School used directional storytelling for some problem solving fun!
Quite a few schools had older pupils creating maths books for their younger buddies (seeing different year groups working together is s something that always warms our heart). We particularly loved these ones from St James' Primary:
Creating Zines (pronounced "zeens") was also a popular activity, both with schools taking part in the online zine making workshops led by Mathematicats, and schools using the Maths Zines lesson plan from our Activity Packs.
Maths Week Day 2: S2 have been exploring Maths Tales by creating their very own Zine! Historically, zines were a way of promoting information before we had social media and the internet. Check out these colourful little pamphlets #MathsWeekScotland@mathsweekscotpic.twitter.com/33ELL5BMAK
— Shawlands Academy Maths Department (@Shawlandsmaths) September 24, 2024
Whole School Story
Elsewhere, Morningside Primary School came together, with the whole school writing one big Maths Tale together! Each year group wrote a different chapter:
Other creative maths inspired writing included Pi-kus, which is similar to a Haiku but with the syllables following the digits in Pi rather than the traditional Haiku pattern (check out our tips on how to write a Pi-ku if you want to create your own). We were particularly impressed with the Pi-kus from Clydeview Maths Dept. who made it as far as 12 digits of Pi!
From poetry, to song - some schools got creative writing maths themed lyrics to the tunes of popular songs. While no one took up the challenge of rewriting the Duck Tales theme tune (seriously, we've had that stuck in our heads since announcing Maths Tales in January!), we did particularly enjoy Bankhead Primary's “Merry Maths Week, everyone!”
— Bankhead Primary and Nursery School (@BankheadPrimary) September 26, 2024
You in Numbers
From creative writing, to more facts based writing, many classes created posters about themselves and the important numbers in their lives, with many 'Me in Numbers', 'My Life in Numbers' and "Figure Me Out' posters being shared. Here are two of our favourite examples that we saw:
— St Mungo's Primary School & Nursery Class (@St_Mungos_Pri) September 26, 2024
Maths in the News
Other facts based writing included pupils exploring the maths in news articles, then using their new found knowledge to write their own maths questions. St Columbkille's Primary Schools shows us how it's done:
As they are on residential next week Room 13 made an early start on Maths Week activities. Working with a partner and using a newspaper article they summarised the story, identified any maths involved and wrote their own maths questions. #MathsTales@mathsweekscotpic.twitter.com/EfQyn5lnA3
— St Columbkille's Primary & Nursery (@StColumbkilles) September 16, 2024
Famous Mathematicians
Finally, some classes chose to study the stories of famous mathematicians from history, including Alan Turing and Katherine Johnson.
We have been learning about mathematician, Alan Turing, and his influence on computer technology and A.I. We listened and noted what we determined to be the most important information. Great conversation about the importance of science, maths and gay rights. #MathsWeekScotpic.twitter.com/Vd6UUqTPjh
There was of course also a lot of story creating happening for our Maths Tales Contest, with many schools sharing how they were working on their entries. We look forward to reading them all!
We have been working hard on writing our Finn Finity stories and comics in room 6. Here is a preview of our very own maths tales. We can’t wait for you to read them! #MathsWeekScotpic.twitter.com/A81Bp0tlYn
Last but not least, a shout out to our mathscot of the moment, who got a lot of attention during Maths Week! We hope it hasn't gone to his head... Finn Finity is absolutely delighted with all the fan art that has been shared, and we are planning to put together a wee gallery on our website once we've had the chance to catch our breath. But here is one of our favourite drawings from the week - a giant chalk art created by Hollie from Langbank Primary.
Thank you again for every single message that was shared with us. Like we said, it was difficult to choose highlights, so this is just a small insight in to everything that took place during Maths Week. Keep sharing your maths related activities with us all year round on Twitter with the hashtag #MathsWeekScot!
For Scottish Museums Day (3 October) we’ve rounded up some of our favourite activities from museums from across the country, from this year's Maths Week Scotland.
