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:
Maths Themed Picture Books
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.
Maths Clock
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:
Favourite Maths Tales
Teachers also joined in with the book inspired fun, sharing some of their favourite Maths Tales!
Directional Storytelling
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!
Books for Buddies
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:
Maths Zines
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.
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:
Pi-Kus
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!
Song Lyrics
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!”
“Maths is falling, all around me, Children learning, having fun. It’s Maths Week, add and multiplying, Merry Maths Week, everyone!
Time for textbooks, and maths assessments, People adding, all night long. Time for maths sheets, and exchanging numbers, What a nice way, to spend the day.
We’re gonna do, some maths today, I’m going to find that textbook underneath the countertop and find my way to thirty..”
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:
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:
Famous Mathematicians
Finally, some classes chose to study the stories of famous mathematicians from history, including Alan Turing and Katherine Johnson.
Maths Tales Contest
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!
Finn Finity!
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. Share your maths related activities with us all year round on Bluesky with the hashtag #MathsWeekScot!
To celebrate World Book Day, we’re thrilled to welcome back award-winning Glasgow-based author Maisie Chan. Last year, Maisie joined our Maths Tales programme to discuss her novel Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths and answer questions from enthusiastic pupils. We’ve followed up with Maisie for an exclusive interview, perfect for those who missed the session or had more burning questions.
