Maths Week 2025 - Wild Maths Highlights

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 'Wild Maths'. It was difficult to choose any favourites, but we've picked out a few of our highlights.

Using Nature in Numeracy

Many, many schools took to the great outdoors, collecting and using natural materials such as conkers, sticks, leaves etc. to explore mathematical concepts including counting, place value, subitising, solving sums, number lines, number bonds, tens frames and more!

Weights & Measures

Estimating, weighing and measuring was another popular topic for taking maths outdoors - from sorting sticks and other natural materials by size, comparing sizes between natural objects, and calculating distances; to one one school who measured out the biggest and smallest whale, and how many whales would fit in their playground!

Shapes & Patterns

Schools got creative outdoors, using natural materials to create different mathematical shapes; patterns; and patterns and pictures showing symmetry.

Data Collecting & Handling

Several schools shared how they collected data from the nature around them, and created pictographs, bar charts and Venn diagrams to display the results. With Autumn approaching, different colours of leaves were a recurring theme in the data collecting.

One class, who attended the online DYW Live webinar with NatureScot about the Nature Discovery Map Scotland, immediately took their new found learning outdoors to carry out a plant survey.

Another recorded the daily weather throughout Maths Week, and created a weather chart with their findings.

One school showed particular dedication to data handling, not only collecting but first growing their data!

Trails & Scavenger Hunts

Everyone loves going on a hunt around their neighbourhood, so it was no surprise to hear about so many many of you exploring the outdoors looking for shapes, patterns, angles and numbers in your environment.

Outdoor Games

Natural materials once again came in handy, when schools took to the outdoors to play maths games, strategy games and logic puzzles - from noughts and crossed to the Tower of Hanoi.

Design Challenges

Various outdoor design challenges were shared, including making mazes (to then practice giving and receiving directions), designing shelters, building sundials, launching rockets, and creating clocks with sand on the beach at 'Shore School'.

Maths in Nature

Some schools didn't just take their maths learning outdoors or use natural materials to replace the classroom environment, but specifically looked at the maths found in nature - such as patterns of bird migration.

It was also lovely to see families getting involved too in Wild Maths, allowing parents to see how maths happens naturally every day outdoors.

Elsewhere, students took on a fictitious wildlife crime challenge in 'Operation Raptor Rescue' with the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at Dundee University. In the scenario, a local sparrowhawk has gone missing and students had to take on the role of forensic scientists, gather evidence and help figure out what happened to this missing raptor.

Indoor 'Wild Maths' Activities

Whilst taking maths outdoors seemed an obvious choice this year more than ever, some indoor learning activities also picked up on the Wild Maths theme.

One school explore animal patterns and created their own:

While another explore counting, measuring and sorting by size with a farm animal play set-up:

Wild Maths even founds its way in to art lessons, from the fish tessellations in the style of Escher, to paper animals created from shapes.

And we were also happy to see that our new interactive puzzle story 'Finn Finity and the Wild Maths Zoo Adventure' was popular.

Finally, Drumbrae Library Hub in Edinburgh had a week long art project, learning about symmetry in leaves and butterflies to create a collaborative collage.