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. Maths isn’t just for Maths Week though - many museums are continuing to run workshops or make their resources available throughout the year.
East Lothian
We kicked off Maths Week Scotland early, as the Maths Week team and Finn Finity headed to the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian for Science Sunday. In the shadow of Concorde, visitors could play maths games and puzzles, read together in the story corner, take our Sphero Indi and Code-a-pillar robots for a spin, and take the challenge to build a flying machine out of Lego.
The Museum of Flight also offers a Family Maths Trail all year round, which you can download from our website.
Behind the scenes, primary schools could also book in to ‘Museum on the Move sessions, where pupils help us plan to move one of the museum's display objects. Working together they solve a series of maths-related problems, culminating in a removal truck coding challenge. These will be running again in January, March and May 2025.
Edinburgh
There was lots of maths fun happing in Edinburgh during Maths Week this year.
At the National Museum of Scotland, families with under 5s were able to take part in a Magic Carpet Explorers Maths Week Special, where they discovered shapes, numbers, time and more through songs and action rhymes. Finn Finity made a guest appearance too.
At our big Science Saturday, the Maths Week team were out again with games, puzzles, books, robots and Lego, in the National Museum of Scotland’s Hawthornden Court and Learning Centre. This time, we were challenging people to recreate their favourite museum object out of Lego – Dolly the Sheep proved particularly popular!
Behind the scenes, Senior pupils tool part in a very successful Game On Study Day, learning all about maths and l game design, inspired by the current Game On exhibition. Primary schools could also book in to ‘Museum on the Move’ sessions, where pupils help us plan to move one of the museum's display objects. Working together they solve a series of maths-related problems, culminating in a removal truck coding challenge. These will be running again in December 2024 and June 2025.
The National Museum of Scotland also has a ‘World of Maths Trail’ available to schools all year round, which can be downloaded from our website.
The Museum on the Mound reported one of their busiest weeks of the year for their education team, as they were all booked up with in person and digital workshops. Their ‘Maths Money Marvels’ free digital workshop is available to book all year round https://mathsweek.scot/events/maths-money-marvels
Maths Money Marvels Workshops are underway! Children have been using their investigation, numeracy and measure skills as they explore different things people have used as money around the world #MathsWeekScot@mathsweekscotpic.twitter.com/LMNv4U5Tyk
@mathsweekscot continues at St. Mungo’s!💙🔢💚 Did you know that shells were once used as currency? We do!💙🐚💚 Thank you to Kaythryn @museumonmound for a fantastic session today all about Money!💙💚 We had the chance to handle real artefacts and ask lots of questions!💙💴💚 pic.twitter.com/jPmiYx7ADG
— St Mungo's Primary School & Nursery Class (@St_Mungos_Pri) September 24, 2024
Finally, Trinity House Maritime Museum invited visitors to discover how maths is used in a maritime setting, with crafts and activities for all ages on offer during their Doors Open Days weekend. And behind the scenes, Surgeons' Hall Museums were once again running their Forensic Science workshops for schools.
Fife
Fife was very busy in Maths Week Scotland too this year. The World Golf Museum were running their ‘Round of History in St Andrews’ Maths Week trail all week, where participants could explore the story of golf heritage of St Andrews through mathematical puzzles and tasks on a route around town.
In addition to this, there were also family activities available in their Learning Room on the Saturday.
In Anstruther, the Scottish Fisheries Museum were running their fishy themed Kipper’s Family Maths Trail throughout the week. They also offer a maths trail for schools, which is available all year round.
We’re thrilled to be taking part in Maths Week Scotland 2024!
Have a go at our “Kipper the Cat’s Maths Trail” as you tour the museum galleries. Join Kipper as he embarks on his first fishing trip, solving puzzles along the way. Suitable for ages 8-12.
For @mathsweek this week, we are celebrating all things mathematical and, to show that maths can be beautiful too, here is a lovely brass net mesh gauge in the shape of a flounder!
Try our net-mesh puzzle as part of Kipper's Maths Trail as you visit the museum until Sunday. pic.twitter.com/hPRvFwFzXv
And, finally, Fife Folk Museum in Ceres were highlighting Maths in the Museum throughout the week, inviting visitors to explore old Scots weights and measures in their historic weigh house where the produce of this busy agricultural community was weighed and measured in days gone by.
Highland
At Gairloch Museum, schools could book in for a special ‘Gille Dubh’ Maths Tales session. Students enjoyed maths by using a game based on Battleships, to find story characters hidden in the forest, story stones to explore the sequence and symmetry of the story and a timeline to help in recalling and retelling the story.
Scottish Borders
The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels offered free drop-in sessions for families throughout the week, with their Fun for Families: Explore Numbers through Play activities. Stations included a wide variety of games and puzzles ,from Montessori wooden games and Whizz electronic games, to 3D printing, stitch co-ordinates and more!
At Borders Textile Towerhouse in Hawick, throughout the week schools and community groups could book in for a ‘Telling Tales on Maths X Textiles’ session, applying maths to the world of colour and pattern. On the weekend, families had their turn with the ‘Telling Tales on Maths + Textiles’ family fun day, to explore maths through play, with colour and pattern. Activities to build numeracy confidence together included a wide variety of games and puzzles from Montessori wooden games and Lego Technics, to a giant weaving loom and so more!
West Lothian
At Almond Valley Heritage Centre, families had a whole two weeks, starting the week before Maths Week, to take part in the Trail of Plenty. Visitors could encounter maths in motion with the extraordinary waterwheel, powered by the Almond River, and unearth maths in nature throughout the rare breed farm and heritage growing areas , measuring, weighing and calculating their way through the ultimate maths challenge!
During Maths Week itself, ‘The Miller, the Baker and the Wheel of Good Fortune’ invited schools on a teacher-led visit to embark on a mathematical tale of discovery as the miller, the baker, the farmer and their rare breed animals readied the final preparations for the Harvest Festival.
Check out your local museum for maths events all year round. If you are a museum looking to take part and want to know what support is available, get in touch with info@mathsweek.scot
We have enjoyed seeing what everyone got up to for Maths Week Scotland this year, in particular the different ways everyone was inspired by this year's theme of 'Maths Tales'. We've picked out a few highlights to share.
