Math Chat: Building a Real-World Understanding
At some point, we’ve all had to estimate. About how much will these apples cost? Around what time should I leave for work? Will this couch fit in the living room? Some of us can do this with ease; others (myself included) find it tricky. But regardless of our natural abilities, we all have a shared, learned skill: the ability to make comparisons. About how much do these apples weigh? Is there any construction on I-5 today that would impact my commute time? How much bigger is this couch than the old one?
This is the essence of estimation. Physicist Enrico Fermi famously asked his classes to estimate the number of piano tuners in Chicago. This question seems impossible on the surface, but if you know the approximate population, you can begin to make a logical estimation.
Now, we aren’t hoping our children can guess the number of piano tuners… yet. But building the skills of spatial reasoning, unit conversion, and related measurement have important real-world uses. So, how can we foster these skills? Chances are, you’re already doing it!
One of my favorite methods involves building with blocks of any kind (think LEGOs, wood blocks, Magna-Tiles, etc.). Start simple: How many Magna-Tiles tall are you? Tell your kid to stay still as you line up the blocks next to them. (Pro tip: try using Magna-Tiles on the garage door or chalk on the driveway.) Then, we can use this measurement to encourage estimations. If you’re 16 Magna-Tiles tall, how tall do you think your sister is? How many Magna-Tiles will How many Magna-Tiles will we need for me? For our house?
Another fun approach that you’re likely already using is a building craft project. Building a birdhouse or a gingerbread house provides a great opportunity to talk about sizes and comparisons. You don’t even have to compare two separate objects. We can compare, for example, the edges of the triangles in a roof tile. What if two sides were long and one side was short? How would that change the shape of our roof? Could we make our roof less steep by changing the edge size? As fall creeps closer, try building a stick house with leaf roof tiles. They encourage thinking about comparisons… and they’re adorable.
Building also provides a great opportunity to talk about shapes! Consider all the shapes in your creation. Are all the squares the same size? Why is one shape smaller than the others? And what better way to explore all this than with a classic marshmallow-and-spaghetti tower challenge? (Note: for parents who are healthier than I am, you can sub grapes and toothpicks.) It’s so much fun, and it’s got a snack to boot! You can discuss the reasons why bridges and buildings are usually made of squares and triangles. Why do we do that? Could we make a building out of pentagons? Why don’t we use the whole spaghetti noodle between two marshmallows?
Most importantly, all of these skills are honed through observation and making educated guesses. There are no wrong answers, because learning to consider is the goal. It’s all about staying curious and exercising our brains’ logic. Remember, neither you nor your kid need to know the “right” answer. So let it be fun! After all, we all know that the journey is more memorable than the destination.
