Mathematics is one of the subjects studied in school that is considered the most challenging by many students. Indeed, it is a complex subject that only builds upon previous math knowledge and if you do not have solid basic knowledge, it is easy to find yourself lost and overwhelmed by the problems and exercises you have to complete.
As an educator, you know this too well. You have probably seen so many students that are stressed by math but you also understand the utter importance of having basic math knowledge. Math is the basis of everything.
It can sometimes turn out to be challenging, but students can get Plain math help in a really surprising way by having familiarized with the literature reviewed on the site, examples of solutions to various mathematical problems. Even though you might not use complex math concepts in every career, they all need math knowledge.
Business, finance, computer science, technology development, and even fields that are humane such as psychology or sociology need math. Math is present in music but in art too and it comes with the proportions that create beauty and incredible works of art.
So, as an educator who understands too well the importance of math, you are probably thinking about ways you can instill a passion for math in your students. Of course, not all will like math, but it is essential to just relieve a part of the math anxiety they might feel. Math can be taught not only in class but outside class too. And you can encourage your students to learn more about math concepts by organizing mathematics trips. You can start with a science tour or math field trips, but either way, you need to offer your students the possibility of discovering math outside the traditional educational setting too.
If you have decided to organize a math-themed trip, then you might have already started looking for places to visit with the class. In fact, there are a few of them that will help you introduce your students to the amazing world of math and science and develop their affection for math. Here are some of the places you should consider for your math-themed trip.
1. National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) New York
This is one of the most amazing museums you can take your class to. Math is a complex subject and not all students love it. They might not be open to visiting places or museums about math, but this is not an ordinary one. It is a museum that could help you instill a passion for math in your students and that can foster math learning.
As they will not see here formulas or anything like this, but how math is present in our lives and how it helped us evolve and discover new things. It is about learning math in an interactive way and it can turn out to be a really nice experience for the whole class. Students can discover the Tessellation Station, where they can easily build their own patterns and displays. On top of this, they can interact with robots and make their own fractal systems, which is a great introduction to the world of math and science.
Many students fail to understand the utter importance math has in our lives. They see it only as complex formulas and geometric shapes, but math is present in science too, for example. It is present in physics, chemistry, and biology and they will discover anything about this during this trip.
They can even have the experience of riding a tricycle or just learn about acceleration and velocity. Math is everywhere and it helps us evolve tremendously. It is the basis of all discoveries and inventions and the National Museum of Mathematics in New York helps you, as an educator, send this idea to your students.
2. Legoland, Windsor Resort
This could turn out to be a really engaging field trip for your class. Math is not only about formulas. Students mostly see only this. But math helps you develop your critical thinking and spatial reasoning, and it boosts decision-making skills.
At Legoland, there are a lot of workshops you can encourage your students to be part of. They can build trains, and cars, but also huge buildings. This is a nice way to make your students love math, especially as it is a funny and interactive way to do it.
Building things with Lego pieces has always been a nice way to relax. And when you are relaxed, you are more open to other ideas and you learn faster. So, this is another place you can go to for your math-themed trip with the whole class to help them improve their math-related skills. Skills that will be essential and helpful not only in math classes but others too.
And in their future career and personal life too. Decision-making, spatial reasoning, and analytical skills are just a few of the life skills people need to succeed. And if students can boost them while they are having fun, they will start understanding the importance of math in everyday life.
3. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Astronomy is a fascinating science that catches the attention of everyone, especially students. Discovering new planets and stars or just how the Earth works are just a few of the things your class will learn during a visit to The Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
They also organize all kinds of workshops that introduce students to the secrets of astronomy, which would have not been possible without math. Many of these workshops can be organized for school trips at your request, so it would be a nice idea to have some options for your class when you pay them a visit.
4. Bank of England Museum, London
As mentioned above, math is present in every field and domain. Students mostly see it as a boring class they do not like, but they need basic math knowledge in their careers and personal life, no matter their choices. Math plays a key role in finance and as adults, they will need to know how to manage their finances.
The Bank of England Museum in London has free entry for everyone, so this would be a really nice place to go for your math-themed trip with the whole class. They have a lot of activities and workshops that help students understand more about how banks work. But it is also a nice trip and activity that could teach them the value of money as they will need to be financially stable in their adult life.
5. The Garden of Archimedes, Florence
The Garden of Archimedes in Florence is a mathematics museum whose aim is to increase people’s understanding of mathematics. Not all have a good perception of it but it played and still plays a key role in human evolution. What you should know about this museum is that it has been compared with the National Museum of Mathematics in New York, which is the only museum dedicated to math in the United States of America.
Math comes up with infinite possibilities, so it is crucial for students to understand this and assess the positive benefits of learning math. The Garden of Archimedes is a museum that has many sections that are suited for adults and children and that help them discover the value of math.
For example, you can visit the Beyond Compasses section where you can all explore how math is concealed in objects you use in your daily life. There is another section that helps students understand the value of the Pythagorean theorem through interactive puzzles and games.
They can also discover more about the history of math and some of the most well-known mathematicians, such as Leonardo Fibonacci. There are a lot of fascinating sections you can visit where the whole class can delve more into captivating topics such as pink numbers, mechanics, and many more.
Final Thoughts
Math is not a subject many students love. In fact, math anxiety has hit an all-time high, as students feel stressed and overwhelmed by all the complex problems and theorems they need to learn. But learning math comes with a lot of benefits.
It helps students boost their problem-solving, decision-making, reasoning, and analytical skills tremendously, skills that are essential for their future careers too. A math-themed class would help you introduce students to the fascinating universe of math and these are some of the places you should add to your list.