September 2024 MathFinder Community Newsletter

September 2024

MathFinder Community Newsletter

September 2024

#MathFinderMoment

Welcome to September! As we get closer to the start of the school year, we’ve been refreshing a lot of our informational content, including a new channel trailer for our talkSTEM family of YouTube videos – check it out below, and be sure to explore the rearranged channel!

Be sure to share your thoughts in the Comments section!

In future newsletters, we will be profiling your MathFinder moments! Please share your photos from the places you go (could be anywhere) and your MathFinder questions with us here or by using #MathFinderMoment on social media.  

Events 

Upcoming Events go here.

Partner Spotlight: Twelve Hills Nature Center

For this issue of the Newsletter we’re highlighting the Twelve Hills Nature Center, an organization and collection of nature trails dedicated to “cultivating conservation ethics through our Blackland Prairie restoration and nature education.” Established on five acres of reclaimed land in North Oak Cliff, the Twelve Hills provides native habitat for wildlife, education opportunities for schools, and gorgeous grounds to explore.

This school year, we’ll be partnering with the THNC to run a two-day STEM camp for students in grades 5-8. Campers will explore the nature center, work with educators and with each other, ask their own questions, and find math connections to what they observe using our brand-new educational app – spots are limited, so be sure to sign up here!

You can also view our educational videos at the nature center any time, in-person or virtually, using our interactive tour guide & map on Otocast!

Project Updates

talkSTEM Educator Dashboard  and talkSTEM web app for students

The new talkSTEM Educator Dashboard and web app for students allows for convenient use of our extensive MathFinder and walkSTEM video library as well as other creative resources at your sites and elsewhere. All videos are TEKS-aligned – make sure to sign up to access at talkSTEM.org/signup, and spread the word!  Let Koshi know if you are using the dashboard as we would love your feedback.

Research Camps

We’re happy to say that our two most recent Research Camps, held at the Dallas Arboretum and the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in May were wonderful successes. We held place-based STEM education programs at both sites, and received positive feedback from our participants.

We also have publicly-available content for both of these sites – follow these links to view information for the Arboretum and MLK Jr. Center, respectively. And as the autumn weather comes, enjoy walking outside at an app-guided tour of the Arboretum.

Conference Attendance & Publications
  • Dhingra, K., Walkington, C., Darwin, T. & Govan, T. (2024).  Math Walks as a Vehicle for Educators and Students to See Math around them. in press.
  • Sager, M. T., Sherard, M. K., Walkington, C., Milton, S., & Petrosino, A. J. (2024). Seeing mathematics together: A comparative case study of youths and facilitators collaborating to learn mathematics in informal settings. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 75, 101171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2024.101171
  • Walters, E. A. (2024). Teaching Physics With a Real-World Context. Edutopia. A Real-World Physics Project | Edutopia

In addition to the above, we’re happy to announce that talkSTEM is a partner in the newly-adopted K-8 Experience Science Program (Savvas).  As a result, walkSTEM methodology and content is being disseminated to students and teachers across Texas through the Program’s publications. talkSTEM is providing a free resource for all educators using this program on its Dashboard. Be sure check it out!

Other Attendance

talkSTEM has been busy over the summer! Here are some events we’ve represented MathFinder at:

  • we presented at the Gifted & Talented Conference at Region 10 ESC…
  • in May we were part of the Klyde Warren Park:Hope Starts Here 5K, hosting STEAM walk tours for runners and their families…
  • the Summer Conference for Richardson ISD faculty…
  • a webinar delivered to leaders from Math Circles from across the country, based in California, on developing math walks of their own…
  • and tabled and participated at the Moon Day celebrations at the Frontiers of Flight Museum.
  • In August, we sponsored and tabled at the DFW Science Supervisors’ Meeting.

 

Coming soon in September:

  • We’ll be sponsoring and participating in the Dallas Arboretum Educator Open House
  • We’ll be running a walkSTEM Quest, a digital scavenger hunt using the math and STEM guides we’ve developed for Region 10 ESC at their 2nd annual EcosySTEM event.
Map Artwork

MathFinder maps designed by Artist Julie McLaughlin are being completed. Here are the maps and we are excited that our partner sites are coming up with ways to use them to grow awareness in their communities. We hope these maps are helpful in disseminating information about math walks at your sites! Included in each partner site folder are multiple versions of the map, sized for social media, standard 8.5 x 11 letter, and other convenient sizes.

View these maps here!

Partner Sites Are Invited to Develop Additional Math Walk Stops! 

Any and all partner site members are welcome to use our video templates and tutorials to create additional shorts, with tidbits of supplemental STEM information or math moments that you happen to notice as you go about your days. Check out this recent example from talkSTEM Teacher Fellow Ana Sepulveda, taken at the AT&T Discovery District!

We invite you to partner with talkSTEM to create new math walk stops that can be added to the MathFinder experience at your site. These videos can be easily appended to existing video libraries or your site’s interactive tour map on Otocast. You’re welcome to use our new video templates or reach out to koshi@talkstem.org if you’d like support through that process.

View video template here!

In the Community: What’s Your Question?

This school year, talkSTEM launched a new campaign for educators on all social media channels spreading walkSTEM and MathFinder methods of place- and inquiry-based learning. Please post a comment in this weekly challenge, every Wednesday, and share! See the first post below for instructions and more details, and check out the example of our weekly posts to get inspired!

 

Partner Site Happenings

FRONTIERS of FLIGHT MUSEUM
Oct. 1 – Women Take Flight: Fashion to Fission Luncheon & Awards

DALLAS ARBORETUM
Sept. 14-15 – Hispanic Heritage Celebration
Sept. 26 and 28 – Dallas Arboretum FREE Educator Open House –
Registration is REQUIRED FOR THESE FREE EVENTS; ticket quantities are limited, one event per educator. Must have a valid education email. 
Saturday, September 28, 2024, 9am-1pm Educator Open House Family Day Register with your educator email and get up to 3 additional tickets to bring your family to explore the Children’s Adventure Garden. Stop by our VIP Teachers’ Lounge area for networking opportunities and refreshments and don’t forget to head over to the Main Garden to enjoy our world-famous Pumpkin Village.  
Thursday, September 26, 2024, 5pm-9pm Educator Open House Educator Night Bring your colleagues and connect with other educators while exploring the Children’s Adventure Garden. Enjoy food and networking opportunities while you learn more about what makes the Dallas Arboretum the best field trip for your students. Then, be sure to bring your picnic blanket or lawn chairs to join us for a Cool Thursdays Concert on the lawn from 7pm to 9pm. This is an educator-only event, Individual registrations only. 

DALLAS MUSEUM of ART
Sept. 21 – Art Workshop – Paint like an Impressionist

Podcast

Click here to listen to the MathFinder podcast on our website. Episodes 5 and 6, featuring Voice of Hope and Dallas Museum of Art have just been posted. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Music, and any other podcast streaming platform! 

Resources

Please click here to check out the MathFinder website! Click here to sign-up to receive occasional emails regarding Mathfinder news and updates! 

Spread the Word

We are grateful for your continued support and would appreciate your help sharing MathFinder with the larger community! Please forward this newsletter to anyone in your network who may be interested in receiving our updates. They can also join our mailing list here. 

Guest blog

Are you interested in writing a guest blog post for our future newsletters? If so, we would love to hear from you!  We are open to a wide range of possible topics that you could write about.  Examples include different MathFinder activities at your site, learning math in general at your site, your perspective on learning, etc.! Please reach out to koshi@talkstem.org to share your ideas.

Guest blog submission guidelines:

  • Word count should be approximately 250-500 words
  • Videos and photos are encouraged
  • Cite any quotes, data, images, or third-party content used

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