This month we have been lucky to have the Olympics spark a series of questions in the neighbourhood. As we have closely followed along, both at home and at school, the children have been exposed to a wide range of real world learning, in particular real world mathematics.

Our PHN new room is going to TOKYO! That’s the hub for the Olympics so our news has to go there as well. – Kiko

With news moving fast, our students have been updating and adjusting the Olympic Medal tally, working collaboratively to document and display numbers. The teachers posed a series of questions including How do we show our community the numbers in a way that makes sense? And How can we highlight the most important numbers through our reporting?

The medal tally is important but it does not tell the whole story. Maybe some countries have more people so it is easier for them to get medals? –  Esme

We can see the Olympic timeline. I know the Olympics happens every four years so we can count by fours. – Claudia I.

As the numbers have been changing, children have been exploring statistics and storytelling. Using the numbers as a framework to explain their news reports, but including follow up information to share the key details.

Along with our PHNT, we joined with the other 1/2 students to have some hands-on experience participating in a range of Olympic Sports and most importantly measuring, tracking, recording and documenting results using mathematics in real time.

This experience has also opened up opportunities for other learning, such as grid mapping, directions, coordinates, and time. We look forward to continuing our mathematical journey inspired by the olympics