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Nature Numbers

Students can count on nature to learn math concepts.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    It can be challenging for children to grasp the concept of large numbers. Read a book such as "Pebbles and the Biggest Number" by Joey Benun, Brooke Vitale, and Laura Watson or "Hello Numbers! What Can You Do?" by Edmund Harriss, Houston Hughes, and Brian Rea. Ask students to identify the numbers they see.

  • Step 2

    Ask students to choose a nature setting they like - perhaps a garden, the beach, or the forest. Have them create a background for the place they chose, then ask them to draw 10 or more different objects they might find there.

  • Step 3

    Younger students can create math sentences using the items in their drawing. Older students can create a math equations; for example, 3 tomatoes + 3 carrots + 2 ears of corn + 1 eggplant + 2 bees = 11 items in the garden.

Standards

MATH: Analyze, compare, create, and compose math ideas using written, oral, and drawn lines, shapes, forms, and patterns.

MATH: Create models that demonstrate math concepts and attend to precession.

Adaptations

Ask students to create a number character. They can draw a large-size numeral and then add features that turn it into a character, such as Froggy Five or Alien Eight.

Sing a song together such as "Ten in the Bed" or "Five Little Monkeys" that has kids counting backwards.