Math Mavens at Linden!


Posted by Admin on November 17, 2015 at 3:41 PM

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Students at our recent Math Mavens event enjoyed various activities involving math, science, and engineering. 

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Can you build a working chair out of newspaper? If you're a budding engineer, the answer is yes! These patient builders ended up seating three girls on their chair.

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One of the most popular attractions at our annual event is the "take-apart" area where girls use tools to dismantle old machines, including VCRs, clocks, and computers. This incredibly fun process helps demystify how machines and electronics work. Girls who have learned circuitry in science class or programming club were excited to spot components they recognized!

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Martha, one of our intermediate/senior math teachers, leads a fun problem-solving game designed to get students collaborating and using planning skills.

The Importance of Engaging Girls in STEM Fields

At Linden we know that engaging girls in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) from an early age directly influences their choice of post-secondary education and career paths. Girls who have confidence in their abilities in these fields are more likely to perform well in elective math and science courses. Improving girls’ belief in their abilities is therefore essential as they move from elementary school into middle and high school. We do this by encouraging girls to actively engage in their own learning and integrate their personal learning styles into classroom activities. Girls are more engaged when taught math and science concepts in the context of real world phenomena, using real materials to make connections between mathematic and scientific theory, technology, and their everyday lives. By seeing themselves as scientists in their own right, and each other as fellow teachers, our girls are eager to take on leadership roles while making and sharing discoveries through presentations, laboratory work, and debates. Math games further motivate our students and are used to reinforce concepts, develop quick recall of facts, and provide targeted practice. This is why even our youngest students conduct experiments in our science lab, participate in math fairs, and learn basic computer programming. As a result, nearly every Linden student who proceeds to our senior school chooses more than the required number of courses in math and science, making them more than well-equipped to pursue a wide range of STEM fields at university and beyond.