Garden Math for Everyone

Math is everywhere. Especially in the garden.

It is easy for math teachers to stick with worksheets and a program without much thought. But then the dreaded question comes… “will I ever use this again in my life?” or “why does this matter?”

or “what is the point!?”

That is where educators with a keen sense for integration, creating purpose, relevance and meaning can come in and help students make big connections.

That is exactly what Professor Katy Farber and Assistant Director of Student Development, Institute for the Environment; Manager, Farm and Food Program Christine Gall had in mind when they brought 20 students from ED 325, Teaching Mathematics in the Elementary Grades to the Saint Michael’s College Farm.

On a beautiful and warm fall day, students settled into the picnic tables while Christine began to share with them her professional pathway to her current position, showcasing the many ways that educators can work in areas of passion and interest both inside and outside of public schools. Then she showcased how teachers can make math more relevant and interesting to students by posing the every day math problems she works with to run the farm. And there is math everywhere!

Math is needed on the farm to figure out crop planting; harvest and sale data; and labor, just to name a few daily ways she used it . She took the pre-service educators through an example problem featuring garlic planting, showing students how she figures out how many garlic plants will fit in a 50 foot bed, 6 inches apart, and in 3 three rows. Then she has them think about planting garlic, and how many cloves she will need to plant if there are 3-4 cloves in each garlic head. This is elementary math operations and concepts in action!

Students then helped with the labor on the farm by harvesting potatoes, which is essentially digging for treasure. The students lit up with excitement and engagement as they yelled “I found one!” and “Got another!”. It was joyful and helpful to the farm at the same time, and illustrated the big idea that time on the farm can provide integration, deep context for math operations, engagement and.. potato joy!

This is just one way educators at SMC can use the Outdoor and Living Classrooms to integrate, extend, and build deeper learning with students. Our favorite math equation has become: formal concepts and knowledge + formative experiences = transformative student learning!

Big thanks to Christine for having us on the farm for class, and for anyone interested in joining us for more farm math, perhaps with your K-6 students, please reach out to us!