Outdoor Math Project Based Learning

Do your students like to be outside?

Have you done a math project in nature?

Any time of year is a great time to get outside for a math project. Project based learning engages the learner in the process. It's a great teaching method for students to gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time. This allows students to investigate and respond authentically.

Math Projects also allow students to be actively engaged in problem solving. Students think critically about math content and use their skills to solve the problem. Let your students try an outdoor math project and apply their math skills to nature.

Outdoor Math Project Based Learning 

Nature is a great place to find Geometry. There are lots of 2-d and 3-d shapes to be found. Students can look all around their neighborhoods for shapes.

We took a walk in our neighborhood and found quadrilaterals, triangles, and circles.

Recording a flower on the Math Walk printable.

Allowing students to have creativity and independence is important. He wanted to find something in the shape of square. There were plenty of plants on our street that he found.

Finished recording on the Math Walk printable. 

Giving students time to finish their work and process information is key. Projects allow students to work independently on their own time. This project was easy to differentiate. Assigning only the pages for shapes on his grade level (Kindergarten) aligned to the Geometry standards for math. 

Students in grades K, 1, 2 can work on finding quadrilaterals, non-quadrilaterals, triangles, 3-d shapes, and fractions in nature. These are all math skills that primary students can do and are aligned to their Geometry standards. 

Students in grades 3, 4, 5 can work on finding quadrilaterals, non-quadrilaterals, triangles, fractions, and symmetry in nature. These are all math skills that upper elementary students can do and are aligned to their Geometry standards. 

Click HERE to download the Math Walk Project.

Students in middle school like to get outside just as much as elementary students. Fresh air is good for everyone. At my middle school we take a class break in the courtyard as a reward for good behavior. Students can easily use a clipboard or textbook to press on and complete work they would've done in your classroom. 

The Middle School Math Walk project is similar to the elementary except students are asked to go a step further. They find the shapes, attributes, and then measure to find the area, surface area, or volume of the 2-d or 3-d shape. 

Click HERE to download the Math Walk Project.

This picture above is of a daisy. The daisy has a circle that can be measured electronically with your phone or with a ruler. Using those calculations the area of the flower's circle was found. This math skill can be differentiated for 6, 7, or 8 grade. Students in sixth grade may only be finding the area, whereas 7th and 8th graders would be looking for surface area or volume.

Included in the Math Walk project are all the differentiated pages to help students complete their neighborhood nature project. This can be done at home or at school depending on your time limits. Students will learn to apply geometry to their own world and learn new math skills also.


Your students will enjoy doing a project that is creative, different, and even mathematical. Click here to download the project for your students.



Happy Teaching!

Closet Makeover

Do you have a hallway closet that needs TLC? 

That's exactly what we had in our 1970s house. A front hallway closet that needed some TLC. It was an unusable space that needed repurposed. We housed all of our cleaning supplies, plastic bags, and the occasional coat (before the bar fell out). We needed help to get this closet back on track and helping our family of five be more organized.

The Closet Makeover Plan. 

My husband created the plans for the closet to become a mudroom for our family. We designed exactly how we wanted everything to function from the drawers to the shelf.

This is a drawing of one of the two shelf supports. He created the drawings with the dimensions of our closet. Then asked me for approval before making any cuts. 

This is the original mock up of the closet. Originally we were going to have four drawers, but after the drawings were created, the drawers were going to be too small. We went with a 3 panel, 3 drawer design instead.

Attention to Details.

Everything in the mudroom closet was easy to medium difficulty for my husband. He used his woodworking tools to create everything inside.

The closet is narrow, only 56 inches inside with a 48 inch opening to the hallway. Each panel inside is 14.5 inches. Each panel was designed with two double hooks (for a total of 6 hooks). The hooks we purchased were a pack of Black 2 prong coat hooks here (affiliate link).

The bench is 56 inches long with a depth of 18 inches. We also hand picked and purchased the Black 4 inch drawer pulls here (affiliate link). The insides of the drawers are 13 inches by 15 inches to hold at least four pairs of adult shoes. The kids have one drawer and my husband & I each have our own shoe drawers. Our kids are 4, 3, and 0, so their shoes are small right now. We may re-evaluate drawer ownership in the future. 

Final Results. 

We are very pleased with the renovations. Our hallway closet has never been so organized and well kept. This is giving us momentum to start our next renovation project.

Happy DIY-ing!