One-Day Workshops

Please note that as of January 2006, the Math Momentum in Science Centers workshop series and project have ended. However, we are maintaining this website as a resource and a way to share our work.

Description of One-Day Workshops

Science centers offer wonderful learning environments for visitors to engage in math, but most have historically included little explicit focus on mathematics. The first essential step in incorporating more math into science centers—whether in exhibits, educational activities, or youth programs—is for science center staff to immerse themselves in doing, seeing, and exploring math and its role in science centers.

TERC, a leader in the creation and implementation of mathematics curricula and professional development for teachers, has designed a set of workshops on data, measurement, and algebra that are being offered in locations across the country in 2004 and 2005. These low cost workshops are hosted by our project's 13 core science center partners and are open to staff from any science center (including science museums, aquaria, zoos, children's museums, nature centers, etc.) and their community partners. They are designed for education and exhibit staff, and for those with a range of math backgrounds, including those who are mathematically sophisticated and those with little background in the field.

In these one-day workshops, led by a TERC math educator, participants will:

• DO hands-on math activities focused on data, measurement, or algebra.

• Discuss how people learn math and examine the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards.
• Explore how science centers can use math to illuminate science and provide rich mathematical learning opportunities for visitors.

The three workshops—data, measurement, and algebra—have minimal content overlap, so interested participants would be encouraged to attend them all.

Read below for further details on each workshop and for a current schedule of dates, topics, and locations.

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One-Day Workshop on Data

Collecting and analyzing data are integral to doing science. Science centers are filled with opportunities for visitors to connect with real data and to make sense of the scientific process. In the one-day workshop on data, participants will learn to find and capitalize on these opportunities and to integrate mathematical ideas and data into their work. In this workshop, participants will:

• Do math: Perform hands-on data activities and learn more about the mathematics of data using an inquiry approach; Participants will focus on capturing, representing, and interpreting data, describing actual data sets that they construct for themselves, and comparing data sets.
• Discuss mathematical learning, inquiry, and equity: Observe and discuss how people learn, talk about, use, and represent data; Look at data in the context of school math and the NCTM standards.
• Explore how: Discuss ways that science centers can provide rich mathematical learning environments for visitors; Explore an example from the hosting science center of how data can be highlighted in an exhibit or program.

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One-Day Workshop on Measurement

Measuring is a critical skill for doing science. Recent studies indicate that both children and adults in the United States have large gaps in their understanding of measurement concepts. However, science centers offer countless opportunities for visitors to explore measurement in rich ways. In this workshop, participants will:

• Do math: Perform hands-on measurement activities and learn more about the mathematics of measurement using an inquiry approach; Participants will measure attributes such as length, angle, size, and weight through estimating, catapulting, and visual perspective activities.
• Discuss mathematical learning, inquiry, and equity: Explore how people learn about measurement through their everyday experiences; Look at measurement in the context of school math and the NCTM standards; Examine why measurement is an area in which there are substantial achievement gaps in school tests and determine what science centers can do to address this.
• Explore how: Discuss ways that science centers can provide rich mathematical learning environments for visitors; Explore an example from the hosting science center of how measurement can be highlighted in an exhibit or program.

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One-Day Workshop on Algebra

Algebra is often considered the “gate-keeper” to upper levels of math and science and to many scientific careers. Algebraic thinking - finding, representing and using patterns, reasoning about ratios and proportions, creating and understanding functions - permeates math, science, and every day life and is increasingly taught early on in schools. Science centers are filled with opportunities for visitors to engage in this kind of thinking and problem solving.  In the one-day workshop on algebra, participants will immerse themselves in activities that focus on algebraic thinking, which will serve as a foundation for discussions about the place for algebra in science centers. In this workshop, participants will:

• Do math: Through hands-on, inquiry based activities, participants will create unique ways to represent music, develop stories that describe how a set of gears function, and learn more about what constitutes algebraic thinking.
• Discuss mathematical learning, inquiry, and equity: Participants will discuss how people learn algebra, look at algebra in the context of school math and the NCTM standards, and talk about how equity issues arise in the context of algebra.
• Explore how: Participants will discuss ways that science centers can provide rich mathematical learning environments for visitors and explore an example from the hosting science center of how algebra can be highlighted in an exhibit or program. 

Schedule of One-Day Workshops

Please note that as of January 2006, the Math Momentum in Science Centers project and workshop series have ended. However, you can learn more about our work through these archived web pages, through contacting staff at TERC, and through contacting participating institutions (see list of workshop hosts below). Information about the project’s book, to be published in the fall of 2006, will also be made available on this website.

Previous Workshops (chronological):

March 4, 2004

Topic: Data
Location: Port Aransas, TX
Hosted by: Texas Informal Science Educators Association & the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
Workshop Leader: Andee Rubin, TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. If you are interested in finding out about future networking or professional development opportunities at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, please contact Colleen Blair at cblair@fwmsh.org.

May 21, 2004

Topic: Data
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Hosted by: Mid Atlantic Youth ALIVE! Network & the New Jersey State Aquarium
Workshop Leader: Jan Mokros, TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. Please contact the host or TERC staff for further information.

September 1, 2004

Topic: Measurement
Location: Durham, NC
Hosted by: Museum of Life and Science
Workshop Leader: Jan Mokros, TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. Please contact the host or TERC staff for further information.

September 22, 2004

Topic: Measurement
Location: Berkeley, CA
Hosted by: Lawrence Hall of Science
Workshop Leader: Andee Rubin, TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. Please contact the host or TERC staff for further information.

October 22, 2004

Topic: Data
Location: Boston, MA
Hosted by: Museum of Science, Boston
Workshop Leader: Tracey Wright, Jan Mokros, TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. If you are interested in finding out about future networking or professional development opportunities at the Museum of Science, please contact Alana Parkes at aparkes@mos.org.

October 29, 2004

Topic: Measurement
Location: Miami, FL
Hosted by: Miami Museum of Science
Workshop Leader: Andee Rubin, TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. If you are interested in finding out about future networking or professional development opportunities at the Miami Museum of Science, please contact Cheryl Juarez at cheryl@miamisci.org.

February 3, 2005

Topic: Animal Measurement & Data
Location: Boston, MA
Hosted by: New England Aquarium
Workshop Leader: Jan Mokros, TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. If you are interested in finding out about future professional development opportunities or math programs at the New England Aquarium, please contact Rebekah Stendahl at rstendahl@neaq.org.

April 27, 2005

Topic: Measurement
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Hosted by: Children's Museum of Houston & the Association of Children’s Museums annual conference
Workshop Leader: Jan Mokros, TERC
Details and Registration: This workshop has already taken place. If you are interested in finding out about future professional development opportunities or math programs at the Children’s Museum of Houston, please contact Keith Ostfeld at kostfeld@cmhouston.org.

June 8, 2005

Topic: Data
Location: St. Louis, MO
Hosted by: St. Louis Science Center
Workshop Leader: Andee Rubin, TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. Please contact the host or TERC staff for further information.

June 28, 2005

Topic: Measurement
Location: Buffalo, NY
Hosted by: Buffalo Museum of Science
Workshop Leader: Jan Mokros , TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. Please contact the host or TERC staff for further information.

September 12, 2005

Topic: Algebra
Location: Portland, OR
Hosted by: Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
Workshop Leader: Andee Rubin
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. Please contact the host or TERC staff for further information.

November 7 , 2005

Topic: Measurement & Data
Location: St. Paul, MN
Hosted by: Science Museum of Minnesota
Workshop Leader: Jan Mokros , TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. Please contact the host or TERC staff for further information.

November 12 , 2005

Topic: Mixing Math into After-school Programs
Location: Ithaca, NY
Hosted by: Sciencenter
Workshop Leader: Jan Mokros , TERC
Details & Registration: This workshop has already taken place. Please contact the host or TERC staff for further information.