math and science storytimes

WE AREN’T DOING ROCKET SCIENCE…

BUT WE ARE HELPING CREATE

TOMORROW’S ROCKET SCIENTISTS

Math and Science at Storytime

Mary LandrumLexington Public Library

Northside Branchmlandrum@lexpublib.org

Why Math and Science?

Math and science jobs are good jobs!

BUT American students perform poorly in these fields, compared to their international peers

Early intervention can give children the skills and confidence they need to succeed in STEM fields.

What in the world are STEM fields? Science Technology Engineering Mathematics

How Storytime Builds Math and Science Skills

The story provides a context for math and science concepts

The activity lets children practice math and science skills

Math and science help children make sense of their world

www.mothergooseprograms.org

What Will We Learn Today?

1. Some basic math and science concepts

2. Some books that can introduce those concepts to young children

3. Some activities that will help children develop their math and science skills

EXAMPLES OF HOW TO INCLUDE MATH

AND SCIENCE IN YOUR STORYTIME

3-2-1…BLASTOFF!

Fingerplays Teach Math Skills

Many fingerplays involve counting

Other math skills Number sense One-to-one

correspondence Adding and

subtracting

Nursery Rhymes Teach Math, Too

“One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.”

“Baa, Baa, Black Sheep”

Recommended book: Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

Mr. Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham

Science Concept: Predicting the Outcome What will happen

when all those animals fill up Mr. Gumpy’s boat?

Mr. Gumpy’s Activity: Float or Sink?

Science Concept: Predicting the Outcome Will the duck float or

sink?Science Concept:

Identifying an Item’s Attributes Why do you think the

duck will float?

Lunch by Denise Fleming

Science Concept: Identifying an Item’s Attributes

Attribute: characteristic, “what makes it special”

In this case, the attribute is color

Don’t be shy about using the word attribute!

Sorting our Dessert—Candy!

Science Concept: Sorting Items by their Attributes

The color of the candy wrapper was our attribute we used for sorting

Counting and Comparing our Candy Stashes

Math Concept: Counting

How many suckers does Willow have?

Math Concept: Comparing Quantities

Who has more suckers?

Who has the same number of suckers?

Building and Construction

Math Concepts: Recognizing shapes in

structures Recognizing patterns

and symmetry Counting Measuring

Science Concepts: Understand the

different properties of different building materials

Building Houses for the Pigs!

Math Concept: Recognizing shapes What shape is the roof? What shape are your

walls? Math Concept:

Spatial RelationsMath Concept:

MeasurementScience Concept:

learning what attributes make a structure strong

Conclusions and Questions

These are only a few examples of a few concepts.

Seek out opportunities and resources for further exploration of math and science concepts

Public libraries as essential partners in school readiness

Questions?