Published: April 02, 2009 10:27 pm      

Professors to visit schools for Math Awareness Month

April is Math Awareness Month, and in the upcoming weeks in recognition of that, Mountain State University professors James Hodge and Kerri Lookabill will visit local fourth- and seventh-grade classrooms.

The effort is part of the American Mathematics Society’s Mathematics and Climate program.

“Every year they have a different theme to raise math awareness for Math Awareness Month in Ap-ril,” Hodge said. “It gives us an opportunity as math teachers to share our enthusiasm for our subject matter. In a local sense, we’re there to encourage young children to sharpen their math skills. To have some fun.”

Somewhere around mid-to-late elementary school, students start to develop concrete ideas about math, Hodge says.

“They come up with a bias, one way or another. They feel like they’re either good at math or they’re not, and we want to somehow catch them before they formulate an opinion and somehow make a difference.”

According to the American Mathematics Society, one of the most important challenges is modeling global climate.

This year, students in several classes will participate in a Mathematics and Climate poster contest that will include such topics as global warming’s effects on animals, weather and human activity. Hodge and Lookabill will judge the contest.

Hodge says members of the MSU family participate in Math Awareness Month because “as members of the MSU family, we want to be involved in the community.”

“There are a couple of global goals. One would be the heightened awareness of math in the real world. And secondly, we’re tying the two (math and climate) together to make us cognizant of the climate and the impact of us on the climate,” Hodge explained.

Hodge and Lookabill also will teach children the importance of mathematics in real-life situations.

“Far too often they see it as two separate things — math in the classroom and math in real life,” Hodge explained.

“It’s all around us. It’s in the real world. As math teachers, it’s our job to show that connection, and if we’ve done our job, students will see it.”

Hodge is scheduled to visit fourth-graders at Crescent Elementary in late April.

Lookabill will speak to students at Mullens Elementary on April 23 and at Herndon Consolidated on April 24.

Mathematics Awareness Month is sponsored each year by the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics.

The poster contest is sponsored by MSU.

— E-mail: jayres@register-herald.com