Forests & Figures Introduction I’m going to be writing a report about how Forest Schools is connected with numeracy. This will be regarding information about how maths is involved with trees, fires, t-pees and obstacle courses. Height of a tree The measurement of a tree is linked with numeracy because you have to use the knowledge that you know about measuring. To measure the height of a tree you have to put your head under your legs until you see the very top of the tree but if you are unable to see the peak of the tree you then have to step back a few paces until you can. After that you measure from the tree to the person (in metres) and you’ve found the height of the tree. I was a confident individual during this activity because I was terrible at measuring the height of a tree in metres but after a couple of weeks of practice it really boosted my confidence. I was an effective contributor while we were doing this activity because I was able to work collaboratively when we were measuring from the tree to the person. I became a successful learner on this activity because I managed to improve every week on this measuring challenge. I was responsible at this given post because I double checked that I measured the tree correctly. Tree Age There are a lot of mathematical ways of finding the age of a tree. The easiest one is when you find a tree stump and count how many rings are inside the trunk. Another way is to measure around the tree and you divide it by 1.2 if there are trees within in six metres but if there aren’t any trees within six metres you divide it by 2.5. On some trees there are rings on the branches so you just count them up and you’ve got the age of the tree. I was a successful learner during this activity because I was able to divide by decimal points and I was able to measure by using a fabric tape. I was a confident individual because this task made me more confident in dividing with decimals. I was a responsible citizen in this activity because I always made sure that my division was correct. I was an effective contributor because the group and I were able to communicate and help each other with the division and the measurement. Obstacle Course An obstacle course was involved with maths in measurement and time. It was involved with measurement because you had to measure string and set out the course but the most important thing I learned from that was that measuring has to be very precise or it won’t work. The time that was involved in this activity was with a stopwatch because some people got allocated to be the timer for the people who did the course and once they finished it they sometimes had to say the time aloud so we could learn how to say minutes, seconds and milliseconds. E.g. 3.53.17 that would be three minutes, fifty-three seconds and seventeen milliseconds. I was an effective contributor during this because the group and I were able to communicate and measure the length of string without being in disagreement with one another. I was a successful learner because I successfully managed to use milliseconds correctly. I was a confident individual when we were doing the obstacle course because I managed to say the time it took someone to go around the obstacle course aloud. I was a responsible citizen because we re-used the string for other items like frame, tripod and t-pees. Camp Fire Surprisingly there is a lot of maths involved with fire making like grading measurements and shapes. One of the things is that you’ve got to make a tripod because that’s where all the newspaper, brash and pencil thickness sticks go. Grading is another thing to do with maths because you have to organise all your materials into neat piles. You also have to make a grid at the bottom of the fire. Another thing to do with numeracy is that you have got to cut logs into the measurement of the tripod. I was a successful learner while we were doing the camp fire because it was the first time I had ever made a 3D shape out of sticks and it helped me see how many faces, edges and corners the 3D shape had. I was an effective contributor because I was able to help someone out with the measurement of the logs. I was a confident individual because I confidently managed to separate the materials we needed by myself. I was responsible citizen during this activity because I made sure that the measurements of my logs were right and the string on the top of the tripod was tight enough. T- Pees The numeracy that is involved with t-pees is mainly measurments and shapes. The shapes are involved with the t-pees are 3D and you get shapes like tripods, cones and triangular prisms. The measurments of the wood has be very accuratein this activity because if you don’t the t-pee would probably be uneven and there is possibility it would collapse. I was a responsible citizen during this activity because I used my knowledge that I already knew about shapes and that helped get through this task. I was a successful learner because I was able to get the measurments of the wood accurate. Iwas an effective contributor while were doing this because the group and I helped each other out with the measuring. I was a confident individual because I was confident about making the shape of the t-pee. Writing Frame The maths that’s linked with this is measurement. The measurement that you’ve got to do isn’t hard but it isn’t easy. What you have to do is measure the paper first so you can find the length of wood you need. After that you have to cut the wood to the size of the paper, very precisely, and you’ve got a wooden frame. I was an effective contributor for this activity because I was able to help my partner with the measurement. I was a successful learner because I was able accurately measure the paper and frame. I was a responsible citizen during this activity because I responsibly managed to measure with wood. I was a confident individual because I managed to do a frame all by myself. Compasses and Bearings We involved compasses and bearings regularly in the forest. We used compasses by laying down some sticks on the forest floor in a circular shape and then we put North, South, East and West. We linked bearings with mathematics by making a miniature course and we had to put angles for the corners. Then we had to blind fold a person and they had to go round the course but there was a navigator. The navigator has to direct the person and tell them what angle of turn they have to make. I was a confident individual during this activity because I was able to navigate and say the correct angles to the person who was blind folded. I was an effective contributor because I managed to help my group. I was a successful learner on this activity because I was able to use angles correctly and I used to be pretty pathetic at angles but forest schools turned that around. I was a responsible citizen because I was able to help out my group if they got something incorrect.