There’s nothing I like better than extending the walls of the classroom and taking learning out into the world…or at least outdoors around our campus.

And you might know, I love to take photos. I like to share my passions with my students, so I also teach my students to take photos. What could be better than combining going outside with math and photography?

We headed outside yesterday morning in search of odd. My students have learned about odd and even numbers and are getting pretty good at feeling confident that they know which is which (even as numbers get quite large). I set a few parameters for them:

• They had to take 5 photos–and only 5 photos (using their iPads)
• They had to find examples of different odd numbers
• They were to use a photography technique they had learned
• There could be no humans in their photos
• They were not allowed to move things to get to “odd”
• They could not take a photo of 1
• They could only venture as far as where they could see me and I could see them

At that point, the fun began. At our first stop on the playground, most students were immediately drawn to our wall ball courts and saw 3 right away. Many of them aimed their lens and took photo number one.

But then they started to notice other numbers. Some students found large numbers (by counting windows), some found interesting images. There was quite a variety.

I listened as they negotiated with each other about the number they saw. Some realized they had miscounted, others clarified their understanding of odd and even through conversation with a classmate. They looked up, knelt low, got close, and angled out from afar.

We returned to the classroom and examined our work. Each student picked a favorite photo to share–we are in the process of putting together a display of odd for our classroom wall.

I’m already thinking about our next math walk. Maybe we’ll focus on triangle…