{"id":5280,"date":"2025-04-07T15:56:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T15:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/mathequityforum\/?p=5280"},"modified":"2025-10-02T21:56:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T21:56:43","slug":"excursionsblog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/mathequityforum\/excursionsblog\/","title":{"rendered":"Excursions: Activities That Connect Students with Their Interests, Communities and the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Annie Sussman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 7, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWhen students engage with and make sense of problems and activities that are set in contexts that are familiar or of special interest, they have opportunities to see math as useful and powerful.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Russell, S.J. et al., 2023, p. 11<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There are many factors that contribute to the development of an equitable math learning environment. The mathematical activities that students engage in are a critical factor. Activities that are deep and rigorous and support all students in making meaningful connections between the mathematics they are learning, their interests, their communities, and the world, form the foundation. They support the development of a vibrant mathematics classroom in which all students feel that their identities are welcomed and engage actively and joyfully in learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When students make authentic connections between the mathematics they are learning in school and their experiences outside school, they see how mathematics relates to their lives. As stated in the Framework for Reflecting About Equity in the Elementary Mathematics Classroom<\/em><\/a>, \u201cthis personal connection positively impacts [students\u2019] mathematical identities and sense of agency\u2026 Opportunities to see their own experiences as part of the mathematics they are doing and to see mathematics as useful in their lives help students establish this connection.\u201d (Russell et al., 2023, p. 10.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in developing resources to foster this connection, the Forum for Equity in Elementary Mathematics<\/em> developed Excursions<\/a>\u2014freely available sets of related activities that encourage students to apply the mathematics they are learning to their own and others\u2019 lives and communities. Excursions are not \u201cextra\u201d work for only some students, e.g., students who finish work quickly, but are meant as invitations into mathematics for every student (Russell et al. 2024).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The six Excursions developed by the Forum focus on a range of topics including favorite foods, quilts and quilt makers, spoken languages, building a city or town, and temperature data. Students engage in mathematics that connects to the topic being explored (e.g. categorizing and analyzing data or describing, composing and decomposing shapes) as they move through the four to six activities that make up each Excursion. Excursions support students in making connections between the mathematics they are learning and a range fields including art, science, history or social studies, and architecture as they engage in hands-on mathematical activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the focus of each Excursion is unique, all are designed to provide every student the opportunity to:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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