Math On-A-Stick returned in 2021

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After being canceled in the pandemic summer of 2020, Math On-A-Stick at the Minnesota State Fair was back in 2021. Overall attendance at the fair was down by about 40% from recent years, and that meant a bit slower-paced and less crowded Math On-A-Stick as well.

Nonetheless, children did a tremendous amount of mathematics, facilitated by volunteers who filled about 200 3-to-4-hour shifts over the course of 12 days. A large percentage of those volunteers were MCTM members, and nearly all of them were masked out of concern for the health of children not yet eligible for vaccines. 

What math did children do? A small sampling…

Arithmetic, spatial reasoning, argumentation and proof whileplaying The Circle Game, which is a challenge to fill a circle with bottle caps and tally up a score based on the sizes of the caps you’ve used. 

Reasoning about rigid transformations, sameness, and congruence while working on The Hexagon Challenge, in which children fill a hexagon frame with modified pattern blocks and we document each new solution. New in 2019, children found more than 230 solutions that year, and added more than 100 to the total this year.

Expressing the joy of mathematics in countless interactions from creative counting on the stepping stones to making patterns to finding 17 of something in The Number Game to appreciating the wonder of bubbles and hyperbolas at the shapes puzzle table for the youngest mathematicians.

Thanks to all who helped make Math On-A-Stick come to life in 2021, and consider this an invitation to join us next year! Math On-A-Stick and the fair run in the 12 days ending Labor Day each year, so August 25 through September 5, 2022. The volunteer sign-up site should be live in early April 2022. You can check for live links here: https://talkingmathwithyourkids.com/mathonastick

MCTM provides organizational and promotional support to Math On-A-Stick, with Executive Director Sharon Burrell and President Karen Hyers coordinating volunteer mailings, and Communications and Social Media Directors Jessica Rice and Jessica Breur coordinating publicity via MathBits, email, and social media. MCTM and Math On-A-Stick are grateful for the financial and operational support of the Minnesota State Fair Foundation.

If you have questions about Math On-A-Stick, reach out to Christopher Danielson at mathematics.csd@gmail.com.