Enriching Mathematics

As a former Enrichment/GT Specialist and a mom of 2 kids that really like math, I am always looking for ways to challenge students and spark their curiosity towards math. Today I stumbled across one such resource. Nrich Mathematics is a site that is republished every month and includes free mathematics enrichment resources for students of all ages, including discussion forums and a mathematics thesaurus. The NRICH Project started in 1996 and is based in both the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Education and the Centre for Mathematical Sciences. Their website lists their mission as "The project aims to establish a permanent national centre for curriculum enrichment to provide mathematical learning support for very able children of all ages. The learning and enjoyment of mathematics are promoted through an Internet Newsletter and the participation of university students as peer teachers providing an electronic answering service. The centre offers support and advice to teachers, and resources for mathematics clubs."

Each month they post a newsletter on their site that contains mathematical challenges and information. For example, this month (January 2012) the focus is on math and sports. The theme relates to the Olympics and a collection of resources which show that math can be found in many different aspects of sporting events. What a great way to connect students to math...using sports. As students learn about math in sports, they are challenged to solve problems and asked to submit their answers. The site publishes student work on a regular basis to help make the connection that math is fun. Check out their site and share it with your students.