Week #2

Hello everyone! 

          My name is Taylor Whitley, I am starting my fourth year at the University of Florida, majoring in Mathematics, and will be graduating this December! This is my second year working with the Noyce Internship program, and I work at the Florida Museum of Natural History in the Center for Science Learning under Dr. Shari Ellis. Beginning last summer, I started on the creation of a “Math in the Museum” program, where I created guides (pre-lessons, museum tours, post-lessons, etc.) for K-2 and 3-5 grades for the Butterfly and Moth Exhibit here at the museum.

          Fortunately, this past spring I was able to go into the classrooms and test out these guides. Testing out the guides was probably the best thing for me, as I realized that there was going to be much work in the revisions to the project. We encountered several things that we were not accounting for in the original guides: varied levels of learning within the class, mixed-level classrooms, and other differences that we were able to revise and work out.

          This summer, I am starting to work on a mathematics guide for the Megalodon and Dinosaur named Sue traveling exhibits. There’s not much going on, and my partner, Ashleigh, is out of country (I’m super jealous), but I guess I’ll just show you guys where I work: 

This is where the magic happens people, and notice it is complete with a cup of coffee--much needed!

          Seriously, though, creating the guides involves a TON of research and computer work, so my supervisor Dr. Ellis is always telling me to get up, stretch, and walk around the museum. Because of these breaks, I’ve been able to learn a lot about the exhibits within the museum!

          Once I really get started on making the guides, I’ll have more to share, and hopefully more pictures to fill you in with other than my desk, but as for now, that’s about it!

          Ooh, I almost forgot: I’m trying to take advantage of every resource that I have, so if you have any suggestions about math concepts found when studying sharks or dinosaurs, please share below in your comments! I’ve already covered measuring tooth size, how long the sharks are, and geologic time, so any ideas you have for any grade level will be much appreciated!

Thanks and see you all in class on Wednesday!