2
e
Ma
th
ur
i n N at
Teacher
Resource Guide
for K–2 classrooms
Math in Nature: an engaging and delightful introduction to
cross-curricular concepts for the primary grades
This series invites children to journey into the natural world — a world
they love to discover and could explore endlessly — to find not only
science but math, language arts, and visual arts, too! Written by
Lizann Flatt, a former chickaDEE Magazine editor and author of
several children’s books, and using illustrated cut-paper collage
art by Ashley Barron, the Math in Nature series is a veritable
cross-curricular goldmine.
This educator’s companion to Sorting through Spring, the
second book in the series, contains unintimidating and
enticing ways to introduce key concepts to the students
in your K–2 classrooms — they will laugh, use their
imaginations, and learn through these activities,
which are all inspired by the book.
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
Pitter Patter: Patterning and Grouping Activities
In nature, patterns often repeat: the petals of a flower, the scales on a fish, or the segments of
an orange are some examples. As you work through these activities, prompt your students to
think about other patterns that occur in nature.
Sounds make patterns, too. Rhyming words, for instance, repeat similar sounds, and syllables
can mark out a repeating pattern in their rhythms.
The word “random” is probably a difficult word for students to define. (As is the opposite
of random, which is deliberate or with reason or a plan.) It is likely, however, that students
intuitively understand the idea of randomness. These activities should help clarify the concept.
Random Raindrops
What if raindrops weren’t random
What you need:
dropping down from the sky?
What if rain had a rhythm,
or a beat to repeat?
• Small counters or small
Do you think that math matters to the animals and plants?
What if nature knew numbers like you?
pieces of paper in two colors
Let’s look at the spring.
Imagine what patterns and sorting could do! • Art supplies
What to do:
1. Read the opening page of Sorting through Spring aloud to your class. Ask students to
explain what they think the word “random” means.
2. Ask students for a word or phrase that describes the opposite of random (e.g., made in
a pattern, made with a plan).
3. As a class demonstration or in small groups, use the counters to show
randomness (e.g., toss them on the table). Then use the counters to show a deliberate
pattern.
4. Have students describe natural phenomena that seem random (leaves falling) and those
that seem deliberate (how petals are arranged in a flower).
5. As a class or in small groups, have students describe whether the artist has drawn
the raindrops randomly or in a pattern. Have students redraw page 3 of Sorting through
Spring with the raindrops placed randomly.
Curriculum: Mathematics, Language Arts, Visual Arts
Learning Outcomes: Comparing, Describing
Grouping: Small Groups, Whole Class
2
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
Pattern Play
What you need:
• Reproducible Page 11
As more raindrops flop to the plop drop plop-plop,
they gather in muddled wet, rhythmic rain huddles
• 3 different colors of paper
while worms wiggle around on the ground.
Do you see a pattern to
the worms on the ground?
Plop drop plop-plop. Plop drop plop-plop.
Could that steady wet sound
awaken worms underground?
Can you make up a
clapping rhythm for rain?
What to do:
1. Use a variety of classroom objects to give examples of a pattern that repeats.
2. Take a closer look at the worms on pages 5–6 in Sorting through Spring. Ask students to
describe the pattern of the worms (partially buried, not buried, partially buried, not buried, etc.)
3. Review the patterns on pages 12–13 and 14–15.
4. Use the reproducible provided in this guide to make flowers of three different colors.
5. Give 9 flowers to each student, 3 of each color.
6. Have students create a repeating pattern. For example, ABC, ABC, ABC or AAA, BBB, CCC.
(For very young students, use only 2 elements: AB, AB, AB, AB, or AA, BB, AA, BB.)
7. Have the students share their pattern with another student. Were their patterns the same
or different?
8. Create patterns with other objects (e.g., with students in a lineup — boy, girl, boy, girl, etc.,
or beads on a string).
Curriculum: Mathematics
Learning Outcomes: Creating, Identifying, and Describing Patterns
Grouping: Small Groups, Individual
Adding Patterns
What you need:
Would the smelt in their schools
learn about pattern rules?
• Blank sheet of paper
Can you see two
pattern rules here? • Art supplies
What to do:
1. As a class, discuss the pattern of the fish on pages 10–11 of Sorting through Spring. Have
students tell you the number of fish in each group and write the numbers on the board. Students
should see that the pattern increases by 2 with each group. Continue counting to 20 by twos.
2. Have students create their own pattern drawing groups of shapes that increase or decrease in
a regular pattern. They should draw their pattern on a blank sheet of paper.
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Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
3. When students are done, have them share their pattern with another student. Can they
determine the pattern?
Curriculum: Mathematics
Learning Outcomes: Adding, Subtracting
Grouping: Whole Class, Individuals
Word Patterns
Could flowers only grow
in set patterns, row by row?
Which rows make an
ABA, ABA pattern?
What other patterns
do you see?
What to do:
1. Read Sorting through Spring aloud and ask students to listen for repeating or rhyming sounds.
2. As you read, have students clap out the syllables. Help students identify where the number of
syllables in two lines of text is the same, even though the number of words in each line is different.
Curriculum: Language Arts
Learning Outcomes: Identifying Patterns, Listening
Grouping: Whole Class
Which Is Your Favorite Frog?
If the peepers took a poll on who sings the best,
would the winner sing solo? Would he silence the rest?
What you need:
Which of the three spring peepers has
the most votes? Match fingers to find out.
Can you create a chart to show your findings?
• Reproducible Page 12
• Pencil crayon
What to do:
1. Give each student a copy of the reproducible sheet on page 12 of this guide. Have them
tally the votes for each frog and then fill in the graph.
Curriculum: Mathematics
Learning Outcomes: Graphing, Counting
Grouping: Individual
4
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
Comparing and Sorting Activities
Equivalency and comparisons can sometimes be confusing. When you are comparing size or
weight for instance, you could say that two halves = one whole. This could also be written as a
ratio of 2:1. In other instances, however, you can use ratio just to compare whole counts. For
instance, if you have 12 girls in your class and 14 boys, you write the ratio of girls to boys as
12:14. These activities should help clarify the concept of equivalency.
Equal Eggs
What you need:
• A variety of small, round objects (e.g., small
beads, dried peas, ping-pong balls, marbles)
Would birds arrange eggs
so the tree branches balanced?
If 8 hummingbird eggs equal
4 robin eggs, which two ratios
are correct: 3 to 1, 8 to 4,
5 to 1, 2 to 1?
What to do:
1. Review pages 8–9 of Sorting through Spring with your students, pointing out how the
artist showed that two hummingbird eggs are equal to the size of one robin’s egg.
2. Show students the symbols for equal to (=), larger than (>), and smaller than (<). As a
class demonstration, pick up two round objects and write an equation on the board using
=, >, or <. In small groups, have students compare their round objects and write equations
using the words/pictures and symbols (e.g., a ping-pong ball > a marble).
3. Have students pretend that the round objects are bird’s eggs. Then have them estimate
how many of the smaller shapes would equal one of the larger shape (e.g., 6 beads = 1
ping-pong ball).
Curriculum: Mathematics
Learning Outcomes: Comparing, Equivalency, Estimating
Grouping: Whole Class, Small Groups
Cozy or Crowded Nest?
Could cottontails claim that they’re cramped in their nests?
Might some feel more comfortable than the rest?
Which nests hold a number of babies that is
greater than 5? Less than 5? Equal to 5?
What to do:
1. Review pages 18–19 of Sorting through Spring with your class and have them
count the number of rabbits in each nest. Label each nest A, B, C, D, or E.
5
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
2. Review students’ understanding of equal, greater than, and less than by comparing
the number of rabbits in each nest.
3. Have students write word equations that compare the size of the nests. For example,
Nest A > Nest B.
4. Have students place the nests in order from largest to smallest.
Curriculum: Mathematics
Learning Outcomes: Comparing, Ordering, Equations, Adding, Subtracting
Grouping: Individual
You Make the Rules
When their antlers fall off,
What you need:
• A variety of counters in different colors
would the caribou take care
to place them in proper piles?
and sizes
Into which colored pile would you sort the
antlers below? How else could you sort them?
• Websites, books, or magazines with images
of animals with horns and antlers (e.g., deer,
elk, moose, sheep, cattle, antelope)
What to do:
1. As a class, discuss how the artist sorted the piles of antlers on page 16 of Sorting
through Spring. What is another way the antlers could be sorted?
2. Give each student or small group a pile of counters. Have them determine their
own sorting rules. Have them share their ideas with a partner.
3. Review images of horned animals found online or in books and magazines with
your class. How are they similar? How are they different? Discuss the difference
between horns and antlers. (Antlers fall off each year, while horns do not.)
Determine whether the animals in the images have horns or antlers.
Curriculum: Mathematics, Science
Learning Outcomes: Sorting, Comparing
Grouping: Small Groups, Individual
Mistaken Identity
What you need:
• Websites, books, or magazines with images
of milk snakes, copperhead snakes, and
Would milk snakes like these,
coral snakes
when they need to feed,
find food that fits with their patterns?
Which egg shows the shape
that comes first in each
milk snake’s pattern?
What to do:
1. Show students pictures of the three snakes. How are they similar? How are they different?
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Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
2. Explain that copperhead and coral snakes are both venomous. They inject poison into their prey.
Ask students why milk snakes might mimic the coloring of more venomous snakes.
3. Find examples of other animals or plants that use mimicry as a form of protection. Some examples
include the pebble plant, which resembles a stone, or stick bugs which resemble twigs.
Curriculum: Science, Mathematics
Learning Outcomes: Comparing, Understanding Defense Mechanisms
Grouping: Whole Class
Describing and Observing Activities
There are many ways that animals, including humans, communicate. Students will most likely
describe talking as a way people communicate, but facial expressions, hand signals, and using
sounds other than words are some alternative communication strategies. Snakes are a good
example to use to introduce non-verbal communication. These animals use smell (capturing
molecules of scent with their flickering tongues!), sight, and vibrations to communicate.
No Talking!
Would the smelt in their schools
learn about pattern rules?
Can you see two
pattern rules here?
What to do:
1. Explain how birds travel in flocks and some fish, like the smelts on pages 10–11
of Sorting through Spring, travel in schools. Ask the students why they think these
animals travel in groups? (Safety is one of the primary reasons.)
2. Ask students to describe how humans communicate. Encourage the students to
think of ways other than just talking.
3. Have students sit in a circle. As a class, demonstrate some different ways of
communicating. First, use sound to create a “wave.” Have students count off,
beginning with the number one. Second, use touch. Have the students put their
hands out in front of them. Have the first student tap the right hand of the person
standing to their left. Each student “passes the tap” around and around the circle.
Third, use movement. Do “the wave” that people do in sports arenas. Even without
talking, the class can still communicate.
Curriculum: Science
Learning Outcomes: Observing, Describing
Grouping: Small Groups
7
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
Morning, Noon, and Night
Morning comes before noon, and noon comes before night.
If the pattern was changed, wouldn’t that be a sight?
Maybe noon, morning, night?
That wouldn’t be right!
The sun sets a pattern of light we all like:
morning, noon, night ... morning, noon, night.
How can you tell it’s morning? How can you tell it’s afternoon?
1. Observe the same spot outdoors when class begins in the morning, at lunchtime,
and just before the end of the school day. Have students observe the location of
the sun, the location of clouds, the brightness of light, shadows on the ground, and
whatever else they find interesting.
2. Have students record their observations in words and/or pictures. This could also
be done as a homework assignment.
Curriculum: Science
Learning Outcomes: Observing, Describing, Recording
Grouping: Small Groups, Individual
Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain
Would prairie chickens practice their moves so they match?
Woo-woo flap, stampity stomp-stamp.
Can you perform this pattern?
stampity
woo- woo flap
stomp - stamp
What to do:
1. As a class, lead the students through a rainstorm using their hands and feet to make the sounds
of the storm. Start with a quiet rainfall (rub hands together) and then progress to a torrential
rainfall (rub hands, snap fingers, clap hands, slap thighs, stomp feet). Make sure you
go back down to a quiet rainfall!
2. Students could create short verbal stories where they use the different sounds of rain in the story.
3. Look at how the author describes the rhythm of rain on pages 4–5 of Sorting through Spring.
(This step can also be done using the sound pattern made by chickens on pages 6–7.) How
is a rhythmic sound, like plop drop plop-plop, different from a random sound? To demonstrate
this, have students recite and clap out plop drop plop-plop together in one rhythm. In contrast,
have them make plop or drop sounds randomly, making long or short sounds, loud or quiet, etc.
Contrast rhythmic versus random.
Curriculum: Music, Language Arts
Learning Outcomes: Listening, Comparing, Creating
Grouping: Whole Class, Small Groups
8
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
Composing and Creating Activities
The illustrations in this book are deceptive. At first glance, they may seem simple, yet upon
closer inspection the layers, textures, and colors used make stunning collages. To create
each of the illustrations in Sorting through Spring, artist Ashley Barron scoured drawers and
drawers of paper scraps, searching and unearthing until she found the perfect colors to bring
the animals and landscapes to life.
Collage Creations What you need:
• Blank paper
• Powdered paint and water
Would prairie chickens practice their moves so they match?
Woo-woo flap, stampity stomp-stamp.
Can you perform this pattern?
• Paintbrushes
• Tools to add textures and patterns
(combs, doilies, straws)
woo- woo flap stampity • Glue
stomp - stamp
weren’t random
What if raindrops
from the sky?
dropping down
a rhythm,
What if rain had
t?
or a beat to repea
plants?
the animals and
math matters to
Do you think that like you?
knew numbers
What if nature
spring.
Let’s look at the
and sorting could do!
Imagine what patterns
Would the smelt in their
schools
learn about pattern rules?
Can you see two
pattern rules here?
What to do:
1. As a class, review several pages of Sorting through Spring, focusing on the art
instead of the text. Point out different patterns, colors, and shapes the artist used.
2. Have students use the paint, tools, and their fingers to create a page with color
and texture. Allow the pages to dry completely.
3. Have students cut simple shapes from the paper to make their own collages.
The shapes can be assembled and glued to a new sheet of paper.
Note: Depending on the age of your students, you may also want to create shape
templates that the students can trace before cutting. You may also want the entire class
to participate in recreating one of the images. The flowers from pages 2–3 or the river
and stones from pages 10–11 are good ones to try, since they are less detailed.
Curriculum: Visual Arts
Learning Outcomes: Art Composition, Painting, Cutting
Grouping: Individual, Whole Class
9
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
Storytelling
Could the fox family figure
what Father’s bringing home for dinner?
Is their dinner impossibly,
unlikely, likely, or certainly a vole?
A gray squirrel? A rabbit? A cat?
What to do:
1. Ask students to create a short story using their own words and observations
based on pages 22–23 of Sorting through Spring. What is each animal doing
or thinking about?
Curriculum: Language Arts
Learning Outcomes: Observing, Describing, Writing
Grouping: Individual
What’s For Dinner?
Could the fox family figure
what Father’s bringing home for dinner?
Is their dinner impossibly,
unlikely, likely, or certainly a vole?
A gray squirrel? A rabbit? A cat?
What to do:
1. Without reading the text, have students look at the picture on pages 22–23 and
describe what the fox might have for dinner.
2. Emphasize that there is no single answer, since things can be unpredictable in
nature. One animal may run faster or slip into a hole to escape the fox. However,
based on the number of different prey items (e.g., 1 rabbit, 2 squirrels, and 5 voles),
have students decide which scenario is most likely.
3. Once you have had the class discussion, read the text and again discuss whether
a scenario was impossible, unlikely, likely, or certain.
Curriculum: Mathematics
Learning Outcomes: Probability, Interpretation
Grouping: Small Groups, Whole Class
10
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
11
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].
Name: ___________________
15
10
Frog #1 Frog #2 Frog #3 Frog #4
12
Sorting through Spring ©2013. Written by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron.
This TRG is available as a free download from [Link].