Hands-On Learning with Snow Ice Cream
Third grade students in Mr. Gross’s class recently kicked off their new math unit on fractions in a sweet, and snowy way! Students began by learning about whole numbers, numerators, and denominators, then explored how fractions are used in real-life situations by reading recipes and comparing fractional amounts.
To make the lesson even more memorable, students applied their new knowledge by making snow ice cream using fresh snow collected outside. The activity also served as a celebration of a class-wide attendance goal. Throughout December, students earned cotton balls for a classroom “snowman” for each day they were present. Once the snowman was completely filled, the class earned a reward, and Mr. Gross surprised them with this delicious, hands-on learning experience.
It was a perfect blend of math, motivation, and fun, and a great example of the creative, engaging learning experiences taking place every day at Otselic Valley.