Schools
Math At The Mall is a Big Hit With Shoppers
Volunteers from 19 elementary schools spent part of their Saturday teaching customers at the Citrus Park Mall that math is a big part of life outside of the classroom.
At Villa Pizza a value meal costs $6.99 -- how much would you pay with a 10 percent discount plus 7 percent tax?
How many kid's root beers does the Brewer at BJ's restaurant hold if a keg holds 15.5 gallons of root beer and kids' cups are 16 ounces?
These are just a taste of the mathematical, brain teasing questions that visitors had to answer at Citrus Park Mall on Saturday during the eighth annual "Math at the Mall" event.
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Merchandise, gift certificates and coupons from Citrus Park Mall businesses were given as prizes.
The Saturday afternoon event involved 19 schools from Citrus Park, Carrollwood and Westchase. The "estimation stations" were staffed with more than 200 volunteer teachers and students. The group set up tables outside of Macy's.
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"This is a great opportunity to get the community involved and show family members real world math applications as well as display all the wonderful things we do in our classrooms," said Emily DeVisio, President of the Hillsborough County Elementary Math Council.
The math council sponsored the event. The Westfield Brandon mall also hosted a "Math at the Mall" event on Saturday.
Lowry elementary third grader, Ketan, volunteered at the 4 triangle estimation station. Visitors to that station used different angles (right, obtuse, acute, etc.) to create artwork and learn about estimating.
"I had fun seeing my friends and helping my teacher show people that math is fun," he said.
Seeing math outside of the classroom often helps students and adults understand the concepts better.
"I think it's cool to see kids use math outside of school and it's also great to see so much parental involvement," said Georgianna Castellano, a teacher at Dickenson elementary teacher who worked the "All The Right Angles" booth.
The space for the schools was donated by the mall who also helped coordinate donations from mall merchants.
"We've been in partnership with the school system for eight years for this event which has grown every year," said Taylor Clifton, the mall's marketing director.