General | MathCityMap

From February 13 to 14 the “Forum des mathématiques” took place in Marseille. Christian Mercat, professor at the University of Lyon and one of our European project partners (MoMaTrE and MaSCE³), ran a very successful MathCityMap workshop at the Forum: During the congress, his great math trail “Forum 2020” was downloaded more than 400 times. In addition, more than 260 individuals or groups participated in the related Digital Classroom.

Thanks a lot, Christian, for this incredible MathCityMap workshop, which took Marseille by storm!

Christian reports on the form: This is the first time a MathCityMap trail was setup in this forum. Prizes were distributed but there was no need for that in order to motivate the participants, hundreds of participants played with the app and opened a scientific eye on the campus around them, figuring out the size of the letters on top of the building, the number of red tiles in a mosaic and so on.

Background information:

“Maths pour Tous” (“Math for All in French”) is an association based in Marseille, backed up by the Aix-Marseille University. They have organised for more than 10 years numerous forums where thousands of people flock to the university or other public venues to enjoy mathematics, accounting for the largest math events in France outside Paris. It consists in Math conferences, workshops, poster sessions, held by students themselves presenting their work during the year alongside top specialists in mathematics disseminating their work to the wider public.

Over the past three days, we were working on the further development of our app: During this year’s project meeting of the MoMaTrE team (Mobile Math Trails in Europe), we discussed many different ideas for the MathCityMap app in Berlin from Thursday to Saturday.

Apart from the MathCityMap team from Goethe University Frankfurt, our project partners from the universities of Lyon (France), Porto, Lisbon (each Portugal) and Nitra (Slovakia) also took part. Furthermore, we were actively supported by representatives of the Spanish Teachers’ Association and the Berlin app developer autentek.

All participants present the current state of the MathCityMap system in a constructive working atmosphere: Within the framework of MoMaTrE, the idea of the digital classroom is prototypically implemented, which allows teachers to observe the progress of individual groups when completing an MCM math trail. In addition, the pirate narrative created an opportunity to focus on playful learning using MathCityMap.

The mobile app version will soon be expanded as part of the MoMaTrE project, which will make it much easier to create or edit MCM math trails using a smartphone. We are also working intensively on our new community website, which should enable users to exchange and rate math trails. Furthermore, the math trail idea will be embedded in the curriculum in the European partner countries. Last but not least, two major multiplier events are on the program: In April, a one-week teacher training course will take place in Granada, Spain, while the STEM conference ROSETA is due in Porto, Portugal in June.

Of course, the app was not only further developed theoretically, but also put to practical use in an exciting math trail at the Gendarmenmarkt. In the digital classroom, the groups were able to demonstrate their mathematical knowledge while getting to know Berlin.

We would like to thank all partners for the productive project meeting!

We created a MathCityMap account on Instagram. Follow our account mathcitymap.eu for current information on MCM and the Erasmus+ projects MoMaTrE and MaSCE³!

Click here!

We hope for many followers!

MathCityMap was honoured as App of the Month by the German Academy for Child and Youth Literature!

The jury explained its decision as follows: “To get to know attractions in Germany [and all over the world] by solving lifelike mathematic tasks: Students of the 4^thup to the 11^th grade have to measure the necessary values in order to work on the given tasks. The solving process is supported by hints.”

The MathCityMap team is really pleased with this award and starts very motivated in the new year!

Our new trails of the month were located in Mexico. The trails “BUAP 2” and “La ruta Azteca” were created exactly one year ago when the MathCityMap team visited Mexico for the first time. Simone Jablonski, member of the MathCityMap team Frankfurt, answered us some questions about the trails.

Why did you create those math trails? Are there special attributes of those trails?

The trail “BUAP 2” was created for a teacher training with more than 75 Mexican teachers during the TEMBI V conference at University Puebla. Our aim was to give the participants a broad insight into the possibilities of MathCityMap, so we included different geometric topics like calculation on areas, slope of a ramp and height of buildings.

The trail “La ruta Azteca” was created on a free day which we used to visit the historical Aztecs pyramids in Teotihuacán. The pyramids offer great opportunity for calculations of their area and of the slopes of their steep staircases. Especially for tourists and families, this trail offers a great opportunity to combine mathematics and historical objects.

Particularly pleasing is the fact that we were able to create the trails in Spanish. A great help was the translation of the wizard tasks by our Spanish MoMaTrE project partners. It simplifies the use of MathCityMap – especially in an international context – immensely.

Do you have any other commentary on MathCityMap?

I have worked with MathCityMap since 2017 and mostly used it from the author’s perspective. It is great how the math trails motivate students and teachers to do mathematics. Sometimes I get the chance to run a math trail myself and after the first reward with points, I can fully share this motivation!

In the next year, the MoMaTrE project will end with the international ROSETA conference. ROSETA is the acronym for Research on Outdoor STEM Education in the digiTal Age and this topic is exactly the conference’s focus.

Save the Date

ROSETA Conference
16. – 19. June 2020
Porto, Portugal

Visit the Website

Invited are all members of the educational and scientific STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) community which are interested and experienced in outdoor education. Apart from interesting lectures and workshops, you have the opportunity to present and discuss own ideas and contribute to the open-access conference proceedings.

The event is organized by the Erasmus+ Project MoMaTrE and co-funded by Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. Through this, the MoMaTrE project can cover the participants’ costs for the conference partly.

If you are interested, please visit our conference website www.roseta-conference.eu. We are looking forward to your contribution!

We redesigned our app und added some new features which we will present in the following. After starting the app, you will be welcomed by our new, clear structured start screen. Four tiles enable users to navigate through the app intuitively.

By using “Browse Trails“ the app shows math trails near by you or at any location of your choice.
The button ”Add Trails“ allows users to call up private trails or trails which use our feature Digital Classroom by adding a code.
“My Trails“ gives an overview about your downloaded MathCityMap trails as well as their completion status: How many tasks of the trail did you solve? In addition, the app provides a map which shows the downloaded trails in the surrounding area.
Soon we will release the function ”Manage Trails” which gives registered users the possibility to edit their own tasks and trails via smartphone.

The new start screen
“Browse Trails” shows trails in your environment and all over the world
“My Trails” shows your downloaded trails and their completion status
“My Trails” Shows downloaded trails in your Environment, too

We are looking forward to your feedback!

The current Trails of the Month [there are both a Portuguese and an English version], were created in Porto, Portugal. Our MoMaTrE-Partner Ana Moura gave us an interview about the trails, MathCityMap and the ErasmusDay.

Please describe your trail. What differenciate your trail from others?

This route is located in the Romantic Gardens of Palácio de Cristal, one of the most beautiful gardens in the city of Porto. It was laid out in the 19th century and has an area of approximately 8 hectares, where we also can admire the magnificent panoramic views of the Douro river and the city. It is an almost circular route, which allow us to visit various charms of these gardens. The mathematical challenges involved run through several school levels, which intend to be inclusive to all elements of a family.

Please describe how your team presented MoMaTrE and MathCityMap on ErasmusDay. How many people tested MathCityMap?

The ErasmusDay event was publicized by some internet channels, namely those of one of the partners in the MoMaTrE project, the Polytechnic of Porto – School of Engineering, as well as in some social networks. MoMaTrE and MathCityMap were presented as, respectively, a project and an app that promote and assist in creating and conducting mathematical walks in this digital age [click here for more information]. We estimate that around 50 people participated in the city of Porto. They tested the app in groups, either in pairs of friends or father/mother and child, or in groups of students or families.

Why did you use the pirate narrative for this trail?

The option to use the narrative was to create more engagement in the younger ones, and to show the app’s versatility in the older ones.

Do you have any other commentary on MathCityMap?

MathCityMap brings together and cooks in a natural way three ingredients of our century: the digital age, the concern with the fight against sedentary lifestyle and the promotion of outdoor life, and the use of innovative teaching methods, particularly, in Mathematics.

From 31st of October till 2nd of November, the Kick-off Meeting of the Erasmus+ project Math Trails in School, Curriculum and Educational Environments of Europe (MaSCE³) took place. Being hosted by our Portuguese partners in Viana do Castelo, the participants first got to know each other, discussed about the aim and vision of the project, the first steps and milestones as well as the intellectual outputs.

The idea of the MaSCE³ project is to close the gap between “normal mathematics lesson” and Math Trails as a “special learning and teaching method”. To achieve that, we discussed many technical, conceptual and content-based ideas in order to make it easier for teachers to include Math Trails on a regular basis in their lessons.

Apart from the working phases, we also conducted the mandatory Math Trail in the beautiful city of Viana do Castelo and enjoyed traditional Portuguese food.

Exchanging ideas about the MaSCE³ project
Solving the tasks of the Math Trail
Our partners from all over Europe
Group Photo with Partners from Berlin, Lyon, Catania, Viana do Castelo, Spain, Tallinn, Offenburg and Frankfurt