Bedtime Math

  I know, I know, the title makes it sound like a small child's app but that is not necessarily true.  The Bedtime Math App is based on the idea that you read to your children every night so why not read a short story and answer a question about the math.  I will admit that I'm not sure what ages this particular app is geared for but I do see a use for it in some of the lower level math classes and to help ELL students develop their vocabulary.

These stories are not the standard word problems you see in text books.  They are short stories that cover a variety of topics from ant hills to what it takes to be Superman.  The stores are detailed and some even have accompanying videos to illustrate the topic. 

 The stories start by trying to build on prior knowledge.  For instance, this one begins by mentioning super heroes most students know.  It gives a bit of information on when Superman first showed up and goes on to quote the first few words of the show.

The story then goes on to explain what the strength of a locomotive is, how fast is a speeding bullet and how tall can a building be.  So it takes the description and puts it into mathematical numbers a student can relate to.

Then they have the choice for the level of kid.  I looked at the big kids question which you see to the right. The question gives the height of the highest flying bird and then asks how high can Superman fly if he flies 10,000 feet higher than the bird. 

Once you have figured out the solution, you can check your answer at which time you are given a bonus question about commercial planes in reference to Superman.

There is always one extra question under "The sky's the limit" which is more complex than the earlier ones. In addition, when you check your answer, the answer will show the work if there are several operations involved in calculating the answers.

I like this app myself because I love learning new things and these problems are written so they are interesting and a person can easily relate to these.  I think I'm going to put this app on my classroom set because the app encourages literacy in the Math classroom.  Check it out.