Kids test SMU math app at Dallas Zoo to help bring learning to life
DALLAS - Dozens of Dallas kids are spending part of their Thanksgiving break helping Southern Methodist University develop a new app aimed at inspiring kids to see math in their surroundings.
"At the zoo we are looking at patterns. Patterns in animal behavior, patterns in the animals' coats, patterns in how baby animals grow over time," said Dr. Candace Walkington with SMU.
The app called MathFinder is being developed as part of a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation.
"Let them see that math is applied and it's all around them. It's not just on a piece of paper. It is in the way an elephant walks or in the way a baby hippo grows and once they see math that way, that can be a game changer in terms of how they do in school," said Dr. Walkington.
On Tuesday, students checked out what is called a "walk stop" at the chimpanzee habitat at the Dallas Zoo.
The goal for the app is for people to be able to create their own walk stops with the app, anywhere in the world.
"We got $2.5 million to develop and test this app at 8 different sites throughout DFW. The zoo is just one of our eight partners that we have with this grant," said Dr. Walkington. "We are going to keep working with more and more sites and more kids. We get lots of feedback from the kids every time we use the app and we make lots of updates."
As for the test subjects, it's hard to beat a nice fall day, a break from school and a trip to the zoo.
Tyson Sylvester is in fifth grade at St. Phillips School and Community Center in Dallas.
"My favorite thing was probably the hippos when we were learning new things. We were measuring them to see how long they were," Sylvester said.
Ellie Chatfield, an 8th grader at West Dallas Community School also tested the app.
"I'm glad to be here, it's always a great opportunity to get out of the house," she said.
Chatfield said she enjoyed learning that the zoo keeps track of how many steps the elephants take each day.
"It is fun to get technology and wildlife and kinda put them together," she said.
Marti Copeland, the senior director of education at the Dallas Zoo, sees the appeal of the app.
"When you are out of school and having fun, you might not realize you are learning, but they are learning every minute of zoo camp, and will come back rejuvenated and able to keep that school learning going," Copeland said.