Junior Family Math Newsletter - September 2026

Activities for September

Problem Solving

Imagine you have 12 metres of edging to make a small garden for native plants or flowers.

  • What different shapes could your garden be?
  • Which design would give the plants the most space to grow?

Draw your possible designs on grid paper, use square tiles, or create them with string, sticks, or sidewalk chalk.

Explain which design you would choose and why. 


Nature Math Challenge

Fibonacci pattern in pinecones

Go for a walk, bike ride, or play outside, and look for pinecones. If it is permitted to collect them, bring home one or two pinecones to investigate. Otherwise, you can explore them where you find them. 

Look closely at the scales on the pinecone. Can you see spirals that curve in two different directions? 

  1. Choose one direction and count the spirals. 
  2. Count the spirals that curve in the other direction. 
  3. Compare your two counts. 

Many pinecones have spiral counts that are neighbouring numbers in the Fibonacci sequence:  1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, … 

In this pattern, each new number is found by adding the two numbers before it:  
2 + 3 = 5 and 3 + 5 = 8. 

Try asking:

  • What do you notice about the spirals?
  • How did you decide where one spiral begins and ends?
  • What are your two counts? How are they related?
  • Can you find a Fibonacci number in each count?
  • Do all pinecones have the same number of spirals? What might explain any differences?

Some natural objects may show spiral counts, petal numbers, or leaf arrangements that connect to Fibonacci numbers. 

Look closely at sunflowers, flowers, pineapples, and some plant leaves.

Can you find another object in your natural environment that has a repeating pattern, spiral, or arrangement worth investigating?

Adapted from: The Robertson Program  


Math Talk

Tree node photo

Image Source: Visual Patterns 

Take a moment to look together at the image above and ask: 

  • What do you notice?
  • What do you wonder?
  • How could we use math to explore our ideas?

Junior Math Strands and Connections to Nature

Junior students use mathematics to investigate questions about nature. They may measure spaces, compare quantities, represent patterns, and use data to support a conclusion. 

Students may explore the following strands:

  • Algebra: investigating patterns and relationships, including those found in real-life situations. 
  • Data: collecting, organizing, displaying, and interpreting data from observations.
  • Spatial Sense: measuring length, area, angles, and location; exploring geometric features in natural and built spaces.

Resources for Families

  • Interested in learning more about the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum?  A Parents Guide to Mathematics Grades 1-8 (2020) details the content, structure, strands, and summaries of expectations in the Ontario Math Curriculum for parents.  

  • TVO Learn Games (K-6): Free curriculum-connected games that make learning interactive, engaging, and accessible. 

Looking for additional math resources?

Check out our past e-newsletters for more fun and exciting math games and challenges to do at home.

Family Math E-Newsletters