Gone Bowling

My mom throws the best birthday parties.  We are in Chicago visiting family for her birthday.  She rented out a 4 lane bowling alley in a church basement (really!) for the afternoon.  We had intergenerational bowling, Grandma, aunts and uncles, and cousins.  So fun!

I had taken the Jor Man bowling when he was younger, but he barely remembers it.  And the girls had never bowled in person before - Wii bowling doesn't count.  

I noticed that in addition to being a Physical Education experience, bowling also was about math and physics.

But how does bowling help us learn math?  Thought you'd never ask!

1.  For Sher-Bear, simple number recognition of the numbers 1 to 4 which identified the lanes

2.  For Campster, counting the pins left after bowling

3.  For Jor Man, scoring of the game, which includes, addition and multiplication

Bowling also introduces physics in terms of force (if you don't throw the ball hard enough, it won't knock over the pins), gravity (you need to release the ball near the ground, or else it goes down more than forward), momentum (the ball goes farther if I move toward the lane as I release the ball, as opposed to standing still and releasing it), and friction (the lane is shiny because it is slick to help the ball roll faster).

We learned to take turns, and to stay out of the way when someone else is taking their turn.  We encouraged each other, cheered each other's victories and helped each other to improve.

Wish you were here!