Math Stories

Dear Families,

Let’s take a quick journey to the Moon with Artemis II—and then bring that adventure. S.T.E.M. is how we turn big questions like “Can humans go back to the Moon?” into real missions happening right now with some fun math talk! 🚀🌙

🌍 What is Artemis II?

Artemis II sent four astronauts into space aboard the Orion spacecraft. They launched from Earth on April 1, 2026. They will travel around the Moon (without landing) then return safely home

Think of it like a giant loop around the Moon—a space road trip! The journey will take about 10 days.

🚀 Now… Where’s the Math? Everywhere.

📏 1. Distance to the Moon

The Moon is about 238,855 miles away.

Ask: Is that closer to 200,000 or 300,000?

⏱️ 2. Speed & Time

The spacecraft can travel around 25,000 miles per hour.

Ask: How far in 1 hour? 2 hours?

Younger kids can count by 25s (like 25, 50, 75…) and connect it to “thousands.”

🗺️ 3. The “Loop” Around the Moon

This trip isn’t straight—it curves around Earth and the Moon.

Draw a big loop and ask: Where does it start and end? Talk about shapes: Is this a circle or something different?

📅 4. Counting the Days

The mission lasts about 10 days.

Ask: What would you pack for 10 days?

There are 4 astronauts.

Count meals, socks, or even “space snacks.”

💭 Family Reflection

Ask your child: “What math would YOU need if you were going to the Moon?”

From measuring distance to sharing snacks, math is what makes a mission like Artemis II possible. 🚀✨::

Dear Families,

Frogs are champion jumpers. A 3-inch frog can hop 60 inches. That means the frog is jumping 20 times its body length. Let’s suppose you are 4½ feet tall. If you, like a frog, could jump 20 times your body length (your height), you would be able to sail from home plate to first base (90 feet in all)! How tall are you? If you could jump 20 times your body length, how far could you go? Measure your height and multiply by 20 to find out.

Ants may be tiny, but they are great weight lifters. An ant weighing 1/250 of an ounce can easily lift a bread crumb weighing 1/5 of an ounce. That means the ant is lifting 50 times its own weight. If you weighed 60 pounds and you could lift 50 times your own weight, you would be able to lift a car weighing 3,000 pounds, or 1½ tons! How much do you weigh? If you could lift 50 times your weight, could you lift a 3,000-pound car? What else could you lift?

This book is one of my favorites and it introduces children to multiplicative reasoning—thinking in terms of “times as much” which is a key stepping stone to proportional reasoning later on. These kinds of comparisons help kids see how quantities scale up and down in powerful ways (and make them feel an awe for mighty animals and insects. 🐸🐜