Bob Moses MathTrail Installations Happening in The Port


5/25/2022 • 1 year ago

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Math Trail installation

Installations have begun for the Bob Moses MathTrail, a mile-long path in The Port neighborhood that begins at Sennott Park on Broadway and stretches along Elm, Broadway, Windsor, Main, Cherry, Eaton, and Columbia Streets. The goal of the Bob Moses MathTrail is to encourage Cambridge residents, especially children and families, to find the fun in math and explore math in the world around them.

When the MathTrail is complete, residents will be able to engage with ten interactive installations located along the trail. Activities will include examining painted candy circles at Squirrel Brand Park, measuring how far you can jump at Fletcher-Maynard Academy, exploring the patterns of a gigantic number line at Greene-Rose Heritage Park, studying cultural symbols and shapes at Columbia and Broadway, investigating animal tracks at Newtowne Court, and more. Visitors will also have the option of downloading  the Measure! Everything! App to guide their exploration of the MathTrail and continue fun math activities at home.

The Bob Moses MathTrail was co-designed by The Port community and Math Matters for Equity, a partnership of Cambridge Public Schools, the Cambridge STEAM Initiative, the Family Policy Council, MathTalk, Tutoring Plus, and the Young People’s Project. Math Matters for Equity emerged from the aspiration and need to build a local culture where math is for everyone and to encourage mathematical literacy for all residents, especially low-income students and Black and Brown children, teens, and families. 

MathTalk, a community-based technology company that activates public spaces through math, is leading the installation process. MathTalk works with communities across the country to spark playful opportunities for open-ended math exploration and conversation in everyday environments. Through a co-design process with The Port community, resident-generated ideas formed the basis for activities featured in the Bob Moses MathTrail installations.

The Bob Moses MathTrail is named after Robert Moses, a Cambridge-based educator and civil rights activist who considered math literacy as a civil right and founded The Algebra Project, a nonprofit dedicated to helping students from historically marginalized communities develop math literacy.

A community event to celebrate the Bob Moses MathTrail will be held in the fall.

This is the second MathTrail in Cambridge. In July 2021, MathTalk partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to install a MathTrail across the pedestrian bridge at Magazine Beach Park.

For more information about the Bob Moses MathTrail, visit www.cambridgema.gov/MathTrail.