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Kids combine carpentry and math at camp

Measurement skills and geometry among the abilities tested during three-week program.

THUNDER BAY – For many students, finding a practical use for math other than adding up what’s left of their weekly allowance can be tough.

For 18 Thunder Bay students this summer, a real-world application was factored into their education.

The Lakehead Public Schools students, either set to enter Grade 6 or having just completed, spent the past three weeks learning how math and carpentry are intertwined.

The youngsters then put their newly learned skills to the test, building a small, personal item like a toolbox, then joining forces with some of their classmates to build dog houses that will be donated to the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society.

Eleven-year-old Caleb Larocque on Friday said he loves both math and carpentry, which is why he thought it was a fantastic way to spend the first part of his summer vacation.

“It’s really neat, because you can use math in ways to help people around the world and build stuff that can hold your pencils, like what I made, a pencil box,” Caleb said. “Or tool boxes to hold tools.”

Kara MacDonald, 10, and her sister Jennifer, 12, also took part in the program.

Kara said she wanted to take part because it sounded really fun and she’s always wanted to build something out of wood.

“It’s a great opportunity to do it here,” Kara said, weeks before she returns to the classroom to start Grade 6.

The sisters plan to immediately put their new found knowledge to work on the home front, with plans to help their parents with the construction of a new backyard deck.

“We’ve already started building it,” Kara said.

“We have to learn to do angles, so we can cut the wood exact. You wouldn’t want a deck on a (wrong) angle.”

Older sister Jennifer said the program, taught in conjunction with Carpenters Local 1669, was also a great refresher before she starts classes in September.

“I want to get prepared for Grade 7, so that I’m not falling behind in math,” she said, admitting she struggles with the subject at times.

Teacher John McAuley said the carpentry camp said the students were given a choice of what they wanted to create, knowing they had a limited amount of material from which to work.

“Using that, they had to use their math skills, including measurement, area and geometry, to try to figure out what was a viable option for them to create and how to do those measurements and how to get those angles just right.”

The carpenters did the actually cutting of the wood, but it was the students who assembled the finished product.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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