Farmers Markets and Fairs as Venues for Doing Math in Rural Settings

This paper describes innovative ways of bringing mathematical learning into community venues in rural settings. We selected highly engaging mathematical activities, adapted them for middle school youth and their families, and brought them to the “locavore” contexts of Farmers Markets and community agricultural fairs. “STEM Guides”—community people who were hired to connect youth with local STEM resources—set up math-oriented booths at local Farmers Markets and fairs. They enlisted visitors in weighing produce, comparing weights of typical fruits/vegetables to record-weighing produce, and composing community-supported agriculture (CSA) baskets with specified ratios of different types of produce. Pilot findings from four trials with 91 participants are reported. Specifically, we examine: 1) what is needed for non-specialist STEM Guides to facilitate mathematics activities in these contexts; 2) features of participant engagement; and 3) ways of matching venues with meaningful place-based mathematics, in this case, measurement and mental mathematics. This work demonstrates that it is possible to start with a local venue, identify key mathematical concepts that are woven into this venue, and incorporate mathematics that appeals to a variety of participants. We discuss the idea of rural “community math,” and the benefits of making math more of a community enterprise.