Doing Mathematics Outdoor: The Role of Bodily Experiences in Modelling Tasks

This article delves into the significance of bodily experiences in the context of outdoor STEAM activities. It features a case study involving three tenth-grade students who engage in outdoor tasks – which are part of an outdoor STEAM trail – using the MathCityMap app. The research focuses on the students’ emerging strategies when dealing with two modelling tasks by integrating the modelling cycle phases with a perspective on embodiment that encompasses learning as navigating mathematical places. By intertwining these theoretical stances, the analysis uncovers the students’ strategies and seeks to describe their orientations during the experience. Despite the students not reaching the expected solutions, they bodily engage with the modelling tasks in meaningful ways, employing an array of various strategies. Trying to overcome the separation between domains, classically emphasised in the modelling context, the authors show how bodily engagement operates at their intersection and discuss the relevance of their approach for STEAM activities.