So I have this friend who is about to adopt a dog and its foster mom said that it’s a great dog and it even knows how to “perimeter poop.” And I said, “OMG how do you train a dog to perimeter poop?!!!!!” And she said, “I was going to ask you!” Because I have three dogs. But sadly, none of them perimeter poop because I never knew that concept existed — so I guess you could say that they just “area poop.” You’re probably wondering why I am telling you this. Basically because I initially regretted that I never taught my dogs to perimeter poop but then I started regretting that I’m not in the classroom anymore because this could definitely be turned into the kind of math word problem my students would have thoroughly enjoyed. Once a teacher, always a teacher. And then I got philosophical as I realized that this was a classic example of someone having a lot of experience (me: having owned countless dogs) learning from someone new (her: adopting her family’s first dog ever) and that’s the lesson I should impart to you – that no matter how much you think you know about a topic it’s not as impressive as a dog that can defecate with geometric precision.
And since this blog is more about sharing resources, really, than about random thoughts about my inadequacies as a teacher of children and/or canines, here is a math resource on gorilla poop (I couldn’t find one on dogs) from the Lincoln Park Zoo. Or you can watch the video below of Maggie, the Jack Russell who supposedly does math (I think there’s some conspiring going one between Maggie and the owner). I like how one of the young students says in bewilderment, “My dog can’t do any math!”
If you want some more math resources, try my Wakelet of Math Sites That Won’t Make You Fall Asleep.
