3 Top Maths Tours for Students on Inspirational School Visits

For maths students, going abroad on inspirational school visits can be a surprising and rewarding experience. Maths is not thought of as a subject that lends itself to overseas tours, but there are many benefits to the experience: learning about the history of maths, seeing it in application and visiting dedicated museums or educational centres. There are many amazing cities that maths students can visit. Among them, Florence, Barcelona and New York are without rivals.

Florence

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Florence flourished as the birthplace of the Renaissance and a major centre of expanding knowledge in Europe. As such, it is an excellent destination for inspirational school visits for maths students. The city itself is full of applied maths: students can examine Brunelleschi’s dome, Giotto’s Campanile and the Basilica di Santa Croce to understand the importance of mathematical concepts in these monuments of architectural splendour. Then, in the Il Giardino di Archimede maths museum, they can consider Pythagorus’ theorem, Gallileo’s mechanics or the origins of the Arabic numbering system.

Florence is also a good base for inspirational school visits to other parts of Italy, including Pisa, home of Fibonacci, whose North African education exposed him to Hindu-Arabic mathematical systems that he brought to Europe. Students can see his statue in the Piazza dei Miracoli. Pisa is also, of course, the home of the Leaning Tower, which will provoke interesting questions among maths students. Finally, students can visit the town of Vinci and its Museo di Leonardo, where they can examine models of the artist’s remarkable machines.

Barcelona

In Barcelona, maths is applied to the shapes and forms of architecture – it's a visual panoply. Inspirational school visits will take students into the world of Gaudí, the famous architect who left a striking mark on the city. Students can investigate the relationship between geometry and nature in his designs at the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell and Casa Batlló, and consider the benefits of his parabolic arch. They can also visit the Cosmo Caixa museum of science, where interactive activities will engage and excite.

New York

The city of New York is full of applied maths questions for young learners to consider: the grid pattern of Manhattan, the engineering proportions of the iconic skyscrapers, the catenary design of Brooklyn Bridge, the spiral of the Guggenheim Museum. Maths is in action on Wall Street and in the Museum of American Finance. No museum, however, can rival the National Museum of Mathematics (or MoMath), which opened in 2012 and is the only museum dedicated to maths in North America. Specially designed for school-aged visitors, it features over thirty interactive exhibits. It aims to "stimulate inquiry, spark curiosity, and reveal the wonders of mathematics." (Museum mission statement.)

Angela Bowden works for STS (School Travel Service), the UK's largest educational travel company, providing tours for secondary schools, primary schools and colleges. Inspirational school visits with STS can encompass a focus on art/design, foreign languages, history, science/nature, geography and more, to worldwide destinations.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.