Did you know that a Three Dog Night refers to a night so cold that you need three dogs in the bed to keep you warm?  It comes from Australian Aboriginal custom of keeping dogs in the bed in order to stay warm.

Who knew?

I was thinking that it would be a really great idea to explore expressions that are used in everyday life that are also mathematical.

This winter, when discussing the weather, rather than having children simply say, “It is cold,” or “It is windy” you could teach them the expression Three Dog Night to describe a really, really cold night.  Using variations of this, a cold night might be a One Dog Night, and a really cold night might be a Two Dog Night.  These gradations of cold and relativity will support the idea that there are measures of cold – there is cold, colder, and coldest.

It might be nice to provide a visual representation of this concept as well.  You could use stuffed dogs and the children can pick one, two, or three dogs to represent the coldness (they may even choose a No Dog Night if it ever warms up).  If you use a weather chart, you could use dog stickers and the children can put one, two, or three dogs to represent the weather.

Let us know how it goes.  Take a picture and I will post it:)

If I were the weather person today, I would be using words like “the rainiest”, “the darkest”, “the yuckiest”, the “wettest”, “the floodiest”, (I know it is not a word, but it fits for today), and “the rain of the century”.

Exploring some of the relativity in this week’s weather will provide glorious opportunities for children to think about “how much rain” is falling, “how deep are the puddles”, and “how long will it last”?  You can talk about “Hundred Year Rains” and the last time anyone remembers school closings because of rain.  I would venture to guess, that most of the children in your programs have NEVER seen this much rain in their young lives.

Once any threat of danger passes and the rains recede, take those children outside to explore the puddles and the mud.  Put their rain boots and slickers on and get ’em outside.  There is nothing more fun and exhilarating than playing in the aftermath of a rainstorm.

Until then, be safe and be careful.  As in all weather-related matters in the midwest, “This too, shall pass.”