You could choose a trip that shows your students how essential maths is in the ‘real world’ - perhaps by visiting a city that’s central to the global economy, like New York or Frankfurt.
Or you could go for a trip that shows them another side to maths.
Need some inspiration? Here are our favourite maths school trip ideas.
Florence – discover the beauty in maths
Watch as your students immerse themselves in the creativity and thirst for knowledge of Renaissance Italy.
The magnificent Tuscan city of Florence is a joy to explore on any school trip.
Often more closely associated with art, the city was the birthplace of the Renaissance when science and maths came together to push forward human thought and innovation.
Explore the life and work of famous Italian polymaths like Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo Galilei. Both have museums dedicated to them here in Florence, where your students can learn more about their life and work (and how maths helped them design groundbreaking inventions and make earth-shattering discoveries).
You also shouldn’t miss a visit to the Garden of Archimedes. This interactive museum is entirely dedicated to mathematics and encouraging people to enjoy discovering maths.
Exhibits demonstrate the beauty of the maths hidden in everyday objects and explore how maths helped Galileo show how simple machines worked. And there are loads of fun experiments, puzzles and games to get stuck into.
Frankfurt or New York – explore the power of maths
One (obvious) use of maths in all our everyday lives is money.
A visit to one of the world’s financial powerhouses will show your students just how vital maths is to the way the world works.
New York is the world’s leading centre of banking, and many huge, multinational corporations have their headquarters here. It’s also home to not one, but two of the world’s largest stock exchanges – the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. And, of course, this is where you’ll find the famous Wall Street.
We’d recommend starting your maths trip to New York with a guided walking tour of the Financial District. This area is the birthplace of the city of New York, and so, during the tour, you’ll find out how this small settlement became such an important player in the global economy. You’ll visit Wall Street and might even have the chance to visit the Federal Reserve Bank (although you’ll need to plan well ahead to get hold of the limited student tours offered).
After this, a visit to the Museum of American Finance will allow students to learn more about Alexander Hamilton (one of the Founding Fathers, the first US Secretary of the Treasury and founder of the Bank of New York), financial markets, banking and entrepreneurship.
And you can’t visit New York on a maths school trip without stopping at the amazing Museum of Mathematics. It’s the only museum dedicated to maths in North America, and it’s so much fun. Its whole raison d’être is to get visitors excited about maths, and it definitely delivers on that with loads of interactive exhibits.
If New York’s a bit far, why not head to Mainhattan (as Frankfurt is affectionately known, thanks to its famous skyline full of skyscrapers).
Frankfurt is one of the de facto capitals of the European Union and home of the European Central Bank (making it the beating heart of the Eurozone). It’s the largest financial hub in continental Europe, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the world’s largest stock exchanges.
In fact, you can visit the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on your maths trip. There, your students will be able to listen to a talk explaining how trading works in the digital world before taking a peek at the trading floor itself.
And at the Monetary Museum of Deutsche Bündesbank, they’ll find out how money is produced and discover what monetary policy is and why it’s so important. They’ll also explore the role of a central bank and find out about the hyperinflation of the 1920s (which will be especially useful if any of your group are studying history and the Weimar Republic or the rise of the Nazis).
Paris and Disneyland® Paris – experience the joy in maths
Maths isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the French capital. But maybe it should be. Paris is home to some of the most fun science and maths museums we’ve come across – and all within easy reach of the UK.
The Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie is one of the best STEM-focused museums in Europe. And it’s massive. There are loads of hands-on exhibits to explore, as well as shows, a library and many other attractions that bring science and maths to life.
You’ll also want to spend some time at the Exploradôme and the Palais de la Découverte (with its iconic Pi room), which also offer loads of interactive exhibits specifically designed to get visitors excited about science and maths.
And, of course, the cherry on top of any school trip to Paris is always a visit to DisneylandÒ Paris. On a maths trip, this has the added interest of getting to see maths and physics in action to create some truly thrilling rides.
Ready to start planning your next maths adventure?
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