Math Projects For 2nd Grade Gifted Students

Second graders who are gifted in math often feel isolated or bored in class. These students often need more advanced material to hold their interest. There are several math projects that gifted second-grade students will find stimulating and educational.

Tell the children to bring in catalogs and sales papers for electronics and furniture. Then, tell the children they have $10,000 to "spend" and cannot go over that amount. The students can pick as many items as they want so long as they don't go over. After the students pick their items, they must add up (without a calculator) the prices of the items and subtract that total from $10,000 (some will go over). This project requires the students to add and subtract three- and four-digit numbers.

This project deals with multiplication skills. The students have to work with the following problem: "You have two rabbits. Every day the number of rabbits doubles. How many rabbits will you have in two days, three days, four days, five days and so on?" The students will find that the problem gets much harder as the days go on.

Give the students between five and 10 problems involving four-, five-, six- or even seven-digit numbers divided by one-digit numbers; for example, 28469 divided by three. The students should perform these calculations unaided and on paper showing all of their work.

In this final project, the students receive a list of the heights (in feet) of 10 monuments or well known places, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building and the Gateway Arch. The students have to convert each of these measurements to inches, meters and centimeters.