How To Create Math Fun With Palindromes In 2020!

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Words)

A palindrome is a word or phrase that is spelled and read the same both forward and backward. Kids love to share simple palindromes like:

mom
dad
wow
Otto
Anna

Older students have often discovered longer words such as:

racecar
kayak
level
repaper
radar

Keep talking and you'll find phrases such as:

My gym
Top spot
Too hot to hoot.
No lemon, no melon
Don't nod.

If you've run out of other examples, pull out these mind-blowing sentences:

Madam, I'm Adam.
A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.
Pull up, Eva, we're here, wave, pull up.
Was it a car or a cat I saw?
Mr. Owl at my metal worm.

Teachers can make a math connection with palindromes. Numbers that are read the same forward and backward count as palindromes. Go as simple as you wish - even a number such as 55 is technically a palindrome. Challenge kids to create palindromic numbers like:

12321
42877824
3434343

When a day, a week, or even a month contains a forward-backward date, palindrome fans and symmetry lovers are delighted! This year, 2020, contains a few palindromic dates, but you may have to play with the format.

Now is a great time to introduce or review the concept and set kids up with some fun activities to mark these special dates. Maybe you could text or email your students from last year and remind them to celebrate!

Keeping in mind that different places use different date formats, here are the palindromic dates for 2020: