Inside Thirteen Blogger: Kristin DiQuollo, Project Manager for CYBERCHASE

As a child, pumpkin seeds were my favorite thing about Halloween. I loved carving pumpkins with my father, not because I was particularly skilled with a toy store pumpkin knife (I wasn’t), but because I loved the feeling of pumpkin pulp oozing through my fingers as I cleared the seeds for roasting. I loved watching the seeds as my mother arranged them on a baking sheet and carried them to the oven. Then, before eating the seeds, I loved counting them into even numbers and making patterns or designs with them – a flower, a star, a witch’s hat. After my pattern was perfectly symmetrical, each seed neatly in place, I would munch it away. One seed at a time.

For years this was just a fond childhood memory for me. Now, I see that this memory is much more – it’s a classic CYBERCHASE moment. I didn’t realize then, but I was actually creating my own fun…with math! And this is what CYBERCHASE does for millions of kids every day. It shows them that math is everywhere in their lives, even in the most surprising little places.

I’m new to the CYBERCHASE crew, and as someone who helps promote this fantastic project, this fall has been an exciting time. Today we premiere a brand new episode, Spheres of Fears, as part of a week-long Halloween celebration on-air and online.

You can hop over to thirteen.org now to see sneak peeks at the new episode. Or visit CYBERCHASE Online, which has been decked out with all the Halloween trimmings. For grownups, we have tips for making math part of your kids’ Halloween fun (ever thought about playing a pattern guessing game with Halloween candy?). And for kids, the online treats abound. Kids can explore interactive games that tie to the math topics in our episodes, test their recipe mettle by whipping up some Chocoberry Chillers, make masks of their favorite CyberSquad members, and even download what will surely become their new Halloween anthem, The Halloween Howl. (I’ll warn you now – it’s catchy.)

So if your kids’ favorite thing about Halloween is carving jack-o-lanterns with geometric shapes, measuring patterns for costumes, or estimating their trick-or-treating time, you can help them find their CYBERCHASE moments too. Soon enough, they’ll realize that math is everywhere around them – even in their pumpkin seeds – and who knew? It really is fun.

Spheres of Fears premieres today at 5:00 PM with an encore presentation on Friday, Oct. 31. For more on CYBERCHASE Halloween week, click here.