The Active Maths Pack

The Active Maths Pack was produced by the Spode Group at a time when teachers were coming to terms with coursework as a compulsory element of the GCSE mathematics course. The new national criteria for GCSE called for a greater emphasis on investigation, discussion, practical work and problem solving. The pack has three sections: [b]Applied coursework[/b] contains eight tasks: 1. Games- listing possible outcomes and finding probability. 2. Posting- using mean, mode, median to find averages. 3. Weightlifters - using formulae to plot graphs including log graphs. 4. Transportation - solving transportation problems using a two-way table. 5. Video recording - solving problems involving time. 6. Glazing - calculating area using differing units. 7. Fibonacci - a number of problems that generate Fibonacci sequences. 8. Morse code - constructing tally charts from codes. [b]Investigations[/b] contains eleven tasks. Each task consists of a number of problems based around a mathematical theme. The themes covered are: sequences and number chains; perimeter and area of triangles, parallelograms, trapeziums and sectors of circles; the Tower of Hanoi, Pict's theorem; investigating the relationship betweenn angles and area in right-angled triangles; using spirals to investigate square and cube roots. [b]Extended projects[/b] contains thirty two tasks ideal for developing problem solving strategies. Mathematical toipcs covered are: volume of cuboids and cylinders; area of a circle; percentages; average speeds; rates by comparing fuel comsumption of cars; tessellation; collecting, representing and analysing data; using formulae. The book contains teacher's notes, solutions and marking schemes.