Alien Invasion is a set of four interactive lessons about a full-scale alien attack that coincides with a class visit to Manford City. To set the scene and support the lessons, live television news bulletins, radio broadcasts and telephone messages help to develop the story line. The invasion leads to a series of...

In this Nuffield investigation students explore limiting values of an iterative process, using arithmetic, algebra or spreadsheets. Students can move from identifying patterns to forming, verifying and proving conjectures.

This Nuffield exploration is a simulation of a booking system for a small guesthouse. Students have to manage the bookings and, as far as possible, arrange to give people the accommodation they request.

The key...

Scheduling jobs in a fashion workshop is the context for this Nuffield exploration. There are six people in the workshop and a series of jobs to be completed in one day.

The key processes which developed include:...

This Cre8ate maths activity allows the opportunity to discuss the modelling function of mathematics. The tasks allow students to develop their own strategies and to consider the idea of an ‘efficient’ algorithm. In addition, 'First fit and full bins' activity involves work on ratio and pie charts.

This Nuffield activity is set in the context of a park. Students determine where spies should sit in the park that has a square grid of benches, interspersed by bushes, so that they cannot see each other. Students also investigate how many different arrangements of...

This activity requires students to consider the problem of maximising the market available to a pizza shop through the ability to keep a home-delivered pizza warm for longer. Students use a mathematical model to explore the issue that a pizza home delivery business faces in ensuring that the pizza arrives hot! They...

Based on information and guides provided by the Department of Transport, this Cre8ate maths activity introduces the cost benefits of improving the aerodynamics of the cab section of a truck. Mathematical connections involve using calculators and spreadsheets to work on conversions and percentages in the context of...

This activity provides the opportunity for students to analyse the similarities and differences between genres of popular music with particular focus on the variable measures of tempo. Students work in small groups and listen to different music tracks, measure the tempos and interpret and present the results....

This activity from Cre8ate maths involves students in designing a playground. They will have to decide upon a suitable outdoor space and consider key features relevant to their design. Scaled templates can be used to trial several layouts giving consideration to safety...

In this activity students take on the role of an adult in the Australian Outback who whilst out horse riding finds a female kangaroo that has just been killed on the road by a passing truck. Her joey is still alive in her pouch. Through video clips, photographs and data, students become familiar with a range of...

This Nuffield investigation involves determining the number of text messages sent if four people send texts to each other, and then extending this for different numbers of people.

*Key processes applicable to this...

Volume one of two publications produced by the Spode Group with the aim of providing a useful set of examples that are convincing applications of mathematics and applications which can be taught in schools.

This...

Volume two of two publications produced by the Spode Group with the aim of providing a useful set of examples that are convincing applications of mathematics and applications which can be taught in schools.

This...

In this activity, students are presented with the question: “Do speed cameras reduce road casualties – or not?”. The activity is set in the context of media reporting to explore ideas of randomness, probability and drawing conclusions from data. A secondary theme is the mathematical modelling of a real situation....