African Drumming Workshops - Maths & Music

Using maths to identify patterns is not easy to understand for children and adults alike.  I have discovered the perfect way to teach pattern recognition.  I work with the well-known and internationally recognised team of Ghanaian drummers (www.one-drum.org) who run national school workshops to teach...

Fractions Matery

Gold award: investigate the properties of materials used for saucepans

Students investigate the properties of materials used for cooking utensils in order to collect quantitative data.  For example, if testing for thermal conductivity they should gain a value for the rate at which heat flows through a cross-sectional area of material.  Students should also find out if...

Suzi’s company: frequency tables

This task is designed to assess how well students understand:Calculating the mean from a frequency tableWorking out the mode from a frequency tableUsing statistical measures to justify a statementThe task looks at salaries in a small company. Information on salaries is presented in the form of a frequency table....

Statistics and probability (MARS)

This task is designed to assess how well students understand assigning probabilities and working with statistical measures.There are a series of five short tasks for students to complete. Each comes with a detailed rubric.This task is from the Mathematics Assessment Resource Service, a collaboration between UC...

Spinner bingo: systematic listing

This task assesses how well students understand systematic listing and possibility space diagrams.A game uses two spinners marked in equal sections with the numbers 1 to 9. Players fill in nine different numbers on a card. Both spinners are spun, and the numbers added to make a score. If a player has that number on...

Lottery: systematic listing

This task assesses how well students understand systematic listing and expected value.The task features a proposal for a lottery game. Players must pay a $1 fee to enter the lottery. They are given a card showing the numbers 1 to 6. Players cross through two numbers of their choosing. A bag contains balls with the...

Memory game: conditional probability

This task assesses how well students understand calculating conditional probability. Some of the tasks require either systematic listing or use of  tree diagrams.The task features a ‘memory game’. In the game there are four cards, two have a picture of an apple on them, and two have a picture of bananas. In order...

Card game: conditional probability

This task assesses how well students understand calculating conditional probability.The task features a game of ‘higher or lower’ being played with cards numbered 1 to 10. Several turns in a game are shown and students must write the probability that the next card is either higher or lower.This task would be...

Candy bars: analysing data

This task assesses analysing data using graphs or charts.A group of friends are planning on selling candy bars at a school tuck shop. They conduct a survey of 30 people, asking the question, ‘how many bars of candy do you eat in a week?’The results are presented as raw data, stating male or female, together with how...