Creative Activities in Maths

Problem-based learning is a powerful alternative to drill-and practice or skills-based learning, especially within maths, but it can be difficult to source rich materials that engage an entire class.The Creative Activities in Mathematics series provides a wealth of investigations and open-ended active learning activities, designed to engage students with mathematics and develop their problem solving, collaboration and mathematical skills.Book One provides 12 different class activities suitable for students in lower and middle primary school (Foundation to Year 4), along with teaching notes and staged lesson plans. Each activity is a whole-class investigation with open-ended answers that takes a particular scenario and develops it over three levels. This enables it to be used both at different year levels and with students of differing ability in the same class. All activities are firmly rooted in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and linked to the content descriptors of the Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability strands.   Student materials Download a full set of activity sheets that provide a framework for student responses. These can be printed or copied for use in class. Download activity sheets Additional online resources Part 1: Number and Algebra Chapter 1: Numbers and words Simon Singh's Black Chamber - http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/index.html The Caesar cipher - http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/caesar.html Caesar’s method (The Caesar cipher) - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CaesarsMethod.html Chapter 2: Cats and dogs How cats age - http://www.calculatorcat.com/cats/cat-years.phtml Chart of cat ages to human ages - http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/agechart.htm Dog years calculator - http://www.onlineconversion.com/dogyears.htm How to calculate a dog's age in years - http://www.ehow.com/how_8461704_calculate-dogs-age-years.html The lifespan of animals - http://sonic.net/~petdoc/lifespan.htm Chapter 3: Difference and sum problems 1089 problem - http://www.mathsisfun.com/1089.html 1089 and a property of 3-digit numbers - http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/Arithmetic/S1089.shtml Mathematical magic tricks: The 1089 problem - http://www.numericana.com/answer/magic.htm#1089 Chapter 4: Arks and Tarks Missionaries and cannibals problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionaries_and_cannibals_problem The river crossing puzzle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_crossing_puzzle Tricky crossings - https://www.sciencenews.org/article/tricky-crossings Chapter 5: The farmyard problem The farmyard problem - http://nzmaths.co.nz/problem-solving-strategies#The Farmyard Problem Chapter 6: The 12 game Game theory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory Blackjack - http://www.pagat.com/banking/blackjack.html Pontoon - http://www.pagat.com/banking/pontoon.html Nim games - http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=4221   Part 2: Measurement and Geometry Chapter 7: Classroom shapes Polyhedron net animations - http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/polyhedron-net-animations.html Pyramids - http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/pyramids.html Pyramid animations - https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/pyramid.html The Dubai Pyramid - http://inhabitat.com/ziggurat-dubai-carbon-neutral-pyramid-will-house-1-million/ The Louvre Pyramid - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre_Pyramid The Shrine of Remembrance - http://www.shrine.org.au/The-S... Chapter 8: Jenny's jelly bean problem Maximum volume of a lidless box - http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMAT6680Su09/Park/As12dspark/As12dspark.html Chapter 9: Horrible Hal’s humungous hall Tessellation - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessellation The Alhambra - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tassellatura_alhambra.jpg MS Escher - http://www.mcescher.com/Galler...   Part 3: Statistics and Probability Chapter 10: The longest name Chinese names - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_name Sri Lankan names - http://www.babynology.com/sri-... (Link inactive) German names - http://www.babynamescountry.com/origins/popular_german_baby_names1.html English names - http://www.babynamescountry.com/origins/popular_english_baby_names1.html French names - http://expat-friendly.com/?Top... Top baby names in 2011 for Australia - http://www.kidspot.com.au/baby... Top baby names in 2011 for England - http://www.kidspot.com.au/baby... Top baby names in 2011 for the United States - http://www.kidspot.com.au/baby... Top baby names in France - http://expat-friendly.com/?Top... Top 20 pet names - http://www.bowwow.com.au/find-... Pet name search - http://www.bowwow.com.au/find-a-name-for-your-pet/pet-name-search.aspx Chapter 11: Penny’s Pet Shop No way José - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/no-way-jose?parent_node= Lonely pig - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/lonely-pig?parent_node= Chapter 12: The teddies’ race That's not fair - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/thats-not-fair?parent_node Dice roller - https://www.random.org/dice/ Dice roller - http://www.roll-dice-online.com Dice roller - https://www.random.org/playing-cards/ Additional sites Maths 300 - https://maths300.com NRICH - http://nrich.maths.org/ NZ Maths - http://nzmaths.co.nz AMSI TIMES (The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools) modules - http://schools.amsi.org.au/times-modules/

Problem-based learning is a powerful alternative to drill-and practice or skills-based learning, especially within maths, but it can be difficult to source rich materials that engage an entire class.The Creative Activities in Mathematics series provides a wealth of investigations and open-ended active learning activities, designed to engage students with mathematics and develop their problem solving, collaboration and mathematical skills.Book Two provides nine different class activities suitable for students in upper primary school (Years 4 to 7), along with teaching notes and staged lesson plans. Each activity is a whole class investigation with open-ended answers that takes a particular scenario and develops it over four levels. This enables it to be used both at different year levels and with students of differing ability in the same class. All activities are firmly rooted in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and linked to the content descriptors of the Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability strands.   Student materials Download a full set of activity sheets that provide a framework for student responses. These can be printed or copied for use in class. Download activity sheets Additional online resources Part 1: Number and Algebra Chapter 1: Hours in a day Leap day timeline - http://www.timeanddate.com/date/leap-day-timeline.html Leaplings - http://patch.com/minnesota/edina/what-s-a-leapling-fun-leap-year-facts Leap years - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/time/leapyear/ Days of the planets - http://www.universetoday.com/37481/days-of-the-planets/ How long is a day on Jupiter? - http://www.universetoday.com/15084/how-long-is-a-day-on-jupiter/ The Hebrew calendar - http://www.judaica-guide.com/the_hebrew_calendar/ Why are there 24 hours in a day? - http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/11/15/3364432.htm Decimal time - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time Internet time - http://www.timeanddate.com/time/internettime.html Chapter 2: Magimaths Mind-reading card trick - http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_card_trick1.htm Two wrongs do make a right - http://www.cs4fn.org/mathemagic/twowrongs.php Mathemagic - http://www.cs4fn.org/mathemagic/mathemagic.html Guess your number - http://izismile.com/2011/02/01/it-will-guess-your-number.html Magic shuffles - http://www.cs4fn.org/mathemagic/magicshuffles/ Wizardy - http://www.milaadesign.com/wizardy.html All change - http://www.cs4fn.org/mathemagic/coins.php Mind reader - http://www.sandlotscience.com/... I can read your mind (video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVrmQipRvpY&NR=1&feature=endscreen Chapter 3: Mr Mac’s iPhone Apple's guide to battery life - http://www.apple.com/au/batteries/ Egyptian fraction calculator - http://www.had2know.com/academics/egyptian-fraction-calculator.html   Part 2: Measurement and Geometry Chapter 4: Hubcaps Rotational symmetry (video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlWXuT4R3oI Indigenous Instyle Dunghutti-Ngaku Aboriginal Art Gallery (DNAAG) - http://dnaag.com.au/ Rose windows - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_window Rotational symmetry - http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/symmetry-rotational.html Chapter 5: Goats and wheels Locus of points on rolling objects - http://www.math-mate.com/chapter44_3.shtml Cycloids - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Cycloid.html Cycloids (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohP0clzK5rc The cycloid family of curves - http://curvebank.calstatela.edu/cycloidmaple/cycloid.htm   Part 3: Statistics and Probability Chapter 7: Sports shots Goal kicking - http://www.afl.com.au/news/201... Standard normal distribution - http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/standard-normal-distribution.html Chapter 8: Roman gamblers How many dice? - http://nrich.maths.org/692 Chapter 9: The school fete Hans Rosling and the magic washing machine (video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sqnptxlCcw The Likert scale - http://www.surveygizmo.com/sur... Additional sites Maths 300 - https://maths300.com NRICH - http://nrich.maths.org/ NZ Maths - http://nzmaths.co.nz/ AMSI TIMES (The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools) Modules - http://schools.amsi.org.au/times-modules/

Problem-based learning is a powerful alternative to drill-and practice or skills-based learning, especially within maths, but it can be difficult to source rich materials that engage an entire class.The Creative Activities in Mathematics series provides a wealth of investigations and open-ended active learning activities, designed to engage students with mathematics and develop their problemsolving, collaboration and mathematical skills.Book Three provides nine different class activities suitable for students in lower and middle secondary school (Years 7 to 10), along with teaching notes and staged lesson plans. Each activity is a whole-class investigation with open-ended answers that takes a particular scenario and develops it over four levels. This enables it to be used both at different year levels and with students of differing ability in the same class. All activities are firmly rooted in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and linked to the content descriptors of the Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability strands. Student materials Download a full set of activity sheets that provide a framework for student responses. These can be printed or copied for use in class. This set also includes a number of extension activities for advanced students. Download activity sheets Additional online resources Part 1: Number and Algebra Chapter 2: The Tower of Hanoi Francois Édouard Lucas - http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lucas.html Tower of Hanoi simulation - http://www.towerofhanoi.org/ Tower of Hanoi simulation - http://britton.disted.camosun.... Tower of Hanoi simulation - http://www.mazeworks.com/hanoi... Scientific calculator - http://web2.0calc.com/ Chapter 3: Nim-like games The 21 game - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim#The_21_game Nim history - http://www.archimedes-lab.org/game_nim/nim.html Nim - strategy game or scam? - http://h2g2.com/approved_entry/A20725760 Win at Nim - http://www.archimedes-lab.org/How_to_Solve/Win_at_Nim.html   Part 2: Measurement and Geometry Chapter 4: Hidden treasure The Story of Mathematics - http://www.storyofmathematics.com/ Euclid - http://www.storyofmathematics.com/hellenistic_euclid.html GeoGebra - http://www.geogebra.org/cms/do... Compass and straight-edge constructions - http://schools-wikipedia.org/w... Circumcentre of a triangle - http://www.mathopenref.com/constcircumcenter.html Hexagons - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Hexagon.html Chapter 5: Tessellations Attack on the pentagon results in discovery of new mathematical tile - http://gu.com/p/4b9b3/sbl Penrose Tiles - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PenroseTiles.html Polyominoes: A big word for a lot of fun - http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/L... Polyominoes and other animals - https://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/junkyard/polyomino.html Pentominoes: An introduction - http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk... About pentominoes - http://isomerdesign.com/Pentomino/ Tetraominoes - http://www.cut-the-knot.org/blue/TetrominoFaultFree.shtml Chapter 6: How high is a building? Basic clinometer from classroom materials - http://www.instructables.com/id/Basic-Clinometer-From-Classroom-Materials/ Make a clinometer - http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Clinometer How to make a clinometer (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMLcU1Qknts Basic rangefinders - https://people.rit.edu/andpph/text-rangefinder-basic.html Make a simple rangefinder - http://www.ehow.com/how_7857303_make-simple-rangefinder-mirrors.html   Part 3: Statistics and Probability Chapter 7: Greedy Pig Greedy Pig - http://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/greedy-pig-0 Greedy Pig - http://nrich.maths.org/1258 Game of Pig: Sixes - http://www.math.usu.edu/~schneit/CTIS/GreedyPig/ Dice roller - http://www.roll-dice-online.com Dice roller - http://www.brockjones.com/dieroller/dice.htm Virtual dice - http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custo... Chapter 8: Pascal's triangle Pascal's triangle - http://www.mathsisfun.com/pascals-triangle.html The hockey stick theorem - http://luckytoilet.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/the-hockey-stick-theorem-an-animated-proof/ Pascal's triangle and its patterns - http://ptri1.tripod.com/ Pascal's triangle (video)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUqHdxxdbyM Linking newspaper rings, Pascal's colours and poetry of math - http://mathmunch.org/tag/pascals-triangle/ Chapter 9: Monty Hall's problem Monty Hall's problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem Monty Hall's problem simulation - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/science/08monty.html?_r=0# Monty Hall's problem simulation - http://www.stayorswitch.com/ Monty Hall's problem simulation - http://blossoms.mit.edu/legacy/monty-hall/index.htm Monty Hall's problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTosh1aZ5fs Monty Hall's problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhlc7peGlGg Bertrand's box paradox - http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/june72013/index.html Bertrand's box paradox - http://blog.zymergi.com/2013/06/bertrands-box-paradox.html Two envelopes problem - https://www.math.hmc.edu/funfa... Two envelopes problem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_envelopes_problem Two envelopes problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Odh-7Cz1d8 Sleeping Beauty problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Beauty_problem Sleeping Beauty problem - http://measureofdoubt.com/2011... Sleeping Beauty problem - http://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/41208/the-sleeping-beauty-paradox Sleeping Beauty problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cqbf86jTro Sleeping Beauty problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL52lG6aNIY Three prisoners problem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Prisoners_problem Monty Hall and three prisoners - http://www.mathrecreation.com/2009/03/monty-hall-and-three-prisoners.html Classic probability problems - http://probabilityblogger.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/classic-probability-problems-revisited.html The birthday paradox - http://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-the-birthday-paradox/ The birthday paradox - https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/probability-shared-birthday.html Boy or girl paradox - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_or_Girl_paradox Additional sites Maths 300 - http://www.maths300.esa.edu.au... NRICH - http://nrich.maths.org/ NZ Maths - http://nzmaths.co.nz/ AMSI TIMES (The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools) Modules - http://schools.amsi.org.au/times-modules/