Creative Activities in Mathematics - Book 2

Problem-based maths investigations for upper primary

By Derek Holton and Duncan Symons

PRE ORDER NOW ~ Publication date November 30, 2025

$61.95

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/

ISBN: 9781923569249

Size:

pages

Publication date: November 30, 2025

About the author: Derek Holton and Duncan Symons

Derek Holton trained as a secondary teacher but has spent most of his life as an academic, doing research in combinatorics and various aspects of mathematics education, including problem solving. However, he has never lost his interest in trying to show students what he enjoys about mathematics. For almost 25 years he worked in New Zealand, where he was part of the group that prepared students to take part in the International Mathematical Olympiad. An Honorary Professor at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Derek is now retired but still works with students and teachers at every opportunity.

Duncan Symons is a Lecturer of Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Melbourne. His research interests include inquiry-based and investigative approaches to mathematics education in the primary years. He is also interested in how mathematics can be embedded within the broader curriculum. He currently facilitates a program for Teacher Candidates at the University of Melbourne that focuses on the adoption and promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as a means to achieve integration.