Task Centre News

April 2005

• Pentagon Triangles
  Pentagon Triangles, the material used in Task 81, are now available in class sets and have been added to the support materials in the Resources link on the left. Pentagon Triangles provide many problem solving experiences related to shapes and their properties, similarity, ratio and proportion, square numbers, Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Ratio.

• MOTM Opportunities
  Fantastic professional development opportunities through Maths on the Move in April and May. Check the link on the left - especially if you are a teacher in South Australia, Alice Springs, Darwin or Southwest Victoria.
  • South Australia - April 21st & 22nd in Adelaide.
  • Alice Springs - May 7th and 8th
  • Darwin - May 9th & 10th
  • Victoria - May 31st & June 1st (Geelong), June 2nd & 3rd (Warranambool)
  ACT NOW!

• MWA & Home Schooling
  Jan Smith is a home schooling mum who recently contacted us because she wanted to provide concrete mathematical experiences for her children. After checking out the Resources link the family decided to purchase several Maths With Attitude kits. These excerpts from a recent email gives you some idea of how these kits are working out in this context.

  We've had a great deal of fun and learning with a number of the tasks already. The kids surprise me with their answers and intuition. It sure is bringing maths to life for all of us!

  Recently we did the Highest Number task and discovered it was helpful to involve a greater number of people than just our family of 4 to set up the Stem and Leaf Graph and so we did. Our kids absolutely love recording statistics and the Highest Number task took them to the next step by encouraging ideas on how those statistics could be used to make decisions. I could see the kids felt a sense of purpose about the exercise as it became a real world experience.

  Interestingly, I was chatting with a retired school teacher recently who was a bit fascinated to see our task kits and she bemoaned the fact that our local schools had gone away from these activities and become too "worksheet" oriented. As a relief teacher she now revels in being able to introduce the hands on style of teaching without feeling too many restraints!

  I'm so impressed, that I admit to raving about it to all and sundry. I've just made contact with a home-school family living on a cattle station near Kununurra and my introductory email spent about two paragraphs talking about Maths With Attitude!

  Thanks Doug and keep up the good work in bringing Math and thinking skills to our young generation (and the older generations too) as we learn along together!

  Cheers!
  Jan Smith

  Another area where MWA might be particularly useful is Hospital Schools. If you know anyone working in this area you might like to retell Jan's story.

• John's Original Sphinx
  At the BCME 6 conference in Britain last month I caught up with John Hibbs (retired - but still very active - HMI) who discovered one of the original Size 3 Sphinx solutions. He had rediscovered the drawing of his solution, so, as an item of history a scan of it has been added to the record of his solution at:
  http://www.blackdouglas.com.au/project/sphinx/sfnx3sol.htm

  The fascination of the Sphinx seems to be in the way it replicates itself - 4 Sphinxes make a Sphinx is the starting point. Are there other shapes which behave this way? Certainly.

  • 4 Size 1 Squares make a Size 2 Square.
  • 4 Size 2 Squares make a Size 4 Square.
  • 4 Size 4 Squares make a Size 8 Square.
  • And now we are growing just like the Sphinx does.
  • But what about Size 3 Squares? If one existed, how many Size 1 Squares might be needed to make it? Could it be made? Certainly. We have all made a 3x3 square of 9 squares in the past. But this is the same reasoning which opened the door to the Sphinx problem.
  Somehow though growing squares seems a bit common place. Are there still other shapes with this property.

  John has donated some work from an old notebook which might start you off on the hunt. See the Sphinx Album link on the left.

• Size 100 Sphinx!
  It takes 10,000 Size 1 Sphinx pieces to create a Size 100 Sphinx and Robert Barwell, Year 7, has done it. He didn't use the plastic pieces - even Andy Martin and Thorne Grammar in England, where Robert was at the time he achieved this feat, can't afford that many. No, Robert put his computing skills to work to create a Size 100 Sphinx which is one metre along the base. Find out how in the Sphinx Album link on the left.

• Review of MWA 3/4
  Maths With Attitude Years 3 & 4 has been in the market place for over two years. In the next few weeks the four manuals for this level will be reviewed and corrected as necessary.

  You are invited to contribute to this review process. Have you found any typos or other errors which need correcting? Is there any part of the manual you found unclear? Any other comments you could make would be welcome. Contact Doug. Williams:

  • Email: doug@blackdouglas.com.au
  • Phone: +61 3 9726 8316

• Matt's Mat Slide Show
  
  • If you have never been to a Maths on a Mat with Matt workshop.
  • If you have ever wondered what a Maths Mat really is.
  • Then this link is too good to miss.
  Finish reading the rest of the News, then come back and view Matt's Mat Slide Show.

• Indigenous Students Working Mathematically
  We are in the process of planning a new MOTM workshop day titled Indigenous Students Working Mathematically. We know there has been great success in many schools with the Task Centre Kit for Aboriginal Students. We also know, especially from work in the Changing Places project in Tasmania, that Poly Plug have been a successful source of hands-on learning for Indigenous students through the primary years.

  The intention of the workshop will be to tell stories from Indigenous classrooms and stories about Indigenous students to uplift, resource and encourage participants who are working with Indigenous students.

  WE NEED MORE OF YOUR STORIES.

  If you have been involved in Indigenous learning using the Task Centre materials and related resources and have been excited about the developments you have seen in your students, please send text, photos, scans etc. with permission for us to use the information. Anything from a paragraph to an encyclopedia would be welcome.

  USA readers take note. We know that our Indigenous material has been used in some of your schools too, so let's hear some of your stories.

• Did you miss the March News?
  If so you missed information about:
  1. The release of answers to the Secondary Library kit to further support the concept of Maths Around The Kitchen Table.
  2. Discounts on discontinued lines. There may be some left. Ask for information.
  3. Discounts on discontinued lines. There may be some left. Ask for information.
  4. Improvements to the Point Symmetry material supplied by the Mathematical Association of Victoria.
  5. Testimony to the value of Maths With Attitude from Flinders Christian College.
  6. More amazing student work on Task 166, Sphinx.

Keep smiling,
Doug.

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