Task Centre News

March 2005

• 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.

• Flinders Christian College
  Michael Swanborough tells us:

  This year we have programmed a range of Tasks/Maths 300 lessons across Years 7-10 so the staff are becoming more familiar. We are also getting staff to present one task/lesson each at faculty meetings through the year so that each person in the faculty becomes familiar with at least 10-15 new activities. The level of enthusiasm amongst staff and students is encouraging and we are appreciative of all of the work you have put into the Maths With Attitude kits - they are fantastic!!

  Thanks once again for all of your hard work - it is making maths relevant and meaningful to lots of students!!

  Of course the hard work is being done by Michael and his team and it's great to hear of a staff working together so enthusiastically and seeing the results of their efforts. However, there is a big background thank you in Michael's note to all the teachers in all the schools who, over many years, have been willing to enter the debate about what makes maths teaching better; and willing to share the best of what they have done in a way that we have been able to collect and structure.

  You are also encouraged to become engaged in this debate through the tasks and investigative lessons built on them. It only takes a paragraph like Michael's to share your efforts more widely.

• Sphinx Keeps Growing
  Robert Barwell, one of Andy Martin's eBuddy students, has continued to work on the Sphinx problem even though his attempt to draw Size 101 turned out to be flawed. Well Robert wouldn't be the first mathematician to come up with flawed reasoning, so, like all his colleagues, Robert just started again another way.

  His latest work is a digital drawing of a Size 21, which shows incredible mastery of drawing tools for one so young, and an excellent understanding of the factors involved in creating larger size Sphinxes. From that he has explained how to make a Size 23, construction of which has, to this time, eluded his school mates Amy & Emma. But chivalry is not dead. In creating his solution, Robert has asked that it be named the Amy & Emma.

  See Robert's work in the Sphinx Album link on the left.

• Matt's Mat & mini-Whiteboards
  Matt Skoss is a very experienced and energetic teacher and presenter from Central Australia. He makes a fabulous Maths Mat which can be used for so many kinaesthetic representations of mathematics at all levels. See the link Matt's Maths Mat in the Resources link on the left. Matt has informed us of a small increase in price of the Mat and also of a great new product he has designed which has been a hit with several classes in the Red Centre.

  What is also generating interest are the mini-Whiteboards I tote around with me. Using whiteboard markers kids record their data, then walk up to a whiteboard to contribute to the 'community data'. It is the first time I've integrated them consistently into what I've been doing, and I was stunned with the reaction of the teachers. This stuff is on 6mm plywood, rather than the 20mm plywood A3-size whiteboards in some schools (...which could be classified as a weapon!).

  I used them with Sultanas in Fruit Cake - a variation on the Maths300 Chocolate Chip Cookies lesson. Bringing the mini-Whiteboards out to the front was a convenient way of 'collecting the community data' as a precursor to jumping into a stem & leaf plot. Not an essential process, but nice.

  We think others might find this resource useful too, so it has been added to the Resources link on the left.

• Point Symmetry Improved
  The Point Symmetry Pack from the Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV) is a wonderful hands-on problem solving resource in the topic of Point Symmetry - also called Rotational Symmetry. We highly recommend this kit to all schools with an interest in hands-on tasks.

  The interesting and exciting special feature of this pack is that you purchase your concrete material from the MAV, then the students find their problem on the Point Symmetry web site - a very purposeful use of technology. Alternatively you can print all you need from the site. With a colour printer, the few sheets of paper involved turn out marvellously. The site is absolutely free so you can go there now and see exactly what you get for your money.

  Our interest in the site has been rekindled this month with the addition of two new links. There is now a link where students can submit strategies for solving these problems. Several are suggested already. The other new link records applications of rotational symmetry. The application Designing Alloy Wheels & Trims already has a photo gallery of examples and a suggested project. The invitation is open to add similar examples for other applications.

  Point symmetry has an important place in the curriculum from Years 4 - 11. Visit the site at:
  http://www.mav.vic.edu.au/pointsym

• Answers: Secondary Library Kit
  This month we have added solutions for the Secondary Library Kit to the Library Kit link on the left. Now Maths Around the Kitchen Table is fully supported in both Primary and Secondary schools. Students borrow tasks to take home and work through with their parents. In Library Kits there are hints on the additional parent card. When the family wants to check their thinking they can come to this web site and find the answers to all the tasks laid out in alphabetic order.

• Special Discounts
  Our review of service, prices and products which took effect from October 1st led us to discontinue some lines in favour of the exciting new range of Maths With Attitude kits which offer hands-on problem solving and whole class investigation alternatives from Years 3 - 10. See the Resources link on the left for more information about MWA.

  We have some stock of the discontinued lines on the shelf and they are now available at substantial discount. Prices listed are for sales within Australia only. Clients from beyond Australia please ask for a quote. Prices include GST and delivery in Australia.

  Discontinued Replacement Units

  • Now available at $299 each (were $357.50)
  • Each kit is made up of 20 tasks and a manual of extensive notes and investigation sheets.
    • Pattern & Algebra Upper Primary
      (NB: The 20 tasks in this kit include doubles of three tasks.)
    • Computation Upper Primary
    • Computation Lower Secondary

  Discontinued Mixed Media Unit 2: Fractions in Action

  • Now available at $220 each (were $302.50)
  • Each kit is made up of 10 tasks, two manuals of extensive notes and investigation sheets and software on floppy disk.
  • The software is for Windows only and is an earlier version of Fraction Estimation which is now on Maths300.
  • The software is sold with a Campus Licence giving the purchaser the right to use it on any number of computers on the one physical campus.

  To order, fax your purchase order made out to Black Douglas Professional Education Services to (03) 9727 4644. State the items you want and add the words 'discontinued lines'. To talk further about this offer, ring (03) 9726 8316 or email:
  doug@blackdouglas.com.au.

  NOTE: The Chance & Data Replacement Unit which is designed for Upper Primary and Lower Secondary classes, and Mixed Media Unit 1, Points of View, remain on our Resources list as examples of two different unit plans which integrate hands-on problem solving into the mathematics curriculum. Maths With Attitude requires Maths300 Membership. These Units do not.

• Did you miss the February News?
  If so you missed information about:
  1. Great possibilities for Professional Development through Maths on the Move.
  2. Great possibilities for building a Working Mathematically curriculum using the Maths With Attitude kits.

Keep smiling,
Doug.

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