Maths
News from the Mathematics Department
A curious question - Ms. Buick was considering two 20c coins, rolling one of them around the other, when she posed an interesting question to Mr. McPhail.
“Mr McPhail, if I keep the coin on the right still while rolling the coin on the left around it - no slipping or sliding - what position will the queen’s head be in when it gets to the other side?”
The starting position of the coins
Have a think for a moment. What is your answer to this question?
This curious question is very similar to a question that was posed on last year’s Australian Mathematics Competition.
It could be solved in a number of ways; using logic, by actually trying it out or even by using some mathematical equations. Regardless of your method, the true aim of this question is to spark an interest – to engage with your natural curiosity.
This week, one hundred and thirty-two Year 7 – 12 students volunteered to participate in the annual Australian Mathematics Competition. This is a significant competition, which attracts over 200,000 students across 2500 schools in Australia and the Asian-Pacific region.
Killester’s very high participation rate in this year’s competition of close to 15% of all students is, in itself, a wonderful achievement.
Not only do activities such as the Mathematics Competition broaden the students’ exposure to a range of mathematical contexts and help to develop their mathematical competencies, but more importantly, they encourage students to engage in interesting and curious questions.
While it is a bit of a guess, I propose that it was great minds that were used to working on interesting and curious questions who came up with vital break-throughs such as covid vaccines and mobile technology. Minds that perhaps entered Mathematics competitions ever year.
2022 - Maths Competition training session
I look forward to reporting back on how our one hundred and thirt y-two curious minds performed in the competition later in the year. In the meantime, feel free to send your answer to Ms. Buick’s rolling coin question to: lmartin@killester.vic.edu.au
Mr. Luke Martin
Mathematics Learning Area Leader