MATHEMATICS

Moment in Maths

Junior School

Our Year 9 I&E students have been learning about congruence and similarity with triangles and polygons. Whilst in remote learning, they were asked to create an enlarged version of an everyday item. In doing this activity, students realised that their drawings were the same shape but different size, corresponding angles are the same with corresponding sides in the same ratio, and they determined the scale factor to determine all lengths in their drawing. Students chose items that they had on their desk space like sharpeners, air pod case, remote, highlighter and USB. Architect, Cartographer and Photogrammetrist, Drafter, Mechanical engineer, Surveyor, Urban and regional planner are examples of jobs that involve understanding of geometry and symmetry properties. Check out the images for some examples of the work submitted – I think you’ll agree that our students did a great job!

Senior School

In Year 11 General Mathematics we have been finishing our linear relations topic, and students are applying their knowledge of linear equations and graphing to perform linear programming. This application of linear programming allows for the modelling of a scenario where we want to maximise some variable but have a few constraints to consider. This process can be especially useful in situations where the goal is to minimise costs or maximise profits or efficiency while considering constraints. A common scenario that students have explored involves determining what proportion of products a business should produce to maximise their profits while considering the amount of materials available, what is required to make both products, and the relative costs and profits associated with the production of each.

Family Fun

The answers to last edition’s questions were “third place” and “Athlete A” (Athlete A ran 100m while B ran 90m; Athlete A starting 10m behind means they will be side-by-side at 90 meters. Athlete A is faster so will pass Athlete B in the last 10m and win the race). Have a go at this edition’s brain teasers:

- How many crates do you need if you have 304 pairs of shoes and each crate can hold 19 shoes?

- John is taller than Jason. Rebecca is taller than Jason. Sara is taller than John. Beverly is shorter than Rebecca and taller than Sara. List everyone in order from tallest to shortest.