Maths News

Wide World of Maths

The Year 9/10 Wide World of Maths students had the opportunity to hear an entertaining and informative talk from Dr Andrew Cullen. Dr Cullen received a PhD in Applied and Computational Mathematics from Monash University and is now at Melbourne University.

Dr Cullen stunned the students with descriptions of yet-to-be-solved maths problems and the use of mathematical formulae in fine-tuning AI applications. He had some very entertaining stories of his experiences. 

I asked students what they found interesting or learnt from the talk and here are some responses.

Brody: I was surprised by all the field of maths and how maths was used for many jobs and to solve problems I had not thought of.

Mitch: I learnt the different ways maths is used for major projects and that different formulas involve predictions.

Ryder: I found the motorcycle on the train pretty interesting and was wondering what his rate of investment when gambling?

Miguel: I was interested that Andrew had been a professional gambler and that some of his friends designed the games we play.

Gabriella: I found it really interesting that one guy with a  bucket of phones could trick Google Maps into thinking the traffic was bad just by walking up the street.

Charlotte: What really resonated with me is that you don’t have to be good at maths to do maths. 

Nick: What I learnt is that you can teach a maths person finance but you can’t teach a finance person maths.

Ewan: I learnt about how mathematics is used in the real world to solve problems and how important it is to learn it. I also learnt how different companies factor in AI when creating software that detects stalkers and also other things.

Tiana: I found it interesting how much maths is in sports.

Duke: I learnt about the lines on the weather map and what maths they use to calculate it.’

I hope in some way the Wide World of Maths students by being exposed to the many practical applications of Maths will continue to enjoy their Mathematics journey. 

Leanne Wilson

Mathematics

Australian Maths Competition

Earlier in the year, 104 students from Year 7 to 12 sat the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). The AMC is completed by tens of thousands students across Australia. Students compete in a range of age-based divisions.

Amongst our 104 students, we had 3 students achieve a High Distinction, 11 students achieve a Distinction, and 31 students achieve a Credit. 

Congratulations to Thomas Wang of Year 8, Michael Dollery of Year 8 and Alex Poon of Year 7 who achieved a High Distinction. Thomas was also awarded ‘Best in School’. 

Congratulations to the following students who also achieved a Distinction:

Year 7

• Aidan Dunlop
• Josh Fernandez
• Caleb Haines
• Jaryl Lim
• Joshua Pae
• Hari Thirugnanasambanthan

Year 8

• Andrew McFadden 

Year 10

• Callum Coombs
• Mica Gavrilovic
• Maggie Li

Year 12

• Nathan Krause

Well done to all students who participated in the Competition.

Tamara Gavazis

Leader of Mathematics and Numeracy