VCE Vocational Major Excursion

How much can you fit into a cube?

The VCE - Vocational Major students from Taylors Lakes Secondary College recently visited Metro Tunnel HQ in Melbourne. At the Metro Tunnel HQ, students were introduced to the Metro Tunnel project, the purpose of the Metro Tunnel project, the new stations being built under the City of Melbourne and some of the logistical cost associated with the project.

Students were required to calculate how much soil was removed, in m3, from the Metro Tunnel project. The students realised that the amount of soil calculated, was actually not the amount of soil to be removed, as once it is broken and mixes with air it takes up more space. Using this knowledge, students were given a choice of tip-trucks to remove the soil from the site. Students then had to calculate the cost of each tip-truck for the duration of the project and choose which tip-truck they would prefer for the Metro Tunnel project, giving reasons for their choice. The correct answer was all of them, depending on the vehicle access to the city.

During the next lesson back at school, students built a 1m3 cube shape and discussed the real-world implications of moving such a big load of soil through the streets of Melbourne, approximately 2 million m3. Students then calculated how many tip-trucks were required for the Metro Tunnel project, the total cost of the tip-trucks for the Metro Tunnel project, the logistics of different tip-trucks for the Metro Tunnel project and how much mark-up they would charge, if they were the tip-truck business owner.

Students then researched careers associated with the Metro Tunnel project, the cost, and details of other large-scale projects as part of Victorian Government’s big build infrastructure projects.

This activity showed the importance of students experiencing uncommon units of measure (m3) and how an appropriate context will stimulate learning.

Dilan Abeyaratne

Mathematics Teacher