Mathematics
In our last newsletter, we included the family game ‘Make me Say 50’ in addition to our ‘Quick Curriculum Guides’ for Levels 3 and 4. This week we are bringing the Mathematics Curriculum to you in a ‘quick read’ format aimed at our senior school students. If you have ever wondered what your children are learning in Mathematics over the year then these guides will provide you with a great insight. We have included a new style of problem-solving game for the family called ‘Esty-Mystery’ and hope you enjoy exploring this with your child.
FUN FACT #1: A year isn’t exactly 365 days -- it’s 365.2564 days! That’s why we have a leap year every four years.
FUN FACT #2: The spiral shapes of sunflowers, snails and shells follow the Fibonacci sequence, where the two previous numbers are added together to get the next. (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, and on and on. To see a Fibonacci spiral, draw a series of squares with sides the length of the numbers in the sequence (a 1x1 square, a 2x2 square, a 3x3 square, 5x5 square, 8x8 square and so on until you get something that looks like the below:
In nature, the Fibonacci sequence can be seen in many plants: plant sections, petals and rows of seeds almost always add up to a Fibonacci number. See examples below sourced from https://insteading.com/blog/fibonacci-sequence-in-nature/.
The ‘Quick Curriculum Guides’ below are based on the Australian Curriculum and were designed by Dr Paul Swan to provide an insight to parents about what is learnt in Mathematics in each year level. The guides provide details for an activity that can be done at home. Please keep in mind that children learn this curriculum over a whole year. Although we follow the Victorian Curriculum, the Australian Curriculum is almost identical.
In our last newsletter we included Levels 3 and 4. This week we have included guides for Level 5 and Level 6. We hope that you find these easy to use with your children when engaging with Mathematics at home. For more information please visit https://drpaulswan.com.au/.
LEVEL 5
LEVEL 6
‘Esty-Mysteries’ have been designed by Steve Wyborney, an incredible Mathematics Educator from the US. He has created the Esty-Mystery problem solving game to extend students’ mathematical thinking and estimation skills. Below is one you can try with your child at home and hopefully be inspired and amazed by their mathematical skills and language! To view more Esty-Mysteries please visit https://stevewyborney.com/.
In the below Esty-Mysteries, Steve Wyborney shows how one image can be used for students across levels to apply their problem-solving skills to estimate the number of cherries in a jar. The clues provided change depending on year levels and provide students with the opportunity to investigate, hypothesize, problem-solve, justify and reason; skills that are not only critical in Mathematics learning but also in everyday life. Enjoy estimating the answers with your child! There may be more than one solution!
Foundation Students – “You Can’t See all the Cherries”
Levels 1 and 2 – “Cherry Patterns”
Levels 3 to 8: “Cherries and Products”
Keep an eye out for more Mathematics games and problem solving activities that the whole family can enjoy in the next newsletter. If you would like to learn more about something specific in Mathematics, please email at the office at rangeview.ps@education.vic.gov.au with ‘Attention: Vicki and Lee’ in the subject line and we will respond to you directly.
Best wishes,
Lee Giddings and Vicki Tzimos