Mathematics Teaching 188 - Sep 2004

Mathematics in context - Janine Blinko

A research project was funded by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to explore the reasons for a perceived mismatch between children's responses to assessment questions embedded in a context and those which are not. This article is based on the report written on the outcomes of that research.

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘Mathematics in context’ for £3

The answer is 42 - Judy Rowland & Libby Jared

A school photographer, who is taking a photograph of two basketball teams, had to arrange ten people, all of different heights in two rows of five, one behind the other. Each person in the back row must be taller than the person standing directly in front. Along the rows the heights must decrease from left to right. In how many ways can the people be arranged for the photo to be taken?

The missing domino - David Fielker

Dominoes are generally recognised to have originated in China centuries ago, but there are no references to them in western literature before the middle of the 18th century... The structure of a set of dominoes, while appearing to be straightforward pairing of all numbers from zero to six (in a standard set), has yet a slight awkwardness about it. My interest in domino puzzles began when I saw an example of a particular type in an educational journal. Martin Gardner introduced it as a game in which one person puts a set of dominoes at random into a rectangle, then copies out the digits onto a grid without showing the dominoes pattern. The other person has then to work out where the dominoes are.

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘The missing domino’ for £3

Up-side down grids? - Rosemary Hafeez

Following two recent articles by Midge Pasternack and Ian Thompson, I would like to take the discussion regarding number grids a step further. I believe both the layout suggested by Midge and the layout suggested by Ian are at a disadvantage. I would argue that both these grids are up-side-down and that instead a grid that starts at the bottom should be used with children. For the sake of this article I will refer to my suggested grid as the Kingston grid. This could take the form of either a 0-99 or 1-100 or even a 0-100.

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘Up-side down grids?’ for £3

Feeding the hungry - Jim Seth, Sue Wilson & Lynn Nash

What do you do to stimulate disaffected Y6 children, those children who are borderline level four and feel that they are not competent mathematicians? At Stithians primary school Jim Seth organised a 'Maths Banquet' for small groups of children and their teachers from ten local schools.. The main course was the banquet itself. A hall filled with a plethora of ingredients for creating packed lunches, the children's task to choose a healthy packed lunch and to work out the unit cost for each ingredient so that the finished article could be priced.

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘Feeding the hungry’ for £3

Mathematics and VSO - Frieda Wilkinson

In February 2001 I decided that having spent 27 years teaching in the same comprehensive school it was time to for me to apply to VSO to see if I had the kind of qualities and skills they were looking for. This was not entirely altruistic because I thought it would also provide me with an exciting challenge. The end of January 2002 found me on the way to The Gambia, having accepted a two-year placement. These are my experiences and observations.

The Nth term &Y8 area lesson - Colin Foster

I very much dislike setting pupils exercises to do in which the answers are of no consequence. For instance, it seems to me (and often to them) a waste of effort to substitute a relatively random list of numbers into a relatively random list of formulae simply in order to substitute numbers into formulae. As soon as an answer is obtained the pupil is encouraged to go straight on to the next question without a thought. To do otherwise would be 'wasting time'. I am always looking for ways for pupils to practise procedures while something a bit more interesting is going on...

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘The Nth term &Y8 area lesson’ for £3

Creativity and enjoyment - Christine Mitchell

Young children need to have numerous opportunities to explore, rehearse, talk about, reformulate and rehearse again their early experiences and emergent understandings. Story books can provide one starting point...

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘Creativity and enjoyment’ for £3

Away with the Fareys - Andrew Nind

I was first introduced to Farey sequences by a very bright and enthusiastic eleven-year-old during my teacher training last year. Since then I have experimented with them in the classroom. I would like to share the results of this experiment and some associated pedagogical thoughts.

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘Away with the Fareys’ for £3

Making graphs count - Franny Van Dyke & Alexander White

Have you ever given what you considered to be a clear cogent explanation, using a graph complete with coloured chalk, and found your students looking at you with blank stares? You wonder what the problem could be. Perhaps it was just the graph. Read on...

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘Making graphs count’ for £3

Features Slicing cylinders using sliceforms - John Sharp

Slicing is a common fact of everyday life, particularly with food. Breakfast starts with slicing bread, lunch might include sliced cheese and tomato in your sandwiches and dinner slices of meat. By slicing these foods, I mean taking a knife and cutting a plane surface to section the item. I am going to concentrate on this aspect since this is an article about mathematics but if it were English, I might raise the puzzle about how the word slice means something different when talking about pizza, cake or pie.

Slice forms template for this article

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘Features Slicing cylinders using sliceforms’ for £3

Count On - Will Bulman (Count On) & David Meehan

Number Day, sponsored by Count On and Capita, is a mathematical event to raise funds for the NSPCC

In pursuit of patterns - Jose Chamoso

Jose is a Spanish lecturer in mathematics education. For this reason he is keen to keep in touch with teachers from different levels of education. However, today Jose is worried. He has agreed to lead a workshop about pattern with a group of teachers from another town. To boost his confidence Jose contacts his friend Bill and this article is a result of their discussions on how they tested each others ideas on how to tackle the problems of pattern.

Not a member? Join or click to buy ‘In pursuit of patterns’ for £3

Reflections - Carole Skinner

I spent some time this summer reading and reflecting on the Ofsted evaluation report Transition from Reception to Year 1. HM inspectors were reporting back on the visits they had made to schools in the spring term when children were in their Reception classes...

Professional Officer's Update

In July, ATM decided to extend my three-year contract as Professional Officer for another year, which led me to think about what I have achieved as ATM's Professional Officer since January 2002 and what I still hope to achieve...

Letters

Letters from Bob Burn and Dick Tahta.