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A prime experience (ClassPad)

Many students know what a prime number is, but outside of that and perhaps prime factorisation what else do they do (in school) with these amazing creatures? This unit charts a path for students through the prime’s landscape along which they discover sexy primes (among others), prove and generally get to behave very much like a mini-mathematician. Workshops on this unit have been offered in a number of states previously. We do not think you will have seen a tried and proven learning sequence like this before.


Describing change (ClassPad)

This replacement unit introduces algebraic models (linear and simple exponential) to describe change in the world around us. The fitting of models to bivariate data is approached via the underlying properties of constant additive or multiplicative change. The unit contains a wealth of data drawn from a range of aspects of the modern world. Extensive notes are provided on the use of ClassPad technology. A .vcp file contains all unit’s data in a Spreadsheet, and also as Statistics variables.


Generosity – an approach to fractions and percentages.

This unit uses the context of generosity to introduce a need to have a fractional way of thinking about something.

It develops a way of thinking about fractions – the for-every idea – that is the elusive multiplicative model.

Developed over about 5 years, this approach has been tried and seems to work. 🙂


Optimisation (ClassPad)

When studying quadratic functions/calculus, do too many of your students find ‘optimisation questions’ hard? Have you ever wondered why? The booklet you can download here is the unit of work that supports the ideas presented in a number of workshops during 2011 and 2012 that outlined why students find the ideas hard. Basically, traditional teaching-and-doing approaches fail to focus on what is really happening: the measurement on one dimension and the subsequent calculation of other dimensions. Also, algebraic simplification turns out to be the devil – the patterns in the symbols are lost and so generalisation is not ‘seen’! The approach in the booklet supports the idea of each student developing a calculation and then comparing and contrasting to it other’s calculations – it is in this that the symbolic patterns appear and the generalisation literally reveals itself.


Exponential and trigonometric functions

A selection of documents that share some nice ideas about exponential functions, trigonometric functions and a lovely context where both concepts come together.


Developing ways-of-thinking about the ideas that form calculus

This video and documents outline a 4 session course that aim to assist students to develop the optimal ways-of-thinking about the ideas that underpin calculus.


Cup Snakes – Describing Linear Change

A video introduction presents the mathematics of cup snakes, a hands on phenomena involving additive change that gives rise to a way to think about linear growth. Modeling this phenomena theoretically, with the help of two cups, and through data, with the help of many, many cups, these videos give rise to some of the big ideas around developing and using linear algebraic models to describe additive bi-variate change. These ideas are then unpacked in the accompanying ‘chapter replacement’ booklet.

Cup Snakes – Describing Linear Change


Approaches to the WACE 2011 Mathematics 3C3D Exam

This document presents an approach or approaches to the 2011 WACE Mathematics 3C3D Examination. These approaches incorporate the use of CAS as well as ‘by hand’ solution methods. At times two alternative methods are presented. The providing of two solutions is intended to encourage a conversation between teachers and students about the most deserning and efficient way to tackle the mathematics presented in this form of assessment.


CP043 Creating User Defined Variables

Create your own user functions.
Examples (i) f(x)=1/x or (ii) Ckh2ms to convert speeds from km/h to m/s


CP044 Edit and Delete User Defined Functions

Managing your own user defined functions such as those created in the previous topic.