Archive for the ‘Junior School’ Category

MATH JOKE 9: Seriously Funny
January 18, 2019
MATH JOKE 10: Seriously Funny
January 16, 2019We are good at graphs in maths, even funny graphs, but we often forget the power of story telling. Here’s a story about HOW NOT TO DO your MATHS HOMEWORK*.
*NOTE: Homework has never been recorded as the cause of death of a 13 year old.
Read longer version of Hugo Does His Homework here.

4. If you are involved in a car chase, hijacking, explosion, volcanic eruption or alien invasion, you will not go into shock.
January 10, 2019Here are just a few of the popular disaster movies:
Avalanche (2001), Earthquake (1974), Armageddon (Involves meteors 1998), Deep Impact (More meteors 1998), 2012 (Tsunamis, earthquakes, the lot. 2009), Twister (tornadoes 1996), Backdraft (Fire. 1991) and Towering Inferno (They don’t make thunderous movie titles like that anymore. (1974)
But what percentage of people involved in, say, an explosion suffer from SHOCK! There are many statistics about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) available. In one excellent study in The National Centre for PTSD Journal involved an explosion in a paint factory in Norway (1976), the 246 employees were ranked for their exposure to shock as follows:.
A. 66 Narrow escape
B. 59 Involved but not in danger
C. 121 Not present on the day.
80% Group A suffered shock and PTSD. Both Groups A & B showed symptoms of PTSD 7 months later. If, say, a plane crashed into your school sports field and your class survived with minor injuries calculate how many students in your maths class would go into SHOCK and how many would be left to take action using the above statistics.
These stats can also be used as a fraction or decimal exercise using 0.8 or 4/5 as the fraction of students in shock.
More information at the Health Dept WA
NOTE: Many schools in Australia today not only practise fire drills but terrorist attack lockdowns.

Why Math Teachers should, um, speak proper!
October 12, 2018
Trick 1: The Great MATHoudini
September 18, 2018The Great MATHoudini
Requirements: 1 phone book, Great showmanship
Start by handing one member of the class a sealed envelope. It contains a name that you have seen in your mathematical mind.
All will be revealed at the end of the performance.
Ask one student to write a 3-digit number on the board.
Ask a second student to turn this number around and subtract the smallest number from the largest number.
Ask a third student to turn that number around and add the last two numbers.
Example: N1 = 371.
N2 = 173
N1 – N2 = N3 = 371 – 173 = 198
N4 = 891
N4 – N3 = 891 + 198 = 1089
Give a fourth student a phone book. Ask them to go to page 108 and count down 9 places on the first column and read out the name.
Now open the envelope.
Da! Da!
How does it work? The numbers ALWAYS add up to 1089 so you had plenty of time to check out the name in the phone book.
Source: Magic/Menatalism Tips and Tricks

Trick 2: The Math Teacher Knows
August 4, 2018……………………………………………………………………………………