Apr 142019
Jun 212017
The Sheaf Valley Maths Trail is a short walk starting outside Sheffield City College on Granville Road, along the footpath to Sheffield Station and the steel blade sculpture, behind the station to the steel steps and the amphitheatre, up the hill to the Cholera Monument and then back to college via Clay Wood. Along the way you will answer questions on many different aspects of mathematics. It is suitable for school groups, college students studying Functional Skills, home schoolers and their parents or anyone who would like to have a go!
Download the student booklet here. It is best printed as a booklet.
There are also a teachers booklet and a powerpoint which I will send to you on request. Email graham@mathswithgraham.org.uk to request these. Please let me know who you are planning to use it with.
Topics touched on on the trail include
Number
Counting
Multiplication
Fractions
Time calculations
Reading a timetable
Calculating journey cost
Speed Distance Time calculations
Shape and Space
Measuring length
Estimating length and weight
Symmetry (Line and Rotational)
3 dimensional shape
Angles
Circle calculations
Volume of a cuboid
Area of irregular shapes
Data Handling
Averages
Feel free to adapt the trail by missing out some questions and adding others to make it suitable for your students/pupils.
Split your group into teams of 3 or 4 people. Make sure less able students are paired with more able students. Each team will need a DIY tape measure, a large ball of string, a large protractor, a pencil and a calculator. You need to work out the logistics of ensuring there is someone to help at the various stopping points.
Tell your students to stay together, look after each other and take extra care when crossing roads. If this is a school/college outing you will need to fill in a risk assessment.
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Aug 132013
This activity is about a wind turbine in Norfolk. Watch the video first, then try to answer the questions. You will need a calculator.
You can either do the activity on-line, or download and print the worksheet.
Aug 042013
This exercise will give you practice in writing big numbers in words. Many thanks to Sheffield Renewables for the use of their Top Trump cards to make this exercise.
Before you start here is an example. The St Wilfreds Centre has solar panels that produce 3250 kwh of electricity. In words this is three thousand two hundred and fifty kwh. Kwh stands for kilo watt hours.
May 112013
In May 2013 global levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed the milestone of 400 parts per million. This exercise will challenge your maths and help you understand why this is so important.
Oct 172012
Here is a fascinating site to find out about the Golden Ratio and the human face.
http://www.intmath.com/numbers/math-of-beauty.php
Don’t miss the flash application where you can fit a mask to some famous faces to see if their facial proportions match the golden ratio.
You will find the Golden Ratio appears not just in the human body, but in architechture, design nature, cosmology, photo composition, art and much more.
Oct 172012
Sep 302012
Click here to download this Level 2 Functional Maths worksheet, Don’t always believe what you read in the newspaper.
It concerns how much money you can save by spending less time in the shower.
Jul 252012
Here is an excellent video that shows how statistics have shaped our world. How they have been used to show smoking causes causes lung cancer, to translate languages and even to understand our feelings.
The Joy of Stats
According to Vimeo
“Documentary which takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power they have to change our understanding of the world, presented by superstar boffin Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend.”
Mar 262012
This is the first in a series of Functional Skills resources about climate change and what the Government could do about it.
Mar 152012
The Manchester Science Festival encouraged people to grow sunflowers in order to conduct a massive mathematical experiment. Plant the seeds in April and May, nurture the plants throughout the summer and when the sunflowers are fully grown be counting the number of spirals in the seed patterns in the sunflower heads. Don’t worry – expertise will be on hand to help count the seeds and you’ll be able to post your ‘spiral counts’ online.
The Fibonacci Sequence starts 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34…..
Can you continue it? Can you explain how it works? If you follow the link below you will see how this relates to flowers.
The results of the experiment will be announced during the Manchester Science Festival 2012 (27 Oct – 4 Nov), alongside a host of cultural events connected to Alan Turing’s life and legacy.
Feb 182012
Feb 182012
Jan 152012
Can you interpret the graphs correctly?
Jan 042012
Have you got the stamina to keep up with this speedy video? This is why Graham loves maths!
