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A shocking maths exercise looking at the changing ratio of boy to girl births in Asia.
Oct 082013
Sep 292013
You need to find the lowest common multiple when finding common denominators to add fractions. Highest common factors are also used in fraction or ratio calculations when you cancel down. This interactive worksheet will show you how to work them out.
Sep 292013
Find as many different calculators as you can. Your phone,
your computer, the one in the back of the overflowing drawer in the hall. Then try this sum on all of them.
4+ 7 x 3
Do all the calculators give the same answer? What is the correct answer?
If you have a cheap four function calculator you will have got the answer 33, because it always calculates in the order you enter the sum. Unfortunately this is not mathematically correct!
If you used a scientific calculator you will have got the answer 25 which is correct. Scientific calculators understand the correct order to do calculations. Multiplication is more important than addition, so this comes first.
So how do we know what order to do calculations in? We use a rule called BIDMAS.
B rackets
I ndices
D ivision ÷
M ultiplication x
A ddition +
S ubtraction –
Always do brackets first. Then do any indices (like 2 squared or square root of 16). Some people refer to BODMAS where the O stands for “of”.) Division and multiplication come next (these have equal priority). Last is additions and subtractions (also equal priority)
Sep 222013
Sep 072013
Have a go at this worksheet to find all the Prime Numbers less than 100.
Now try this much bigger Sieve to find all the Prime Numbers less than 400! Start by clicking on 2 and all the multiples of 2 will be removed. Then click on 3 to remove the multiples of 3 and continue clicking on the prime numbers until you are only left with red prime numbers.
Also take a look at this video
Apr 282013
Apr 172013
Watch the video on Income Inequality then see if you can answer the questions.
Apr 172013
Here is a great starter from Transum
http://www.transum.org/Software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/starter_April14.asp
Mar 252013
Mar 252013
Mar 022013
Here are two clear examples showing how to find the prime factors of a number.
Mar 022013
How many triangles are in this shape? (A Transum starter)
Download a pdf worksheet here.
When you are absolutely sure you have counted them all, click here and press the yellow button to see if you are right.
Mar 022013
This cube has 6 faces, 8 vertices (corners) and 12 edges.
This square based pyramid has 5 faces, 5 vertices and 8 edges.
See how quickly you can do this quiz from Purpose Games. Click start, then the computer will give you a number for either F (faces), V (Vertices) or E (Edges). You just have to click on the letter next to the right shape.
Mar 022013
Do you know your prisms from your pyramids? See how quickly you can do this quiz from Purpose Games. Click start, then click on the shape whose name appears at the top.
Feb 282013
Here is a great site to discover all about three dimensional shapes. Find some scissors and glue, print off some of these nets and see what you can make! http://www.korthalsaltes.com/cuadros.php?type=p
Feb 102013
Feb 072013
To play this 2 player game from Transum you need to be able to calculate mean, median and range.
Feb 072013
To do this quiz you need to understand the mean, mode, median and range.
Feb 072013
Here are some probability questions from Transum. If you get one wrong use your back button on your browser and try again.
Dec 032012
Here is a Roulette Simulator. It’s just as much fun as being in a casino, but it is completely free so you are not throwing away your money! Have a few goes and see how quickly you lose your money!
http://roulette-simulator.info/simulator/index.php?mode=simple&lang=en&sess=1354491584KU4ALN9E
Why does the bank always win? Probability shows us that the odds are stacked against the gambler.
Let me explain. Say we place a bet of £1 on Number 24. Assuming the roulette wheel is fair, there is one chance in 37 of this happening, because there are 37 different numbers on the roulette wheel. If you win, the bank pays you 35 times your bet. So if we do this 37 times we would expect to win once. We would lose £37 in bets and win back £36, so overall we lose £1!
A similar thing happens if you bet on pair (even) or impair (odd). Zero does not count as odd or even. So the probability of getting an even number is 18/37. The probability of an odd number is also 18/37. If you win the bank pays you the same amount as your bet. So if we play 37 times, each time betting £1, we would only expect to win 18 times. We would bet £37 and win £18 x 2 =£36, losing £1 overall.
Casinos make massive profits as they are always bound to win in the long run. True, very occasionally someone strikes lucky and has a big win, but the casino knows the odds are stacked in their favour.