Sep 032020
Apr 132020
This quiz has been doing the rounds on social media. Apologies to the author, but I can’t credit you as I don’t know who you are!
A very common mistake in maths exams is to forget to label the axes of a graph. Here are 10 graphs without labels on the y axis. Can you use your skill and judjement to work out what they should be? Click on the graph to enlarge it.
Mar 212020
Apr 142019
Jan 242016
Here is a helpful video on Box and Whisker Plots (also known as Box Plots) from DMS Flipped Maths
Jan 232016
A useful video from MathMathsMathematics on interpreting histograms.
Nov 082015
This exercise involves reading and analysing data from charts, calculating averages and percentages and estimating length. It will also help you with the Driving Theory Test and hopefully help you to stay safe when you are driving.
There is an interactive version here and a worksheet version here.
Sep 232015
Here is a video from UK maths teacher explaining how to draw box plots.
Here is some practice from Transum to make sure you understand Boxplots. https://www.transum.org/Maths/Exercise/Box_Plots.asp?Level=1
Jul 032015
Can you correctly answer the questions about this graph?
Try the interactive quiz or the worksheet.
There are two extra questions on the worksheet which are also below.
This table shows the number of fatal injuries by industry in 2014/15.
- Draw a suitable chart to display this data.
- Write two interesting facts that the graph shows.
May 192015
In May 2015 the United Kingdom went to the polls. A Conservative Government was elected. The UK uses the “first past the post” electoral system. The country is divided into 650 constituencies. The candidate with the most votes from each constituency is elected.
Most other countries in Europe use various forms of proportional representation. This means that the number of MP’s for each party would be proportional to the number of votes that were cast for them. (There are many different forms of PR, but in this exercise, to keep it simple we are going to work out the number of MPs by dividing the vote for each party by the total vote and then multiplying by 650, which is the total number of MP’s in the House of Commons. )
First fill in the missing numbers in this table. You will need a calculator. Remember that to round to two decimal places you need to look at the 3rd decimal place. If this is 5 or more round the 2nd decimal place up. If it is less than 5 then ignore it. eg 34.349239=34.35 to 2dp. 2.983432909=2.98 to 2 dp.
If you got the first exercise correct I want you to illustrate your results with two pie charts. Use this table to work out the degrees for each party. You can draw them in excel or with a protractor and pencil.
If you would rather do this exercise using a worksheet download here.
Aug 202014
This is one in a large series of short videos from NCETM showing how people use maths at work. See the others here.
May 122014
This video is quite long so you might want to watch it in two sittings, but it does explain clearly what higher GCSE students need to know about transformation of graphs. Thank you Ukmathsteacher!
Maths is fun has a good explanation of this with some nice interactive activities and questions. Bitesize activities are here.
Feb 162014
Here is a crossword to help you with some of the important vocabulary you need for statistics at GCSE level. You can do the interactive version or print off a paper copy and check you answers later on the interactive version. There are a few non-mathematical clues!
Jan 262014
GCSE students need to be able to work out the equation of a graph from what it looks like.
If it’s a straight line graph you just need to look for two things.
1. The Intercept. This is where the line crosses the y axis.
2. The gradient. This is the steepness of the line. If the line goes up from left to right it will be positive. If the line goes down from left to right it will be negative. The larger the number the steeper the line.
This example shows the line y=2x-4. The line goes up two units for each unit it goes across. The gradient is 2÷1=2. It crosses the y axis at -4, so the intercept is -4.
Mathematicians use y=mx+c as the general formula for any straight line. The gradient is m and the intercept is c.
Try this exercise to see if you can match the graphs with their equations.
Try this exercise to see if you can match the equations with the correct gradient and intercept.
Oct 082013
Scan
A shocking maths exercise looking at the changing ratio of boy to girl births in Asia.
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 152012
Here is an interesting info-graphic that shows which languages are spoken most throughout the world.
Can you design a bar chart or a pie chart to show this information?
How about carrying out a survey to find out which languages are spoken in your class/course or college? You will need to plan it carefully first, working out how to collect the data. Then analyse your data, putting it into tables. Finally present your data using graphs and charts in a format that will make people want to read it.
Jul 272012
Interesting news today that the NHS want to introduce standardised health charts to monitor patients pulse, temperature, blood pressure, breathing rate, level of consciousness, and oxygen saturation. Apparently each hospital currently has its own chart, leading to confusion when staff move between hospitals.
Here is some of the coverage.
If ever there was a good example of “Functional Maths”, this is it! Everyone should have a basic understanding of these charts.
Maths with Graham would like to be able to access the video on the learning portal which explains how to use this chart, but searches haven’t yet managed to find it. Please let me know if you have the link.
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.”
May 162012
Here’s another great starter from Transum
http://www.transum.org/software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/Students/Venn_Diagram.asp