It's here finally!

After a wait we finally have the final piece installed in our new learning space. The large whiteboard has been mounted onto the teachers desk and students are loving the new workspace.

Above is our top year ten class using it to solve polynomial equations by long division.

Above the year ten class is graphing physical phenomena.

Our 8D class had great fun drawing different types of graphs such as line and sector graphs.

Transforming a Classroom into an Inspiring Learning Space

After traveling to EduTech 2013 and being shown how schools have created learning spaces that encourage collaborative learning and encourage interaction between students we have transformed one of our classrooms. we have added more comfortable furniture, laptop desks and tables and windows to draw, create and develop ideas on. This concept is new for a Mathematics classroom but we hope it will be a fresh approach for our students.

This is the layout for most classrooms and has been for well over a century. 

Our first change was to rearrange the layout of the tables to allow for more group learning.

We also added bean bags and cushions while we waited for our new furniture to arrive. 

The students love using the lap desks even when sitting at the desks.

Here's a panorama of the room set up with our new furniture ready to go for term 4.

The seats and tables are set out ready for small groups.

The table in the middle is now awaiting the whiteboard to be mounted onto it. Exciting times ahead!

Record crowd at Maths Club

Fantastic effort by students to set a new attendance record for Maths club. Working on assessments, mathsmate, quadratic equations and Maths dominoes.
Great help from Richard too!!

Assessment Task 3 10 Maths 5.2/5.3

Here's just a few of the assignments we have received so far. Some great models have been made. Well done!

Statistics in Maths

Some of the concepts taught by Mrs Matthew to her year ten 5.1 class. Nice diagrams!

Project based learning

After looking at trying to engage our students more in Mathematics we have decided to try some project based learning with some of our junior classes. 8D are doing investigations on Perimeter and Circumference. We started by allowing the class to choose a way they could demonstrate individually or as a group their understanding of the concepts.

Our first task was to investigate the perimeter of gardens in the school. Here are some pictures if the class measuring.

Trundle Wheel in action.

Garden Number #1

Garden Number #2

We also went over to the Mt Penang Gardens to investigate measurements that can be made in the real world. We measured the dimensions of thje shapes below and recorded the radius and diameter of the circular shapes.

We also estimated the distance from the classroom to the front entrance of the gardens. While most students were a long way off the actual measurement, when they had to estimate the perimter of the gardens based on the actual distance from the school most students were able to more accurately estimate. Some groups were within 10 metres of the distance found. One estimate was 1 metre away from the measured distance!

 

In our next lesson we then worked out the perimeters and circumferences of the shapes and discussed how to find the perimeter of composite shapes. Here is part of the worksheet we used.

 Here's our class at work on their projects. They are all engaged in planning, constructing and even filming their work.

The boys working on their PowerPoint using photos for their questions.

The girls working on their poster. Nice use of a circle and the connection to pi.

Girls working on constructing their parks using 2D shapes.

Planning out a design for a garden, using the Internet to gain inspiration.

The boys filming their tutorial on how to find the perimeter of a garden.

Maths in Surveying Excursion

Several of our Year 10 5.3 students recently attended an excursion on surveying.  We caught the train from Gosford to Concord West. After a short walk we arrived at Bicentennial Park, Homebush Bay. Here we had numerous activities to complete using basic trigonometry and surveying tools.  We first measured the dimensions of the hedged garden which included the curved edge in the centre. We would later use this to map the garden using computer software. 

Our next activity was looking at the history of surveying and the tools used to measure distances. All the students were amazed at the size and weight of the portable calculators that surveyors had to carry in the field to do trigonometry calculations. 

The photo below shows the latest technology that can be used to take images that could be used to reproduce building facades or monuments that need to be replaced due to breakages. We had our photo taken using the 3D imager. The company who demonstrated this machine have used this technology to map ld buildings in Sydney and even used it on creating characters in movies such as Avatar!

We next went to use modern day surveying equipment to find the height of the main tower in the park. We had great fun lining up the sights with the top of the tower and using the readings to find the height of the tower. 

After lunch we had a demonstration of how a sundial works and how we can use it to do calculations relating to the Earth.  

We were also able to observe some anytime stars such as Sirius with the aid of a powerful telescope. This was an experience most people don't get to see! You could see the star clearly despite the bright sunlight. 

The day was an experience that our students don't often get the chance to do so it was great to see them using the equipment and learning about surveying. A big thank you to all the volunteers on the day for giving up their time to let our students experience the art of surveying.