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September 2020 In this edition of the News you will find:   Working Mathematically with Viruses   3 New Cube Tube Videos   Little Treehouse Book Collection   Victorian Teachers   Get to Know a Cameo      ... Number Tiles      ... Garden Beds Please feel free to distribute this information.

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• Working Mathematically with Viruses

  This is a totally new lesson sequence for Years 8 - 12 (perhaps younger) which provides opportunity to work like a professional mathematician in a context we now realise is of world-wide importance. The sequence developed from an initial set of successful lessons presented by Aaron Peeters at Manurewa High School, New Zealand. Freely available from Maths At Home (see Link List below), the sequence can be used as an independent learning resource for students, a source of teacher-guided project work, or as a 'road map' for whole class lessons.

  Video, hands-on and visual learning, Excel software and unfolding challenges encourage the learner into mathematical modelling. Students not only discover mathematical patterns behind the way new viruses work, but gradually develop expertise with software tools that help them step into the world of the health authorities who have to manage transmission in the community. Stimulated by video to explore a physical model first, students then tabulate and graph their own data before interacting with a sequence of spreadsheets designed by Ian Lowe.

  They learn about the Reproduction Factor (R) of a virus and are able to vary it to determine the effect, always being reminded that the actions of the human population is what manages the virus. The virus doesn't change its R value of its own accord. The mathematics content is extensive - as straight forward as times tables right through to mature use of formulas, equations, graphs and composite functions. See Link List below for the web address of Maths At Home, or visit Mathematics Centre and take the link in the banner at the top of the page.

• 3 New Cube Tube Videos

  The three stimulus videos from the Working Mathematically with Viruses link have been mounted on Cube Tube, our YouTube channel. To some extent each stands alone. They work better as a sequence. They work best of all embedded in the lesson sequence for which they were recorded.

  Look for these title cards on either Cube Tube (see Link List below) or search YouTube.

               

• Little Treehouse Books Collection

  While we are thinking about the value of contextual learning, Damian Howison, St. Mary MacKillop, Swan Hill, has shared his idea about making use of a current supermarket promotion based around these books:

  In my year 7 class I have taken advantage of the Little Treehouse Books collection that Coles supermarkets have been using in their latest promotion. I based it on the ideas in the Famous Mathematicians lesson from Maths300. A highlight for me was using a Google sheet to have students input their results into the same spreadsheet at the same time and watch the histogram take shape before their eyes. On another sheet, they experiment with different sized collections to see how many trials might be necessary - sharing their data again to produce a scatter plot.

  

  

  We started with a collection size of 6. Coles advertises 24 books to collect, which some students had a go at, and one student even sat down after the lesson was over and did an experiment for a collection size of 60!

  This whole remote-learning thing has definitely pushed and furthered my skills with the technological tools available

• Victorian Teachers

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Link List Working Mathematically with Viruses in Maths At Home Working Mathematically Cube Tube Number Tiles Garden Beds eTask Package Picture Puzzles Task Library Order Form Did you miss the Previous News? If so you missed information about: Victorian Teachers New Maths At Home Activities? New Cube Tube Video Get to Know a Cameo ... Tricube Constructions A, Rectangle Fractions

Did You Know? You can Search Mathematics Centre. Our Site Map acts as a Table of Contents to help you find what you need in Mathematics Centre. You can find photos of every task using the Task Library. You can find tasks by content using the Task Cameo Content Finder. You can create your own Task Library in a professional learning context with the eTask Package. Calculating Changes offers Content Finder & Year Level Finder tools. You can find tasks coded by Year Level and Curriculum Strand in the Task Centre Catalogue. (PDF file) You can search for lessons by Year Level, Curriculum Strand, Lesson Features & Keyword at Maths300. You can connect Tasks to their Maths300 companion lesson using Tasks & Maths300. (PDF file) Excel version provided by Pymble Ladies' College also links each Task to its Maths With Attitude content strand. All these links, and more, appear in Working with Mathematics Centre. (PDF file)