Past Problems

Yesterday in maths we worked on a problem where we had to find the growing pattern rule and describe what the pattern looked like. My group quickly found a formula - 8n + 4

As the position goes up by one, eight leaves are added. We had to keep in mind there were an additional four leaves in the middle. Therefore, 8 times the position number plus four gave us the right answer. 

Position 1 = 12 leaves

Position 2 = 20 leaves

Position 3 = 28 leaves

Position 76 = 6 12 leaves

We came up with two different ways of visualising this - 

Maths- Area and Perimeter

What were the main mathematical concepts that you learned or that we discussed in class?

For the past four or so weeks, we have been looking at perimeter and area (but mostly area). We've looked at multiple problems as a group that relate to area. We looked at problems where we have to find the area of all sorts of shapes (triangles, rectangles, trapeziums, circles etc), the area of compound shapes, and more.

This was one of the first problems we looked at. It was mostly trial and error to find the right answers. We drew a lot of different sized squares with different perimeters.

For the first question in this problem, we first had to find the radius -which was 10- and then the area of the circle -pi x r2 (pi times radius squared). Our group then divided it by 4 to find what a quarter of the area was. Once we had done that, we talk a quarter of the area away to get the answer. The second and third questions were slightly harder.

We also made presentations explaining the formulas used to fins the areas of different shapes, along with where we use area in day-to-day life. 

Describe a mistake or a misconception you or a classmate made. What did you learn from it?

I made the mistake of using the diameter to find the area of a circle instead of the radius a couple of times. I also forgot that after you times the base by the height to find the area of a triangle that you half it afterwards. Other then that, I didn't make too many mistakes.

Maths Week 9 Recap

Maths- Week 9 Recap

For the past however many weeks, we have been working on numerous problems in maths involving a range of things, e.g; scientific notation, circumferences, ratios, decimals fractions and percentages, etc. We've been doing a mix of independent work and group work. For independent we do things such as presentations, blog posts, mathletics, and other things to help us improve in certain areas. During group work, we are given a few problems and set the task of finding the solution (or solutions if it's an open question with multiple answers)

This is one of the more recent problems we've been given, involving circumferences, diameters, pi, radius and a number of other things.

Describe a mistake or misconception that you or a classmate had in class. What did you learn from this mistake or misconception?

With this specific problem, I at one stage confused the wheel with a 70cm diameter to the wheel with the 15cm diameter but I figured that out pretty quickly. I almost mistook the diameter for the radius at one stage too which wasn't ideal. Form that I learnt that sometimes I need to look at things more carefully.

What were the main mathematical concepts or ideas that you learned or that we discussed in class? 

I didn't know a lot about pi, and I didn't know how to find the circumference of a circle, which we learnt about. I was also unaware of the concept of (or more so the official name given for) scientific notation. 

YouCubed and Problem Solving

For the first few weeks of year 10 Maths with Mr Werder, we've been looking at videos created by Youcubed, and using them to help us with problem solving activities. For example, we used matchsticks and blue-tack to recreate a model. We then had to calculate how many pieces of blue-tack and how many matchsticks we used to make it without counting. Another activity we did was creating a square or rectangle with an area twice the size of the perimeter (For example, a 6x8 cm rectangle has an area of 48 and a perimeter of 24).

Some of the messages that these Youcubed videos have are that making mistakes helps your brain grow, and that you don't have to be fast at maths to be good at it.