Alien Invasion Maths Content L4  L6
Very good. Several video clips of news flashes to stimulate interest. Well put together and engaging.
Crash Test Maths Content L4  L6
Very good graphics, animation and sound. Nice manageable chunks. Real life context. Helpful hints throughout. User friendly. Possible issues over suggested timings.
Explorers Maths Content L4  L7
Activity 1. Good. Could trial routes on board, then bring in maths, then go to computers.
Activity 2. Bit disappointing as little interactivity – possibly a bit babyish “playing shops”.
Activity 3. Good. Give record sheet to pupils to record route, as after detonation can’t see any mistakes made.
Highway Link Design Maths Content L4  L7
Contact Allison McDonald (Belvedere) for further details
How Risky is Life? Maths Content L3  L6
Very good and enjoyable. Accessible at beginning for even low ability students. Real life application. Good one to start with!
In or Out
Not reviewed
Keeping Pizza Hot Maths Content L6  L8
May have problems over logistics in conducting experiment with data logger and microwave. Main maths focus in lesson 4. Could be very cross-curricular (Science and Food Technology) in, perhaps, a day. Not easy to access or find resources. A bit dry and not that engaging.
My Music Maths Content L4  L5
Uses Audacity so need this on computers. Well resourced, lessons well documented and very cross-curricular. Pupil resources require a lot of reading, so need a decent level of literacy. Logistics of having groups using headphones – could a group all listen at the same time.
Mystery Tours Maths Content L4  L6
High engagement, cartoon based, needs quite a high level of literacy. A lot of preplanning required. Jumped from quite simple to quite hard maths. Multi guess could be abused as pupils just want to get through without doing maths.
Outbreak Maths Content L4  L6
Good. Problem solving in 3 labs at 3 levels – not sure how long each session would take. 3rd session especially could be extended.
Point Zero Maths Content L4 L6+ (L8 – loci)
Good. Problem solving in 3 buildings at 3 levels. Opportunity to teach as you go through it. Issues over using xrather than n in nth term. Bit disappointing when you actually reach Point Zero.
Product Wars Maths Content L3 L6
Good and engaging. At start, no pupil instructions, and teacher explanations quite complicated, but then really got into it. Data capture sheets only designed for 20 sets! Only last lesson needs computers. Need to read Teacher Summary notes before starting. 3 levels on 3 tasks.
Reducing Road Accidents Maths Content L3 L6
Bright and colourful but you need instructions. Took a while to get into. A lot of data to wade through but not much maths in it, as computer does most of work. Needs high level thinking skills. Probably couldn’t get to last 5 lessons. Could be good for low ability.
Save a Baby Kangaroo
Not reviewed
Speed Cameras Maths Content L4 L7
A bit dry. Video at start, then all spreadsheet work. Class would not last longer than 2 lessons, but a lot of useful maths.
Sundials Maths Content L4 L6
Not very exciting. Video to introduce went on forever. Task 1 was making a sundial – what was the point? Low ability pupils would struggle, as it went complicated very quickly. Would need a lot of teacher leading.
Water Availability Maths Content L4 L6
Geography lessons with a bit of maths. Pupils would have to understand geographical concepts such as pop. density. Could need more maths input. Very structured. Good for peer assessment. Good motivating video.
You Reckon? Maths Content L4 L7
Good. 5 independent tasks – big questions. Lends itself to a lot of differentiation. Some instructions seem a bit misleading. Could bring in more. Disregard instructions and just get on with problem.
Types of problem used in the Case Studies
Type of problem / Typical examples found in the case studies
Planning and organising
Find optimum solution subject to constraints. / Outbreak
Mix ingredients to create an antidote., devise a vaccination programme.
Product wars
Mix ingredients to obtain optimum nutritional value and taste
Mystery tours
Plan a tour to satisfy time/money/customers
Highway link design
Propose the optimum location of a by-pass using data used by the Highways agency.
Designing and making
Design an artifact or procedure and test it / Product wars
Package a drink and test it through market research
Modelling and explaining
Create notations and models and use them to explain phenomena or propose solutions / Water availability
Create a fair way to distribute water.
My music
Create a measure of tempo.
Keeping the pizza hot
Model the cooling of a pizza
Exploring and discovering relationships
Find relationships, estimate and predict results and test them. / Crash test
Exploring the effect of different variables when crash testing cars.
Speed cameras
Investigating the effects of different sites for speed cameras.
How risky is life?
Estimate risks and test them against real data.
Interpreting and estimating
Deduce information, from representations of data and present a reasoned argument. / Save a baby kangaroo
Devising an appropriate nutrition regime from tables of nutrient data. Present this regime.
Reducing road accidents
Exploring one town's accident database; use graphs, tables and charts to construct a case. Present the case.
You reckon?
Make reasoned estimates to test common assertions and facts.
Solving logic puzzles
Here the contexts are more 'fantasy' and embedded in computer games / Alien invasion
PointZero
Explorers