Pixel Perfection
This investigation from Cre8ate maths involves students in finding the best size screen for a television. If you have a large flat screen and view a standard analogue or digital picture the individual pixels are visible if you are sitting too close to the screen. Working in small groups of 3 or 4, students measure the pixel density…
Boxes and Bottles
Boxes and bottles come in all shapes and sizes. These Cre8ate maths activities explore some of the mathematics behind packaging decisions taken by manufacturers, they provide a platform for students to make conjectures and find efficient ways of recording results to justify claims they have made. In Boxing stock cubes students…
Working for Efficiency
This Cre8ate maths topic looks at simplified versions of three different network problems that are encountered in practical logistical planning. Paper rounds offers the opportunity for reasoning and proof as the arguments needed to establish Euler's theorem are within their grasp. It also, along with Cable connections and…
Printing
This Cre8ate maths resource looks at challenges derived from printing processes where both logic and geometric thinking are required. In Folding booklets students are given a piece of A4 paper which they fold to form a 16 page booklet and, without cutting the folds in the paper, are challenged to number the pages of their booklet,…
Active Teaching and Learning Approaches in Science
Active Teaching and Learning Approaches in Science (ATLAS) was a curriculum development project organised by the Centre for Science Education in the Higher Education Institution that is now called Sheffield Hallam University. This book includes chapters for teachers followed by a set of illustrative copymasters for use with students.…
Getting On
This set of Cre8ate maths activities requires pupils to interact with a variety of data sets and to use logical thinking skills to interpret what they find. Providing for the old also involves interpreting scales, calculations and consideration of ratio and proportion.
Containers
This Cre8ate maths activity requires students to calculate areas of polygons and to appreciate the link with volumes of prisms. It may also involve detailed exploration of similarity.
ISBNs
This set of Cre8ate maths activities requires students to think about place value, divisibility and remainders. It also requires logical thinking. Computer codes with check digits are widely used in the retail and banking sector. This activity focuses on one long-established code – the International Standard Book Number…
Programming
These Cre8ate maths activities are provided to introduce students to the fundamental processes involved in programming a computer. Students are given drawings, along with the Logo commands which have been used and, by changing the values, produce different images. They are challenged to draw a nine-pointed star and will, by experimentation,…
The Greenest Route
This Cre8ate maths activity deals with the external costs of transport which affect society but which are not paid for by the transport users who cause them. Road, rail, air and water are compared. Mathematical connections involve working on inverse proportion, conversion calculations, compound percentage change and information…
Running a Club
These Cre8ate maths activities draw on the mathematics of combinatorial thinking and involve a set of functional maths activities.
4/5- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Experiment
Accessible Spaces
This set of Cre8ate maths activities asks pupils to explore the ways in which their classroom and school can be made wheelchair accessible. If all the activities are attempted, the topic will be an extended one. Mathematical connections involve making sense of plans and diagrams through interpreting scale diagrams. The construction…
Steady Hand Games
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to design a game to test their hand control. The game makes use of the fact that electricity will only flow around a complete circuit. Children need to navigate a wire loop along a bent wire course without touching…
Ordering
These Cre8ate maths activities develop multi-stage logistical thinking. The Planning ahead puzzle develops process skills of problem solving: working systematically and creating, describing and experimenting with systematic strategies. Making tea is concerned with finding the best way to organise time and draws on the Critical…
Smart Energy
Through energy use, each UK home creates around six tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Much of this is the result of electricity generation. In this activity, from the Centre for Science Education and the Comino Foundation, students look into the advantages and disadvantages of the Smart Meter – an innovative device that tells…
Climate Futures: Introductory Activity
Climate change is a complex issue. In this introductory activity from the Centre for Science Education and the Comino Foundation, students are asked to look at four photographs depicting issues related to climate change and to think creatively about how the people in the pictures might feel. Students express their opinions in pairs…
- 4/5
- Publication year: 2000 - 2009
- Activity sheet
ATLAS Resources (for Key Stage Two)
Active Teaching and Learning Approaches in Science (ATLAS) was a curriculum development project organised by the Centre for Science Education at Sheffield Hallam University. The resource for Key Stage Two was created to help teachers in primary schools with the teaching and assessment of the first of the four National Curriculum…
Hot Air Balloons
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to explore ideas related to forces, gravity, flight and density. By using large sheets of tissue paper and a template, a simple hot air balloon can be constructed. The balloon will then rise if the air inside is…
Periscopes
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to investigate light and reflection. A periscope is a simple device that enables children to see over walls or round corners. Rays of light hitting the mirror of the periscope are reflected twice. The beam of light…
Water Rockets
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to investigate forces and motion. Water rockets can be made using plastic bottles and these are propelled by pressurised water. The rockets need to be launched in a suitable open area such as the school field.…
Green Biker
This resource, from the Centre for Science Education and the Comino Foundation, investigates how demand for green transport is growing and companies are working hard to meet this demand. This activity encourages students to evaluate eco-friendly motor bikes, and communicate their findings to the readers of Green Biker magazine.
Addicted to Energy
This activity, from the Centre for Science Education and the Comino Foundation, is set in the context of choosing a birthday gift. It encourages students to think about carbon footprints. Which goods and services cause the biggest carbon dioxide emissions? What choices can we make to minimise emissions?
Circuit Clowns
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to learn about electrical circuits in a fun and engaging manner. A variety of electrical circuits are used to make a clown with a nose that lights up and a bow tie that spins. Children use a range of components…
Garbage Guru
More and more local councils are introducing food recycling schemes. This activity, from the Centre for Science Education and the Comino Foundation, looks at the science behind the schemes and encourages students to consider how recycling food and reducing food waste can contribute to sustainability. Students then communicate their…
Green Fairgrounds
The RA3 project, provided by the Centre for Science Education, aims to bring parents together with their children and teachers to explore the worlds of science, technology, engineering and maths. This investigation helps to develop an awareness of green power by designing and making a new fairground ride which is self-powered.…
Food for Thought
Customers increasingly demand food that has been produced with minimal damage to the environment. In this activity from the Centre for Science Education and the Comino Foundation, students work out how to make a fish and chip shop as environmentally friendly as possible. They then highlight their decisions in an online advertisement…
Classroom Olympics
These Cre8ate maths activities require the use of averages, ranges, percentages, histograms, stem and leaf displays, pie charts, and tables to make comparisons, interpretations, and conclusions. They also provide real data about pupils for analysis. Performing the “How far can you …?” events in the classroom…
Balancing Clowns
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to investigate forces and balance. The materials contain a clown shape to colour in and cut out. The shape is then weighted with steel washers and balanced on a taut piece of string. Once children have balanced…
Elastic Band Rollers
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to investigate forces and motion as well as making their own elastic band powered vehicle. This activity is a variation on the 'cotton reel tank'. The elastic band roller is easy to make and, with a little…
Zoetropes
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to investigate vision and light. The zoetrope, or wheel of life, is a modern variation to a simple Victorian toy. When the separate images are viewed in the quickly-turning zoetrope, it creates an illusion of a…
Top Trumps
This resource from the Department for Education is a set of 'Top Trumps' cards, which help students reflect on the skills and personality traits of individuals in particular careers. The cards could be used as a starter activity before students reflect on their own attributes and interests.
Balloon Buggies
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to investigate forces and motion. A wide variety of buggies can be constructed and powered by a jet of air escaping from a balloon. Such a vehicle may run for a distance of 20 to 30 metres and allow children to…