MYP 9
The Year 9 maths classes started the year with a challenge: Who can build the tallest tower? This was the introduction for the first unit, ‘Why Triangles’, and required the students to work in small groups to build towers using a limited number of drinking straws, paper clips and pipe-cleaners. Among other restrictions the aim was to produce a tower that would hold a golf-ball for two minutes. Everyone had fun with this activity and the students could see the relevance of studying triangles since many of their towers incorporated the triangle in their structure in order to support weight. This certainly made Pythagoras’ Theorem and trigonometry real for the students and also allowed us to focus on some useful MYP Approaches to Learning.
The next two units in Year 9 maths, ‘How Long is a Piece of String?’ and ‘Money Makes the World Go Around’ presented some other challenges for the students. The focus of the unit on measurement was communication and required the students to become the teachers in the classroom. Students worked in groups to work out how best to get their concepts across to the other students. We had some great presentations and the feedback as to how the students enjoyed this different way of learning was positive and indicated an appreciation of the job teachers have in explaining concepts.
Most students found the work in financial mathematics inherently interesting and there were some fantastic discussions about different types of jobs, taxation, incomes as well as how banks can help us save or borrow money. The students also learned some of the basics on how to use spreadsheets to do calculations on a large scale and then applied these new skills to investigating patterns and comparing savings plans.
The next two units in Year 9 maths, ‘How Long is a Piece of String?’ and ‘Money Makes the World Go Around’ presented some other challenges for the students. The focus of the unit on measurement was communication and required the students to become the teachers in the classroom. Students worked in groups to work out how best to get their concepts across to the other students. We had some great presentations and the feedback as to how the students enjoyed this different way of learning was positive and indicated an appreciation of the job teachers have in explaining concepts.
Most students found the work in financial mathematics inherently interesting and there were some fantastic discussions about different types of jobs, taxation, incomes as well as how banks can help us save or borrow money. The students also learned some of the basics on how to use spreadsheets to do calculations on a large scale and then applied these new skills to investigating patterns and comparing savings plans.