Creative Activities in Mathematics

Book 1 resources

Creative Activities in Mathematics Book 1 provides twelve different class activities suitable for students in lower and middle primary school (Foundation to Year 4), along with teaching notes and staged lesson plans.

About the authors

Derek Holton is a mathematician and an Honorary Professor at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

Cath Pearn is a Senior Research Fellow in the ACER Institute and a lecturer in Mathematics Education at the University of Melbourne.

Student materials

Download a full set of activity sheets that provide a framework for student responses. These can be printed or copied for use in class.

Download activity sheets

Additional online resources

Part 1: Number and Algebra

Chapter 1: Numbers and words

• Simon Singh's Black Chamber - http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/index.html
• The Caesar cipher - http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/caesar.html
• Caesar’s method (The Caesar cipher) - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CaesarsMethod.html

Chapter 2: Cats and dogs

• How cats age - http://www.calculatorcat.com/cats/cat-years.phtml
• Chart of cat ages to human ages - http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/agechart.htm
• Dog years calculator - http://www.onlineconversion.com/dogyears.htm
• How to calculate a dog's age in years - http://www.ehow.com/how_8461704_calculate-dogs-age-years.html
• The lifespan of animals - http://sonic.net/~petdoc/lifespan.htm

Chapter 3: Difference and sum problems

• 1089 problem - http://www.mathsisfun.com/1089.html
• 1089 and a property of 3-digit numbers - http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/Arithmetic/S1089.shtml
• Mathematical magic tricks: The 1089 problem - http://www.numericana.com/answer/magic.htm#1089

Chapter 4: Arks and Tarks

• Missionaries and cannibals problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionaries_and_cannibals_problem
• The river crossing puzzle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_crossing_puzzle
• Tricky crossings - https://www.sciencenews.org/article/tricky-crossings

Chapter 5: The farmyard problem

• The farmyard problem - http://nzmaths.co.nz/problem-solving-strategies#The Farmyard Problem

Chapter 6: The 12 game

• Game theory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory
• Blackjack - http://www.pagat.com/banking/blackjack.html
• Pontoon - http://www.pagat.com/banking/pontoon.html
• Nim games - http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=4221

 

Part 2: Measurement and Geometry

Chapter 7: Classroom shapes

• Polyhedron net animations - http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/polyhedron-net-animations.html
• Pyramids - http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/pyramids.html
• Pyramid animations - https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/pyramid.html
• The Dubai Pyramid - http://inhabitat.com/ziggurat-dubai-carbon-neutral-pyramid-will-house-1-million/
• The Louvre Pyramid - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre_Pyramid
• The Shrine of Remembrance - http://www.shrine.org.au/The-Shrine-Story/Features-and-Memorials/Shrine-Exterior

Chapter 8: Jenny's jelly bean problem

• Maximum volume of a lidless box - http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMAT6680Su09/Park/As12dspark/As12dspark.html

Chapter 9: Horrible Hal’s humungous hall

• Tessellation - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessellation
• The Alhambra - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tassellatura_alhambra.jpg
• MS Escher - http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/gallery-symmetry.htm

 

Part 3: Statistics and Probability

Chapter 10: The longest name

• Chinese names - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_name
• Sri Lankan names - http://www.babynology.com/sri-lankan_babynames.html (Link inactive)
• German names - http://www.babynamescountry.com/origins/popular_german_baby_names1.html
• English names - http://www.babynamescountry.com/origins/popular_english_baby_names1.html
• French names - http://expat-friendly.com/?Top-20-French-First-Names-Emma
• Top baby names in 2011 for Australia - http://www.kidspot.com.au/babynamefinder/2011+Australia.htm
• Top baby names in 2011 for England - http://www.kidspot.com.au/babynamefinder/2011+England.htm
• Top baby names in 2011 for the United States - http://www.kidspot.com.au/babynamefinder/2011+USA.htm
• Top baby names in France - http://expat-friendly.com/?Top-20-French-First-Names-Emma#formulaire_forum
• Top 20 pet names - http://www.bowwow.com.au/find-a-name-for-your-pet/top-20-names/search-results.aspx?country=2&animal_type=0&animal_sex=Both&num_results=20&B3.x=38&B3.y=18
• Pet name search - http://www.bowwow.com.au/find-a-name-for-your-pet/pet-name-search.aspx

Chapter 11: Penny’s Pet Shop

• No way José - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/no-way-jose?parent_node=
• Lonely pig - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/lonely-pig?parent_node=

Chapter 12: The teddies’ race

• That's not fair - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/thats-not-fair?parent_node
• Dice roller - https://www.random.org/dice/
• Dice roller - http://www.roll-dice-online.com/

• Dice roller - https://www.random.org/playing-cards/

Additional sites

• Maths 300 - https://maths300.com
• NRICH - http://nrich.maths.org/
• NZ Maths - http://nzmaths.co.nz

• AMSI TIMES (The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools) modules - http://schools.amsi.org.au/times-modules/