Teaching and learning

Activity 1

Introduction to whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages (AoS 1: Number)

• Students will revise the concepts of place, value and rounding
• Students will use the following to revise these concepts:
• money and digital transfers
• money worksheets
• savings
• examining transaction accounts or credit card account statements
• looking at items on sale and the percentage savings using catalogues or online catalogues with fractions and percentages

Activity 2

Fractions and Percentages Refresher (AoS 1: Number)

• Students will look at the concepts of percentages and fractions – how they work and simple divisions with number patterns using money and simple percentages.
• Use round dollar values, such as $10 and $50, and find 10%, 20% etc, and repeat with fractions – use dollar amounts for savings (such as from weekly pays) and save ½, ¼ etc.
• Students create a table where they have different income amounts and have to determine how much money goes into different headings such as: savings, entertainment, food.
• The teacher shows students how to perform these calculations on calculators so they can check their work and add this skill to their toolkit.

Activity 3

Shopping Discounts – are they always worth it? (AoS: 1 Number)

• Students will make a list of 20 items their household regularly purchases in their shopping.
• Students will investigate the price of that item at two supermarkets using their online websites – making note of any product on sale that week, and what the regular price would be.
• Students will calculate the total cost of the 20 items, and compare the totals of the two supermarkets, and make comparisons.
• The teacher will support students in looking at items in a selection of catalogues or online that were on sale, and calculate the sale percentage, the regular saving per item.
• The class explore the catalogues or websites for other items that students could swap in their list of 20 items for equivalent – and see how that affects their total.
• The class look at sale items deals – 3 for $10, buy 2 get one half price etc.
• Do some costings with the students and explore what those total costs are and compare them to the regular costs.
• Ask the students – when they see these promotions ‘do they immediately think it is a good deal?’, but ‘do they need it or that amount of it?’. Have them think about the long -term effects – often storage or initial outlay of a more money vs. is it worth it? 

Activity 4

Introduction to ratio & proportion, rate vs. ratio (AoS 1: Number)

• Students will revise concepts of BODMAS and apply it to solve multi-step calculations, including;
• Making a shopping list of multiple items of the same item (e.g., the weekly food shop, return to school stationery items, pricing a vegetable garden etc)
• Different lunch orders at the canteen,
• Different take-away options for a set amount of money.

Activity 5

Calculating Tax (AoS 1: Number, AoS 4: Relationships)

Introduction to Financial Numeracy & Tax

• Students will investigate and perform calculations relative to Loans and Credit Cards and compare using bank websites
• Students are introduced to the notion of Income Tax – what is it, what are the percentage rates, where to find them, what is a tax return, and how are our taxes used
• Students will explore the current tax rate based on tax tables from the current year and compare to the previous years on a series of different incomes. Students can check their current tax brackets too to connect their pay slip to the tax system. Students will be performing multi-step calculations that encompass fractions, decimals and percentages and are required to make informed decisions on their results.
• Students are required to look at tax in the community and understand its importance in society.
• Students brainstorm what they think taxes are used for, and then explore.
• The class discuss and debate what the most important areas for taxes are.

Activity 6

Superannuation (AoS 1: Number, AoS 4: Relationships)

• Students explore the idea of superannuation and the history behind it – and explore the importance of superannuation in terms of personal finances as a nest-egg for their future.
• Students investigate different superannuation companies and current rates.
• Students explore their own pay slips and see if they have a superannuation account.
• Students perform calculations relative to today’s value vs. future value.
• Students perform calculations looking at the removal of money from their super, the effects of making additional contributions to their super and how it’s invested.
• Students start to draw visual comparisons of super value over a period by designing graphs relative to superannuation.

Activity 7

Credit cards vs personal loans (AoS 1: Number, AoS 4: Relationships)

• Students explore the ideas behind needing to borrow money for personal items and what options are available (personal loans and credit cards), and where to find those (banks and other financial service providers)
• The class brainstorm known banks and providers and discuss how credit cards/loans work in order to make a valid judgement when they are necessary to be used. 
• Students investigate and compare the various personal loans and credit cards that are available to use when borrowing money and identifying the best option using provider websites.
• Using a big item to purchase (e.g. laptop, white goods), students will create a detailed budget and perform calculations over a nominated time period to pay the item back. From their budget they will be investigating which option is better (credit card or personal loan) in terms of total interest from a series of different providers.
• To extend this task, have the students alter the time period to longer or shorter instalments.
• Students explore debt related issues for credit cards and personal loans, find support services that exist, and see what steps they provide to support people who need the help, and compare that to defaulting on payments and the damage that causes credit ratings problems.
  

Activity 8

Introduction to Spreadsheets (AoS 1: Number, AoS 4: Relationships)

• Students are introduced to basic formulae in Excel
  • Adding
  • Subtracting
  • Multiplying
  • Dividing
  • Percentages
  • Totals
  • How to insert different formulae using the Formula Library.
• Students are shown different layout methods to present their collected data and how to represent it – tables, charts, graphs – and how to create those using Charts Function.
• Students can explore the Depreciation and Appreciation of assets using The Australian Taxation Office Website – and interview their employer from their structured workplace learning to create a list of assets for them to explore.
• Introduce the concept of Project Management and Gantt charts as a visual tool – and map out the concept of planning ‘how do I get to school in the morning?’ as a Gantt chart together. Give the class some other concepts to map out – and vary the timeline – such as ‘how to make a cake from scratch’ and ‘how to move to a new house’.

Activity 9

Stock Market vs Housing Market Project (AoS 1: Number, AoS 4: Relationships)

• Students investigate the Stock Market vs. the Housing Market
• Students will investigate and record the value of different assets using spreadsheets to compare values of appreciation and depreciation over a period of time using historical and current values.
• Students will make comparisons of the different values and look at different ways of representing them.

Activity 10

Hungry Anyone? (AoS 1: Number, AoS 4: Relationships)

• After exploring the packaging, students now work on converting a recipe
• Students bring in a family favourite recipe, and share the reason why they have chosen to bring it in.
• Challenge students to change the recipe servings to be enough for the entire class, and to re-calculate the list of ingredients needed.
• Use a supermarket website or online catalogue to create a costings spreadsheet to show how much the ingredients would cost to feed the whole class for that recipe.

Activity 11

Children’s Birthday Party

• The teacher explains to the students that they are creating a plan for the kitchen at a child’s birthday party, and they are in charge of the food.
• Students will need to plan for a party of 8 children. They will need to submit all food and drink items, the shopping list with total costs, and the kitchen time plan including who is helping, and what they are doing and when they are doing it.
• Students are to create a menu, and a plan for the day including;
• when to prepare cold food
• how long it will take the hot food to be warmed or cooked
• how long it will take to cook the hot food and what temperatures are needed.

Activity 12

WHS Chemical Spill Project (AoS: 4 Relationships)

• Students are required to look at a chemical spill in a work environment and perform calculations relative to rates of exposure, distance and speed of travel.
• Students will have to measure distances and organise their own emergency evacuation, drawing on maps and analysing WHS charts to meet a set of criteria for an effective evacuation.

Activity 13

Counting up (AoS 1: Number, AoS 4: Relationships)

• Ask the students to count a range of scenarios and explain their mathematics:
• How many minutes old are they this year?
• How many months old are they? How many minutes old are they?
• How many days in a year will they be at school this year? In their schooling entirely? 
• How many heart beats will they have today? Then convert to how many this week? Month? Year?
• How many weeks until something they are looking forward to? (the next school holidays, their birthday, a major festival or celebration, to when they have their braces removed?)
• The key to this task is that students justify their responses.
• Access to calendars is essential as often students are visual learners, and need to see the weeks/months, and/or need refreshers on the basics before starting, such as how many seconds in a minute, how many minutes in a hour, how many hours in a day, how many days in a week, how many weeks in a year etc.

Assessment

Class Party

Students will plan a class celebration from the initial concept, date and times, location, guest invitations, etc.

This example demonstrates teaching Outcomes 1, 2 and 3 cohesively as per the curriculum guidelines.

The assessment adheres to the curriculum requirement to include all three outcomes. Outcome 2 allows students to use the Problem-solving cycle within the context and skills outlined in Outcome 1, and Outcome 3 involves students using their Mathematical toolkit to support Outcomes 1 and 2.

• Students are tasked with planning a class celebration – from the initial ideas of location, design of invitations, catering, and schedule of events, etc.
• The teacher leads a class discussion of the celebratory event – perhaps a graduation event, or just to celebrate the end of term? Create some excitement and start brainstorming what needs to be done.

Step 1 - Identify the mathematics

Teachers need to ensure that students have the tools and supports in place to plan the mathematics for the following:

• Location – what local park could be used, what facilities does it have, what instructions need to be provided so the guests know how to get there,
• Invitations – what details need to be on there? What conversations need to be had before locking in a date? How many people on the guest list? What sort of budget is there?
• Catering – what food can be made/transported/cooked on-site?, how much does the budget allow?, can it allow for drinks or should people BYO, will there be people with special food requirements that need catering for?
• Decorations – do we need some? Will that eat into the budget? Or can we make our own?
• Rubbish – what do we need to provide to make sure we leave none? What should we have there to ensure no spills are left / cleaning supplies? How much will they cost or can we borrow some?
• Activities – what will we do after we have eaten? Shall we have some structured activities, such as a mini-Olympics, and some non-sports activities (such as crafts or a community project to donate?), or a mini-dance party? What space is required for that? Draw a 2D plan of the venue and allocate areas for all activities for the day. Is there a Budget? Who is Organising? What equipment is needed to be borrowed?
• Restrictions - Will there be any restrictions on the day – weather?
• Risk assessment of the venue
• Scheduling - What is the schedule leading up to the event, and for the day? Have a calendar made to support the planning and to act as a check-list.
• What else?

The class will create a Gantt Chart to formalise a time-line on when each job is needed to be completed, in what order, and who is completing it.

Step 2 – Act on the mathematics

• In this phase students work through their planning from the above list – and this may present some more ideas or plans that were not initially considered. Make sure these are added to the planning list.
• The teacher should observe and engage with students during this time, and ensure they are able to access any materials needed, and that they are using the appropriate tools from their Mathematical toolkit.
• Students can work as a team on this event – and even assign a leader or two to see the overall running of this. Students could also have leaders of areas, such as Activities Leader & Catering Leader etc. Then they can combine their work together as a class project – relying on others to complete their part and maintain a timeline to complete the project on time.
• All areas must present their budget costs so each student can produce a budget statement.
• The class can use a management system where they have access to each other’s documents and can view each other’s information as needed. This will give the class exposure to a real-life project management technique.

Step 3 – Evaluate and Reflect

• Students will stop, look at their plans, and discuss them as a class to see if they have everything covered.
• They will question each other and allow the teacher to ask questions and ask them to justify choices to seek clarity or highlight an area that needs improvement or is missing.
• The teacher should re-iterate this is collaborative approach.

Step 4 – Communication and Report

Students will need to ensure they have submitted the following:

• The Gantt chart with highlights of their responsibilities
• A summary of their responsibilities and what they did
• The map they are using to show guests where the celebration venue is
• Their work completed – with annotations showing their contributions
• Any drafts they have completed or notes taken
• Peer evaluation and a self-evaluation
• A budget statement of the whole project

Activity 1

Introduction to whole numbers and decimals (AoS 1: Number)

• Students will revise concepts place value and rounding
• Students will watch videos of events from the Olympics and Commonwealth Games
  have the class choose events they enjoy – the gold medal wins of 100m/200m Collection from Usain Bolt is a good video to have students record each time he has won a gold medal and order the times in ascending order.
• Students look at the differences in race times, explore how digital timers work in sporting events and how many decimal places they are recorded. 
• Apply an increase amount of 1% to apply for an extra headwind and see the difference it would make to Usain Bolt’s times, and decrease his times by 1% if he had a tail wind and see what difference that would make.

Activity 2

Multiplication and Number Facts (AoS 1: Number)

• Use the most recent Olympics – and calculate how many medals they presented. Allocated a different sport to each student, and have students estimate before looking up the schedule and calculating how many – remember there are team events where multiple medals are required.

Activity 3

Ratios and Number Facts (AoS 1: Number)

• Students revise concepts of BODMAS and apply it to solve multi-step calculations, including those in real life contexts by exploring different points and scoring systems in events in the Olympic Events that have multiple scoring events to tally the final score – such as Men’s Long Ski Jump, Figure Skating, Diving, Gymnastics etc.

Activity 4

Fractions & Percentages (AoS 1: Number)

• Students explore the design of the different medals – and see the effort each country puts in to creating its unique take on the medals, and the common elements it must include in each design.
• Students find out the weight of each medal, and the fraction/percentage of gold, silver and bronze within the medal. Students can then calculate the exact amount of gold, silver and bronze in the medal. Have students calculate different Olympic Games to compare.

Activity 5

Introduction to Shape (AoS 2: Shape)

• Students revise concepts relative to classifying common two- and three-dimensional shapes by identifying where they see them in their everyday life (sports, packaging, school, etc)
• Students will learn about and be able to describe reflection, rotation and symmetry in familiar shapes using common kitchen products, such as common rectangular and cylindrical containers and packaging.Students will practise creating familiar two- and three-dimensional shapes by measuring, drawing and constructing their own nets using de-constructed food packaging as objects to support the task.

Activity 6

Sports Day Presentation Competition (AoS: 2 Shape)

Students will plan and set up their own Sports Day Competition at the school, or host a local Primary school to have a mini Sports Day.

This activity has been developed to include the four steps of the Problem-solving cycle.

Step 1 – Identify the Mathematics

• Students are required to plan and set up their own Sports Day Competition for the school – or host a primary school Sports Day.
• Students need to have a map of the entire event space, and map out all areas – seating, first aid station, drinks, catering, equipment, bag space etc.
• The class brainstorm what events will run – what access there is to equipment, is there a budget, are there prizes, what is the catering for the day etc?
• Students will need to visit the event space, and decide best spaces for the each event. Think about high traffic areas, what needs to be close to facilities, how long events will run etc.
• Plan the points system of the day
• Prepare the food/catering and put in purchase order
• Students design certificates for the winners in different shapes

Step 2 – Act on the Mathematics

• The sport events must be clearly run by students, they should;
• Be able to explain the rules for the event
• Students to run a points system if it is a team event and final recording
• Mark out the event spaces of the day clearly using signs and correct shapes of the events
• Make appointments with appropriate staff members to access equipment (e.g. Head of PE to borrow sporting equipment, the First Aid officer to borrow a kit, speak to Facilities Manager about getting seating/marquee/portable BBQ out etc).
• Prepare a schedule for the day with times/people/places/equipment etc
• Prepare the certificates
• Appoint an overall leader of the day to troubleshoot issues.
• Maintain a running budget throughout planning, and go through purchasing systems appropriate to the setting.
• Meet with principal team to prepare the day to avoid clashes with other events running in the school and with proposed areas used within the school.

Step 3 – Evaluate and Reflect

• Students bring all their planning work together
• The class review the work and observe and make comments.
• The class look for problems, things that could go wrong, the schedule, and ask for feedback from teacher.

Step 4 – Communicate and Report

• Students print and prepare all documentation for the day
• Students communicate all documentation to the relevant stakeholders

Assessment

Design a Board Game Project (AoS 1: Number, AoS 2: Shape)

• Students are tasked with designing a board game complete with numeracy based questions, all rules clearly explained and all pieces plus the board provided.
• The teacher leads the class in a discussion of what makes a good board game – and reminisce about games enjoyed, games not enjoyed, and family stories.
• The class analyse the rules, the goals/objectives, the challenges or tricks, the playing pieces and what makes a game memorable.
• Challenge the students to make their own – students must include numeracy questions or components that they have developed, along with the answers.
• Students present the rules, the goals, any tips to play the game, all pieces, and present the game to the class.
• Students can work alone or in pairs.
• Students need to incorporate elements from AoS 1: Number and AoS 2: Shape in their board game – in both design elements (such as game pieces of the game board) and questions/rules etc.

Step 1 – Identify the Mathematics

Have students clearly define what they need to do – this is important to ensure they know exactly what they are doing and to complete all components.

Students need to think about:

• The objective of the game
• The design of the game board
• The gaming pieces
• The rules
• Any pieces of equipment to make and/or acquire (such as a dice, counters, timer etc)
• What numeracy and maths skills they wish to include – will it have a theme?

To make things easier, have a list of commonly used materials that are easy to access, such as coloured paper, textas, glue sticks etc, and also measuring equipment, such as compasses, protractors, rulers etc. Also, have students make a list (similar to a purchase order) of materials that they require to provide an experience similar to work place processes.

Step 2 – Act on the mathematics

Observe the students as they are creating their board games.
Support students with their design process to ensure accuracy with all diagrams, angles and shapes being drawn.

Step 3 – Evaluate and reflect

Having students creating something new – they may have to Evaluate and Reflect, then return to the Act on the mathematics phase several times. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this phase – it allows the students to stand back, and critically evaluate their work, and make changes or add new material to their work. Support this working process and encourage it as it is often a tool used in industry.

Have students explain their game to the class for feedback – or to a peer or another staff member (perhaps invite a guest in such as a senior school co-ordinator, an assistant principal, the maths co-ordinator) and have them pitch their games and get feedback.

Step 4 – Communicate and Report

At this stage, students are finalising their board game, the pieces, and the rules.

Students are submitting their games, and swapping them amongst themselves to play and provide peer feedback. Provide a template that has headings such as ‘Things I liked / worked well / enjoyed’ and ‘Suggestions or Improvements’.

If the students were happy with their games – they could donate them to the Games Club if the school has one, or the library if they run them at lunch times, or to the local community centre.

Activity 1

Rubik’s Cube investigation

• Explore the history of the Rubik’s cube. Finding out:
  • Who invented the Rubik cube?
  • When was it invented?
  • What is the world record for solving the Rubik’s cube?
  • How long did it take him to solve it?
  • How many different combinations of the cube are possible?
  • Write this number in digits
  • Where was the cube first sold?
  • How many cubes have been sold?
• Explore the features of the Rubik's cube: face, vertex, edge, polygon, polyhedra, prism, cube.
• Explore length, area and volume using different sized Rubik’s cubes.
• Investigate the face of a Rubik’s cube on a Cartesian plane to identify coordinates, rotate, reflect and translate.

Activity 2

What is recreation?

• Understand that recreation means different things to different people and what it means to the learner. Understand that sport is a form of recreation and students identify what sports they are interested in and any that they are actively involved with.

Activity 3

Diary of weekly activities

• Students create a chart, using Excel, of general activities that students do in a week.
• Students create a bar graph for a weekday and one for a weekend day using Excel and compare.
• Use the formula tools to find the totals for each type of activity, do comparisons, work out the maximum, minimum for each activity and the mean.
• Work out the percentage of time spent on each activity.
• Using Excel, group the information that has been collected into five main categories (rest, education, work, recreation, other) and complete a summarised activity chart to produce a pie chart.

Activity 4

Paper planes

• An activity working in groups of two or three to create a paper plane that will fly the longest distance
• Give students an A4 piece of paper each to create one common prototype in their group. Students draw the prototype detailing all dimensions.
• Each student in the group to test prototype three times and records the results of each member of the group in a table. Students working out mean distance for the group.
• Students share results with class so the mean class average can be calculated. Make comparisons of mean distance and paper plane designs.

Activity 5

Olympic sport

• Investigate different Olympic sports. Students can research the success of their favourite Olympic athletes, working out distances, speed, converting units, making comparisons to other athletes.
• Research an Australian basketballer player. Compare their height to the average height of a professional player. Work out how much the player would have to jump to touch the ring.
• Research some of the world's top weightlifters. Calculate their strength-to-weight ratio. Calculate how many people they could lift. Find five things that are an equivalent weight to what a weightlifter can lift above his head.

Activity 6

Converting units

• Students provided with structured questions, linked to a topic of interest, to convert between lengths, mass and volume.

Activity 7

Calculating perimeter, circumference and area

• Structured lesson on finding the perimeter of common two-dimensional shapes and using these skills to find the perimeter of composite shapes. Students learn how to find the circumference of a circle.
• Structured lesson on finding the area of common two-dimensional shapes and working out the area of composite shapes.
• Students measure the sports courts in the school to work out the perimeter and area.

Activity 8

Netball court investigation

• Research the standard size of a netball court and draw a diagram detailing the dimensions. Students label the different segments of a court and calculate each segment area of the court.
• Students research the seven different positions in netball (GK, GD, WD, C, WA, GA, GS) and identify the segments of the court they play in. Students calculate the area that each player position can play in. Students can work out the percentage of the netball court each position has.
• Students do further calculations to find the total area of the court, calculate the cost of paint required to paint the entire court once, if one litre of paint covers an area of 6 costing $12 per litre.
• Calculate the cost of painting all the lines in white paint if each line has a width of 5 cm (assuming the same cost of paint).

Activity 9

Planning a swimming pool

Students investigate a few possible plans of swimming pools with a given land size.

• Students investigate suitable pool heights for a family swimming pool.
• Students make a choice of the pool plan they want to work on and research safety fencing. Find out the safe dimensions of the child gate and calculate the amount of fence required.
• Students calculate the volume of soil that needs to be removed for their chosen pool.
• Calculate areas of the pool's floor and walls to work out the overall areas of the surfaces of the pool that need to be painted.
• Give the dimensions and area of a pool cover to conserve the temperature of the pool.
• Work out the volume of the pool to calculate how much water is required to fill it.

Activity 1

How much is it?

• Students are given a supermarket catalogue and they choose 10 combinations of two to three items from the catalogue to work out the total price.   
• Alternatively, students are provided with a sheet of problems where they need to add up the bill.

Activity 2

Giving change

• Students could use their answers from the supermarket catalogue Activity 1 where they need to work out the change, they would get from either $20 or $50 note.
• Students are provided with a sheet of problems linked to area of interest where they need to calculate the change from the given problems.

Activity 3

Customer service at a theme park

• Students are provided with information about the costs of entry into a theme park. Students could find this information for themselves by going onto a theme park website.
• Students answer questions on costs of different types of tickets and total costs for different groups (how much it would cost for their family or group of friends to go) and calculate change.

Activity 4

Spot the errors

• Students are given a stocktake sheet (possibly of a store students shop in) with errors throughout. Students use the information about quantities and prices of products to check through given value and to adjust the errors.

Activity 5

Cost price and sales price

• Students are given multiple product values of cost price and sales price. Students need to work out the profit or loss.
• Extended task to work out sales price, cost price or profit with the information provided.

Activity 6

Pay day/hourly pay rates

• Students learn about different rates of pay according to when they work (penalty rates). Students work out pay when the rates are double time, time and a half and time and a quarter.
• Students calculate the amount earned by people working given hours and at different penalty rates. If students don’t mind sharing their information from their jobs, use these.

Activity 7

Pay slips

• Display a pay slip and discuss the terms on it and what it means. Assist students to understand what the information represents.
• Give students different examples of pay slips and get them to answer questions as a group: how many hours were worked? What is the rate of pay? What does TFN stand for? etc. Give students more pay slips and get them to answer questions.
  

Activity 8

Types of income

• Ask students if they are familiar with the terms: commission, payment in kind or piece rate. Discuss different types of incomes.
• Students research which occupations match these types of incomes. Provide students with a question sheet to calculate what people would earn according to their income type.

Activity 9

Rich listers

• Students are given a list of the top 10 richest people in Australia from 2018. Students research the current top 10 richest people in Australia.
• Students answer questions comparing the lists, looking at the types of industries they are in.
• Students can further explore these industries, what they make, where are they located etc.

Activity 10

Income tax investigation

• Students are introduced to the concept of Income Tax – what it is, what are the percentage rates and where to find them.
• Students explore the current tax rate based on tax tables from the current financial year and compare to the previous years on a series of different incomes.
• Students can check their current tax brackets if they currently have a job to connect their pay slip to the tax system.
• Students research average income of five different occupations. Students work out the amount of income tax for each of the occupations using MoneySmart income tax calculator. 

Activity 11

Income tax investigation – Completing tax returns

• Students investigate what a tax return is using Lodging a tax return.
• Discuss as a class group, student findings. 
• Students list some of the deductions certain occupations might claim for.

Activity 12

Pay day loans

• Discuss pay day loans with students and look at alternative options that may offer better value.
• Use moneysmart pay day loan calculator and banking loan calculators to answer questions on different loan amounts for different lengths of time.

Activity 13

Car ownership costs

• Students brainstorm the costs that are associated with owning a car.
• Discuss car insurance and what it covers. Students research car insurance and discuss why the prices are different for different age brackets.
• Look at ways to save on insurance.
• Students research a secondhand car they would like to get when they pass their learners.
• Students then look at different types of loan to buy this car and find the best deal. Use some of the prior knowledge from earlier activities.
• Work out the monthly loan repayments and the overall cost of buying the car.

Activity 14

Calculate percentages

• Work through structured simple percentage of number questions as well as equivalent fractions. Show students different techniques and technologies to calculate.

Activity 15

Shopping discount

• Students choose an online retail shop and calculate the total cost of three items with a 25% discount and three items with a 40% discount.
• Students answer a selection of percentage questions involving penalty rates and discounts in the local shops.

Activity 16

Appreciation and depreciation

• Discuss the terms appreciation and depreciation.
• Students research what items are likely to appreciate and depreciate.
• Students research the term inflation and write a report or create a presentation on this demonstrating how this affects the economy.

Activity 1

GST

• The teacher leads the class in a discussion about Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• Students research GST, finding the value, listing the types of goods and services that include GST.
• Students list some items that do not have GST.
• Teacher leads the class on strategies to calculate GST and add to the original price. Work backwards to work out the value of the already added GST.
• Students are given structured questions on this. Students can also use moneysmart GST calculator

Activity 2

Lemonade Stand game

• Students use a Lemonade Stand simulation game where they are required to evaluate production, marketing and sales of a small business.
• The objective of the game is to operate a lemonade stand and make decisions each day on the number of cups of lemonade students are going to make and try to sell, how much advertising students will spend money on and how much they will charge for each cup, against the day’s predicted weather forecast.
•  Students work through the 14-day game. Results should be recorded for each day on a tally sheet, price per cup, number of cups sold / potential customers, weather and customer satisfaction.
• Students work out net profit or loss. Students reflect on the results and think about what they might do differently.
• Students share results with their class and make comparisons of the results.

Activity 3

Sending parcels

• Students investigate multiple items of interest to ship from a selection of towns and cities to different locations within Australia.
• Compare three different carriers by calculating the postage using the specific dimensions for each item. Include additional information if the service offers extra features, estimated delivery time and the price including tracking.
• Students compare which shipping companies offer the best service, best value for money and are the most reliable.

Activity 4

Income tax investigation

• Students are given structured work to find the amount of tax to be paid for different salaries.
• Students calculate fortnightly or weekly gross pay and weekly net pay using moneysmart income tax calculator.
• Student given gross weekly or fortnightly pay to work back to be able to find annual income and net weekly pay.

Activity 5

Rostering staff

• Explore why it is important to have an effective staff roster to keep the workplace running smoothly. There are a few things to consider when making a roster for staff: the type of work needed, the skills required to do it, availability and ability to work different shifts.
  
  Important points to consider:
  • Know the business needs: What are your peak times? What are your busiest days? Knowing this will help staff accordingly.
  • Consider budget: Be realistic about the budget when creating a staff roster. You don't want to overspend on labour costs, but you also don't want to understaff and end up with unhappy customers.
  • Communicate with the team: Once you have your roster in place, be sure to communicate with your team. Let them know when they are working and what their responsibilities are. This will help to ensure that everyone is aware of their shifts.
• Students are given information on various staff employment types, days of work and hours they can work. Students make a roster for the week according to the information given.

Things that you need to know:

• Minimum shift is 4 hours 
• There must be 3 staff on at all times on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 
• There must be 4 staff on at all times on Thursday, Friday and Sunday
• There must be 5 staff on at all times on Saturday.

Activity 1

Questions Questions who has the question? (AoS 7: Uncertainty)

Posing questions to students to help develop their likelihood language.

• The teacher leads a discussion of the concept of chance and likelihood. Pose questions such as:
• What is the chance of rain today?
• What is the chance of someone ate toast for breakfast today?
• What is the likelihood a train will run late across the train network today?
• What is the possibility that Homer Simpsons will be the next President?
• Stop and ask the students about the responses they are using – and present options you want them to start using and connecting that to percentage outcomes – examples below (but not limited to):
• Language such as: not likely, likely, possible, not possible, impossible, certain, even chance
• Offering percentage outcomes: 0% chance, 50% chance, 100% chance

Activity 2

Whether we Weather? (AoS 7: Uncertainty)

Students use weather forecasts to track the weather, and explore the detailed forecasts and see how that detailed information can be useful for planning for personal, social, work etc.

• The teacher asks the students what today’s weather is going to be – without anyone looking it up.
  • Ask for details – if it going to rain, is it windy, is it sunny etc.?
  • Ask students how they think the forecast is generated, and how reliable they think it is.
• The teacher puts the weather forecast up on the interactive whiteboard.
  • The teacher opens http://www.bom.gov.au/places/vic/ and types in the suburb of the school and looks at the forecast for the day. 
  • Make a note of the possible rainfall for the day and keep a check to see if the percentage forecasts were correct.
• The teacher asks the students:
  • Are these forecasts generally helpful?
  • Are these forecasts generally correct?
  • How can these types of forecasts help us during our day?

Activity 3

Coin Toss (AoS 6: Data & AoS 7: Uncertainty)

Students complete experiments to compare theoretical probability and experimental probability – to understand how ‘the house always wins’.

• The teacher asks the students if they flip a coin – what are the possible outcomes?
• The teacher asks the students – if they flipped a coin ten times – what do they think the answers would be?
• The students record their responses in the table below, and then repeat the experiment three times using a coin, or using a coin simulator found online. 

• The teacher asks the students questions to have them see the differences between theoretical probability and experimental probability. This is an important concept for later on when students explore gambling and the ‘likelihood of winning’.
• The teacher then asks the students to how many times it is needed to flip the coin to get ten heads.
• The students record their responses in the table below.

• The teacher has the class repeat the discussion about the differences between theoretical probability and experimental probability, and have them use their language learnt above when discussion the likelihood of events occurring.

Activity 4

Roll the Dice (AoS: 6 Data & AoS 7: Uncertainty)

The class complete experiments to compare theoretical probability and experimental probability – to understand how ‘the house always wins’.

• This activity required a physical dice, or a computerised dice, https://www.random.org/dice/
• The teacher asks students if they roll a normal six-sided dice – what are the possible outcomes? Is there any advantage to one number coming up more often?
• The teacher asks students if they roll the dice 20 times – what do they think their answers would be?
• Students record their responses in a table, and then complete the related task.
  

• The class repeat the experiment again – and record their data in the same table with a different colour pen, or circle the answers to make them stand out as the second batch of data. Tell the students they can change their predictions as well. Some may want to draw up another table.
• The teacher leads a discussion about why their results were different in the two experiments. Was there anything similar? Was there anything different? Was there anything of interest? Was there a ‘lucky number’?

Activity 5

Attitudes to Gambling (AoS 6: Data & AoS 7: Uncertainty)

Students use infographics to predict the statistics reflected there, and the survey the class on their attitudes to different forms of gambling – and if they consider it gambling.

• The teacher will use the infographics and statistics from the article “in Gen Bet: Has Gambling Gatecrashed Our Teens?” on page 4 of https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/
• The teacher will ask the students if they know what the statistics are for each infographic, inviting the class to start thinking about their attitudes towards gambling.
• The teacher should survey students anonymously to find out their attitudes towards gambling with yes/no questions such as:
  • Do you consider tattslotto gambling?
  • Are instant scratchies gambling?
  • Do you consider the pokies to be gambling?
  • Do you think gambling ads (such as SportsBet) should be banned at sporting events?
  • Can you beat the odds and win?
  • Are there lucky numbers?
  • One big win will fix everything?
  • Is it normal to bet on sports?
  • Are young people too exposed to gambling?
  • Is betting fun?
  • Do you know people who make regular bets?
• The teacher leads a discussion about why students think yes/no, and the likelihood of winning when gambling. The teacher reviews the class data comparing the results with state-wide survey data from Responsible Gambling Victoria, and leads a class discussion about the similarities and differences https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/gambling-victoria/what-victorians-think-about-gambling/
• Students choose two questions from the survey and create visual representations of the data – a graph and a table.
• The teacher supports students to include appropriate information including headings, axes, scales etc.
• Students choose two more questions from the survey and create visual representations of the data using spreadsheet software.
• The teacher supports students to include the appropriate information including headings, axes, scales etc, and how to manipulate the software to ensure these are correctly positioned.

Activity 6

You said how many machines?

The class explore how many pokies machines are in local councils and use that data to calculate measures of spread.

• The teacher leads a discussion about how many pokies machines are in the local council and explore one area of interest to the class, such as how many venues have pokies machines in each council in local councils nearby.
  The information can be found on Responsible Gambling Victoria
  https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/gambling-victoria/pokies-across-victoria
• Students create a list of nearby councils and list the number of venues in a table.
• Students use this data to calculate the mean, media and mode – and see how their local council compares.
• The teacher leads a discussion about what student’ opinions of pokies machines are – and have a discussion about their thoughts on them.
• The teacher provides the infographics from the following page to students,
  https://www.savings.com.au/savings-accounts/gambling-statistics-australia
• Using the infographics, look at the amount of money lost per adult over the countries in the infographic. Calculate the mean, median and mode of the different countries, and make comparisons of where Australia is, and where other countries are.

Activity 7

What’s the Impact?

The class use articles to explore issues related to gambling under four areas: financial, personal, social and legal.

• The teacher presents the class with articles that highlight how gambling addiction has caused issues and read them together and highlight the impact gambling has made in each article.
• Use the headings Financial, Personal, Social, and Legal, and have the students brainstorm the impact of gambling for each of these categories, and then the consequences.
• Link the discussion back to the articles.

Activity 8

Gambling Calculator

Students respond to different scenarios, using the gambling calculator on Gambling Help Online to calculate how much is being spent on gambling, how the website displays the information in a way that makes someone consider what they are doing and how they present options on how to better spend their money.

• The teacher presents some scenarios to the students and have them use the Gambling Help Online calculator to calculate the financial impact of gambling.
  https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au/take-a-step-forward/gambling-calculator
  
  Example scenarios:
  • Person A went to the Pokies just to have a beer with mates after work. It started out as a little play just for fun, but it became a regular habit. Finally it became an addiction – it would be three nights a week habit and Person A spent $100 spent each night. Person A is a third-year carpenter earning award wages of $888.36/week.
  • Person B likes to put some money on SportsBet here and there for the games of the week. They think, ‘why not – everyone does it?’. They originally spent just a few dollars here, a few dollars there, but habits form easily, and it got out of control. They are a first-year hairdressing apprentice, money is tight, and they wonder why it never seems to last. They earn just above award wage at $510/week. They place multiple bets, generally 10 a week, each bet valuing $10.

Assessment

This example demonstrates teaching Outcomes 1, 2 and 3 cohesively as per the curriculum guidelines.

The assessment adheres to the curriculum requirement to include all three outcomes. Outcome 2 allows students to use the Problem-solving cycle within the context and skills outlined in Outcome 1, and Outcome 3 involves students using their Mathematical toolkit to support Outcomes 1 and 2.

The house always wins

• Students are challenged to look at young people gambling in Victoria and interstate/overseas, and create a public service campaign to highlight some warning signs and local support services.
• The class watch public service commercials and students analyse and discuss what elements they consider make the commercial a success, and what elements they consider ineffective.
• Challenge students to make their own commercial or radio advert to target young people and gambling, it should contain the following:
• Current statistics from Victoria
• Compared with current statistics from interstate or overseas
• Warning signs of over-use or addiction
• Tips or local support services to help people if they want it

Step 1 – Identify the Mathematics

• Ensure students are clear about their target audience and the messages they are making. They can choose the general topic of gambling, or be specific, such as online sports betting or pokies etc.
• Students should start to think about what topic they want, and about what statistics would be good to find and calculate and create a plan on how to represent it.

Students should think about an outline for their video/radio commercial to they have a plan to work with for their next steps.

Step 2 – Act on the mathematics

• Students research and present their statistics in a presentation, and must show all research and calculations in a log book. They must show reputable sources.
• Students research and calculate their statistics for Victoria and their comparison state or country.
• Students should also look for information to include in their presentation with regard to warning signs, and tips to support people with gambling and local services.

Step 3 – Evaluate and Reflect

• Students look at their calculations, tables and graphs, and ask themselves ‘does this look right?’. They should look at their previous work in this unit and compare their work here to that, and check they have all correct information – such as headings, labels etc – and also use it to check over their processes.
• Students can discuss their results and findings with their teacher – and be prepared to justify their results, calculations and findings.

Step 4 – Communicate and Report

• In this step students prepare their presentation for filming/recording.
• Students should also prepare a script or discussion points for their presentation to assist in filming/recording.
• Remind students that their goal is to create a presentation that shows the statistics behind gambling, compares it with another state/country, and shows early warning signs of over-use or addiction, and then local services.
• Students can use this list as a checklist to make sure they have covered all areas, understand the message they need to keep conveying, and really repeat the message that gambling does not pay off.

Activity 1

Interpretation of Tables and Graphs

Interpretation of data and summaries

KK: interpretation and description of familiar and simple data sets and their displays
KS: identify key facts from tables and graphs
KS: read and interpret results from familiar and simple data presented in both graph and table form, including describing general patterns and trends

Students will explore graphs that are related the topic of the general health for 16-18 year old’s, looking for key features and how data can be misinterpreted. Students will use scaffolding, a summary technique, so they can see how to shape their communication when presenting their findings.

• Present a variety of graphs & tables for students to look at related to general health of 16–18-year old’s
• Students quietly look over the materials and make some notes
• Students complete a ‘think-pair-share’ table with a partner, and discuss with the class
• The teacher should plan for a variety of topics and data that will encourage students to think about how data can be provided and how data can be misinterpreted.
• During the class discussion, highlight key data in the tables and graphs by identifying main features such as headings, data topic, date when data was collected, where/who published it etc. Additionally, highlight any trends (such as seasonal, economic, trendy-obsessions etc) and add what it really is saying etc.
• Ask students to provide a written response to the discussion and scaffold a writing technique to highlight how to do this. This could include;
  • an opening sentence describing the source and table/graph data, the data source and what units are being used
  • a sentence identifying the pattern or description of the data (ups, downs, trends, no trends etc.), and gives suggestions to explain why this is occurring.
  • A sentence predicting what might happen next in the pattern/trend
  • *Make sure it is factually based – no inferences.

Activity 2

Internet research task

Interpretation of media-based data and summaries

KK: display of data with commonly used tables and graphs, including use of axes and simple scales
KS: identify key facts from tables and graphs
KS: read and interpret results from familiar and simple data presented in both graph and table form, including describing general patterns and trends

• Students find more examples of graphs related to general health for 16–18-year old’s and apply the same writing technique to further their reading of graph and summary skills.
• Students research two of their own graphs about general health and apply the same written response and writing technique.
• Students present one graph and their write up for the class and the class discuss each one together and present feedback with a graphic organiser using the headings ‘strengths – improvement – interesting’.

Activity 3

Get your heart up!

Data Collection

KK: display of data with common used tables and graphs, including the axes and simple scales
KS: collect, collate and organise familiar and simple data sets, and display these choosing and using the most appropriate format, including axes and simple scales

• This activity is designed for students to understand the importance of a healthy heart. 
• Students complete a hands-on activity where they collect their own data as they complete four different activities that should increase their heart-rates each time.
• Students practice finding and taking their own heart rates, and record their data in tables. Students learn why they are presenting bar charts and explore spread-sheet software.  
• Suggested activity sets:
  • Activity Set One:
    Activities for students with limited mobility include sitting in a chair and recording their resting heart rate, then moving arms back and forward in a ‘jogging fashion’, then extending arms outwards in a ’star jumps fashion’ and then moving arms all-over in a ‘fast and chaotic’ fashion – judge the time limit to suit the needs of your students.
  • Activity Set Two:
    Take heart rate under the following conditions: resting heart rate (sitting quietly), slow walk along the basketball court, performing a series of lunges/lower body workout, star jumps on the spot/all body workout, jogging/running (all 30-45 second increments showing increased activity with 3-minute rests in-between, to act as a break and re-set heart rate). These activities are designed to show an increase in heart rate each time.
• Students plot the heart rate data for each activity on a bar chart using spreadsheet software.
• Make sure students have included the essentials for graphs: title, axes labelled, each bar titled etc. A written summary of their findings should also be produced.

Activity 4

Are you hot?!

Data Collection

KK: identify key facts from tables and graphs
KK: display of data with common used tables and graphs, including the axes and simple scales
KS: collect, collate and organise familiar and simple data sets, and display these choosing and using the most appropriate format, including axes and simple scales

• This activity relates to the topic by generating student knowledge about body temperature. It is a hands-on collecting data activity, where students learn to take their own body temperature with a thermometer; whilst lowering it slightly with their hand in ice water over several minutes. Students record their temperatures in tables and learn why histograms are appropriate and recreate them in using spread-sheet software. 
• The teacher begins the activity with a discussion about taking our temperature to check for fevers when feeling unwell and why the body reacts this way. Personalise the discussion to real life experience by asking students if anyone has a story to share, does anyone remember when they had their temperature taken and in what setting? 
  
• The teacher should present different thermometers to the class or show pictures/videos of how they are used (preferred technique is armpit). For example: ear scanners vs. forehead scanners vs. glass thermometers, digital vs. analogue readings, and discuss the positives and negatives for having either type in the home.
• The class complete a worksheet where students look at different thermometers and read their temperatures – importantly stressing that temperatures within the body have a small range (within 36°C – 37°C; fever starts 38°C) so reading them accurately is important.
• The class research Health Direct website to find some practical tips to help someone with a fever.
• Students use a thermometer and record the teacher and students’ body temperature on the whiteboard. Now place the teacher and students’ hand in a bowl of cold water with ice – and leave it there for one minute. Over the next five minutes, take the temperature reading each minute and record the temperature.
• *Remember to take the temperature in a consistent manner, using the same technique each time.
• Record the results in a time-series graph and discuss why a time-series graph is appropriate for this. Discuss the different elements necessary for this graph.
• Students compare results with others – what was similar, what was different? Why do they think each other’s body temperatures could be slightly different?

Activity 5

The Surveys Says …

Creating Graphs

KS: collect, collate and organise familiar and simple data sets, and display these choosing and using the most appropriate format, including axes and simple scales
KK: display of data with commonly used tables and graphs, including use of axes and simple scales

• This activity introduces students to data collection with categorical data and supports this stage of the problem-solving cycle. By collecting categorical data from the class, students help produce the topics and recording sheets. Students work in groups to analyse the data, produce results, summarise and display in the classroom.
• The teacher leads a discussion to find topics that the class enjoys together – this has to be categorical data. Suggestions could include favourite fruits and vegetables, favourite meal of the day, favourite sports to participate in, what would they like to like to improve to make themselves healthier, what can schools do to improve the health outcomes of students, what items should be removed from the canteen menu, what items should be included on the canteen menu etc.
• Students move into small groups to create a range of surveys related to the selected topics, including recording sheets and instructions.
• The teacher prints and shares the surveys around the classroom and gives students time to participate and complete the surveys.
• Back in their small groups, students look at the data and collate the frequency (total) and generate totals and percentage frequency. Students build a bar chart to visually display results in graph form and write a small summary about the class’s data.
• The teacher leads a discussion about how the survey could be improved if repeated.

Activity 6

Statistics in the Media

Interpreting and displaying datasets

KK: interpretation and description of familiar and simple data sets and their displays

• Students look at different examples of statistics in the media that are related to positive health promotion of 16–18-year old’s – such as:
  • printed
  • infographics in news conferences
  • sound bites
  • video etc
• Students review how the statistics are displayed and what they are communicating whilst examining ideas such as from whom and when was the data gathered and could there be bias present?
• The teacher presents an example of the daily COVID-19 statistics that are given at news conferences and ask students what they are seeing, and if it is easy to understand.
• The class break down why infographics are a preferred choice when presenting to bigger cohorts, and the language used that needs to be understood by all Victorians – discuss any language barriers students think exist in Victoria.
• Brainstorm with the class where else we see data and statistics daily in regard to general health of 16–18-year-olds. Create a page for each brainstorm and spread these ideas around the room. Have students move around the room in pairs to explore and contribute their ideas of the data and statistics they see for each topic, so the topics become more detailed. Discuss and display in the classroom.
• The class collect examples of data and statistics found in the media and add them to the brainstorms. Discuss the importance, and have the students annotate the key features, such as:
  • Who published the statistics and when did they do it?
  • What is the title and what is it telling the audience straight away?
  • Interpret the statistics – what is it telling us?
  • Does the title connect with the data shown?
• The teacher should present some other media articles which include statistics – use different examples of how statistics are given: text, image, sound. Discuss bias and how bias can be used as a technique to manipulate audience members, or how only presenting some parts of the research can be another technique used.
• Ask the class if they have ever participated in a survey and discuss their involvement. Move the discussion into data collection methods, and why it is important to find out if the data is a primary or secondary source for validity; remind students to check for;
  • author or company
  • when was it collected (it is out of date?)
  • how was it collected (did the participants have someone to clarify their questions to or not?)
  • did the questions make sense (or did they answer making a guess?)
  • were the participants paid for their time or not?
  • are the participants in the survey a broad range of people or not (is there possible bias?)
  • etc

Activity 7

Data Calculations

Calculating simple measures of spread:

KK: simple measures of spread, such as range and mean
KS: choose and find simple common measures of spread for contextual data sets. For example, mean, range of data

• This activity presents the calculations of mean, median and mode to the students – some may remember it, and some might not.
• Present different data sets on smoking, vaping and the poor health outcomes to examine the negative effects on health. Before students perform these calculations, have students make predictions to what they think the data might be.
• Discuss and model the processes to calculate the range and mean, median and mode.
• After the calculations, have a class discussion that includes some questions such as:
• what can they see – any patterns, recurring numbers, anything alarming etc?
• are there any trends? How do the numbers translate to ages and health? 
• Scaffold the writing technique and present a summary of results.

Activity 8

Time to Number Crunch

KK: collect, collate and organise familiar and simple data sets, and display these choosing and using the most appropriate format, including axes and simple scales.

• Students complete a range of hands-on activities to gather numerical data with numerical responses, and practice the statistics calculations. Students will work in small groups to be responsible for their activity, record sheet and any equipment needed. Afterwards, students will produce the calculations and summary to present to the class.
  
  Example activities:

• have students write down their favourite number between 0-100
• guess how many staff work on-site
• how many objects are in their pencil case?
• how long does it take for their wheelchair to travel around an outdoors court?
• how many times can they sing through the alphabet in 30 seconds
• how many sit-ups/push-ups can they do in 30seconds
• how long does it take to press all the buttons on their communication device?
• how many cards can they stack building a card tower in 30 seconds?
• how many times can they bounce a basketball in 30 seconds
• Involve the class in choosing the activities
• Discuss with the class how the recording sheet will look to collect the data – generally a table will do and make sure there are enough spaces for each student plus any staff to include their own answer.
• Students break up into small groups and take ownership of the different activities, produce the recording sheet with the title, the instructions, and any equipment/time recording device needed (make sure there is a pen/pencil there to record the answer).
• Students and staff participate at each station and complete the activities to gather the data. When finished, students look at their record sheets and make observations about how the data was recorded and whether people were able to follow the instructions or not? (as this reflection will be important at the end of the unit).
• In groups or individually, with the data from their survey, students should calculate the simple measures of spread – the range, mean, median and mode. Have a small discussion in their group to compare their results for accuracy, and what their findings are. Discuss the results and analyse for any surprises, trends, etc.
• Prepare the results in a table, a graph, with mean, median and mode, and a summary and present to the class. Display in classroom.

Activity 9

You really oughta know…

KK: simple data collection tools and processes

The teacher leads a class discussion about what makes a good health survey.

• Class discussion about past surveys;
  • What surveys have students taken in the past?
  • What sorts of questions did they have?
  • How was the survey delivered?
  • What was the purpose of the survey?
  • Was it formal or informal?
  • Who was gathering the information?
  • What types of questions were asked and how were they collecting the answers? (yes/no questions, using scales, presenting options only, giving text box options etc),
  • Do you remember being able to understand the questions?
• Class discussion about designing a survey
  • Elements of a poor- or high-quality survey
  • Process of the researchers in conducting a survey
  • Types of questions
  • Formality of survey
  • Quality of questions
  • Presence of bias
  • Clear purpose of survey
  • Fair questions – not biased or loaded ones
  • What is our ultimate goal – what do we want to find out?
  • Digital collection vs. paper based; digital vs people involved including the positives and negatives of each.

Assessment task

Who’s got a question?

This example demonstrates an assessment task combining Outcomes 1, 2, and 3 cohesively as per the curriculum guidelines. Outcome 2 allows students to use the Problem-solving cycle within the context and skills outlined in Outcome 1, and Outcome 3 involves students using their Mathematical toolkit to support Outcomes 1 and 2.

• Students design their own survey about a health-related topic that is interesting or important to them, conduct the interviews to gather the data, collate and present their findings, and compare their findings to a secondary sources to look for comparisons.
• The teacher leads the class into a brainstorm of what health topics are important to them. Here are some examples, but do not be limited by them:
• Local or globally based health topics
• Person or family-based health topics
• Environmental impacts on health
• Health pandemics or epidemics
• Mental health
• Nutrition
• Substance abuse
• Ageing populations
• Long term illness
• Vaccines and preventative measures
• Health lifestyles
• Etc

Step 1 – Identify the Mathematics

• Students think about the design of their survey and their audience, design their questions accordingly, and the create their questions using various question methods such as, but not limited to, using yes/no questions, scales of 1-5 or 1-10, using a tick box to indicate all responses they agree with or disagree with etc.

Step 2 – Act on the mathematics

• Students conduct their surveys after a briefing on how to approach their audience, and how many they should aim to complete (the more the better – at least 15).
• Students can look at their surveys, gather the data, and calculate their measures of spread. They should look for similarities and differences and think about how best to present this information (such as, but not limited to tables, graphs, number facts, percentages etc).
• Students should research reliable online sources for information that allows them to compare their results to see if they are similar or different.

Step 3 – Evaluate and reflect

• Students should look at their data they calculated – and ask themselves if it appears reasonable?
• They should stop and look over each step performed, and can they justify each step taken? Encourage that they perform these checks, and also if they need someone to check over it for them.

Step 4 – Communicate and Report

• Students need to choose the methods to communicate their survey, their results, and the comparison to the secondary source information found. Students should consider the following questions to help prepare their responses:
  1. How will you communicate each of your results?
  2. What methods have you learnt that you will include?
  3. What methods will you use that are hand-drawn or hand-calculated?
  4. What methods will you use that are completed with technology?
  5. What software will you use to make your final presentation?

For assessment submission, students should submit:

• The survey draft and final survey
• A sample of a completed survey
• The final presentation
• The calculations and the process taken to complete them
• Any spread-sheet created with graphs or tables
• The problem solving cycle – their plan with notes made under each step

Activity 1

Medication measures and reading scales on medical tools

• Structured questions on medical dosage and answering questions on medical tools, equipment and reading scales.

Activity 2

Medical data analysis

• Investigate different types of medical data and present the information on tally charts, comment on mean, trends and variations.

Activity 3

Measuring lungs

• Explore tidal volume, vital capacity and total lung capacity.
• Students measure their vital capacity.
  1. Blow up balloon several times to stretch it before taking any measurements.
  2. Take as deep a breath as possible: exhale as much air as possible into the balloon; pinch the balloon closed to stop air escaping.
  3. Measure the balloon size.
     • Simple way – Use a ruler to estimate the height and width of balloon (diameter).
     • Advanced way – Use a tape measure to record the balloon’s circumference both directions then divide by pi to find diameter.
  4. Find the average radius of your balloon (half of diameter).
  5. Repeat three times and to find the average across all three attempts.
  6. Use the overall average radius when calculating the volume of a sphere.

• Students measure their tidal volume.
  1. Take in a normal breath and then exhale into the balloon only as much air as you would normally exhale. Do not force the air.
  2. Pinch the balloon closed to prevent air from escaping.
  3. Measure and record the size of balloon, same as before.
  4. Repeat this procedure three times; record each circumference.
  5. Calculate and record the average.
  6. Use the volume of a sphere rule to find your tidal volume.
• Students investigate the effects of smoking on lung capacity and write a short summary or  presentation.

Activity 4

Measuring heart rate

• Discuss and demonstrate to students how to find their heart rate either through the neck or the wrist.
  
  Students measure their resting heart rate:

  1. Find a stopwatch, watch or wall clock that displays time in seconds.
  2. Practice taking your resting pulse first. If you know how to find your pulse while sitting or lying quietly, it will be much easier to find during exercise.
  3. Use one of the following counts to calculate your heart’s beats per minute (bpm):
     • Count your heart beats for six seconds. Multiply the number of heart beats by 10 to get your bpm.
     • Count your heart beats for 10 seconds. Multiply the number of heart beats by 6 to get your bpm.
     • Count your heart beats for 15 seconds. Multiply the number of heart beats by 4 to get your bpm.

  Keep moving while taking your heart rate. Your heart rate will drop within 15 seconds if you stop moving.
  
  If you are having a hard time finding your pulse while exercising, find it before you begin exercising and draw an x on the pulse spot.

Activity 5

Measuring blood pressure

• Students research blood Better Health channel. If a blood pressure monitor is available students are given clear instruction on how to use it.
• Students given a blood pressure chart to see how they compare for their age group. Student to answer questions from given tables and graphs.

Activity 6

Punnett squares

• Teacher introduces Punnett squares, a chart that represents a cross, or breeding event, between two organisms.
• Teacher presents examples of Punnett squares and students work through examples.
• Students answer questions from Punnett squares and fill in Punnett squares.

Activity 7

Where is the nearest defibrillator?

• Students investigate where there are defibrillators in their local area using  Find a publicly accessible AED.
• Students list locations of the three closest defibrillators and estimate the length of time it would take to get there by walking or driving. Show all working out.

Activity 8

World health investigation

• Students research the world by income and region and investigate five low-income countries and five high-income countries using. Explore health data from the chosen 10 countries and make comparisons.

• Using the 10 countries chosen from the first question, record their rank, annual income and calculate a weekly income.

• What currency is used to rank countries for GNI?
• What is Australia’s Rank and annual income?
• What is the Number 1 ranked country (not Territory) and their annual income?
• What is the Poorest Country and its annual income?
• Imagine you live in Luxembourg. Your income matches the GNI. You work 38 hours per week and have 12 weeks holidays a year. How much do you earn per hour?

Activity 9

Nutrition Detective

• Investigate a variety of foods and make comparisons between the Nutrition Information Panels given by the teacher (see Food Standards Australia New Zealand). Examples could be: two types of bread, two types of breakfast cereal and two types of energy drinks.

Activity 10

Workplace injuries

• Investigate workplace injuries by downloading the PDF Safe Work Australia. Answer questions on the key work health and safety statistics, Australia 2021.

  • Which year did Australia have the most Workplace Fatalities?
  • Has Australia’s workplace fatality rate improved since 2003?
  • In 2020 what percentage of workplace fatalities were women?
  • What mechanism of incident caused the greatest fatalities?
  • What percentage does this represent?
  • Are professionals at greater risk than community workers?
  • Look at the table on page 5, which industry was the most risky in 2020?

Activity 1

Waste bin audit

• Students research what can be recycled and what will happen in the future if we do not recycle.
• Students find out what kind of recycling bins are used at school.
• Students create and conduct surveys asking students at their school about recycling. Possible questions include:
• How important is recycling to you?
• What items can be recycled at school?
• How often do you recycle at school?
• Teacher leads a lesson on how to use excel spreadsheets and how to create a bar graph. Students are given structured examples and questions to work through.
• Students input the information they gathered for the recycling surveys into an excel spreadsheet and create a bar graph of some of this data.
• Students work in a group to do an audit of a school recycling bin. Collect data regarding the materials that are in the recycle bin and record them in a table in suitable categories.
  
  Sort the items in the bin into groups and create an excel spreadsheet.
  
  
• Presentation of results could be a report, PowerPoint presentation, poster, podcast or a film that covers:
• What recycling is 
• Why recycling is important (i.e. How does recycling help the planet, people, animals, plants etc.)
• What has been done (Waste Bin Audit) 
• Descriptions of graphs of what was found in the recycle bin and rubbish bin
• What conclusions were drawn
• What could be done differently in our school; provide specific suggestions/actions
• What you can do personally.

Activity 2

Investigate water capacity and household water consumption

• Students investigate how we get water, average water consumption per day, and compare and calculate water charges. Compare local reservoir capacity during drought period and recent capacity. Investigate water usage and ways to conserve water.
• Students to have access to a water bill and learn what the charges are and how to work out water usage. Students answer specific questions on the given bill.
• Students answer set questions on their water usage at home and work out on average the other members of the households’ water use. Students calculate overall costs and suggest ways that this amount can be reduced.
• Students answer questions using information from the local water company. The teacher works through examples with students on water storage and how much rain would need to fall to fill up tanks.

Activity 3

Reading and calculating electricity bills

• Teacher leads a class discussion on electricity and how we use it and where electricity comes from. Teacher shows students an electricity bill and discusses the terms used in it and what it means. Students are given an example electricity bill and answer questions.
• Students to create excel spreadsheets to determine what the electricity bill would be with information given by teacher and repeat the task for another electricity provider. Students make comparisons and determine which provider may be more appropriate.

Activity 4

Solar panels

• Student to investigate what solar panels do and how they can reduce electricity bills.
• Students to find out what ‘export’ means in relation to solar panels.
• Students to find out what an inverter is.
• Students to answer structured questions on solar panel feed in tariffs and use graphs to answer questions.

Activity 5

Food packaging

• Students to design a food container for a burger that is 8 cm in diameter and 5 cm high.
  • On an A4 piece of paper students draw a picture of how the container would look from the front and top. On another piece of A4 paper students draw the net diagram of the container from above to scale. The net must have flaps so that the container will stay together. Include all measurements on the net.
  • Draw the full-size net of the container onto card and take a photo. Students cut out the net and fold it together, taking a photo of the result.
  • Students create a word document explaining what they did, suggesting any improvements and putting the photos and diagrams into it.

Activity 1

Compass

• Class discussion on compass directions, students to work out where north, east, south and west are in the classroom, using the direction of the sun, a compass, or an app.
•  Further discussion required to bring in the concept of bearings and to label a printed compass with the names and the bearing for north, northeast, south etc.
• Students given a map of their town and answer questions on directions of named places of interest in the area from certain points.
•  Students given a map of Australia or other parts in the world and answer questions on directions. Students to do further questions related to bearings.
  

Activity 2

Using maps

• Structured examples of using a map of the local area to discuss grid references, keys and scales.
• Students work in pairs to work out the grid references of places of interest, identify places that are in certain locations and use a ruler to work out the distance between locations.

Activity 3

Using online maps

• Students to use a laptop/tablet to access google maps. Student to use google maps to work out the distance and time it takes from their home to school in a car and walking (if within walking distance).
• Students given other locations to find the distance and time in their local area.
• Students plan a road trip to Adelaide.
• List several towns on the route and the distances between the towns.
• Students write the distance and time to complete the drive.
• Students print a map of the trip and locate some possible rest stops. Students find some place of interest near the rest stops or find local cafés and restaurants they could go to while there.
• Safety experts recommend a rest stop every two hours, so if the distance is too far to safely travel in a day, students find a suitable place to stay overnight and detail the accommodation and costs.

Activity 4

Floor plans

• Teacher brainstorms with students why it is important to have floor plans for buildings. Discuss the features and scales that are included in the floor plans and get students to create a floor plan of the class.
• Students access a laptop or tablet and use real estate websites and find three homes in the area that are for sale and print out the floor plans:
• Students work out the area of a bedroom and another room of their choice.
• Students make a more detailed floor plan of the chosen bedroom, adding furniture to the room using products from a furniture store.

Activity 5

The language of chance

• Students to match events given by teacher with the chance scale of: no chance, low chance, even chance, high chance and certain chance.
• Students place the terms from the chance scale (no chance, low chance, high chance and certain chance) on a line from zero to one.
• Students to explain the meaning of an event with a probability of 1, 1/2 and 0.
• Students give examples of events that are almost impossible, even chance, certain and impossible.
• Students are given questions that they must answer using the chance scale.

Activity 6

Theoretical probability

• Discuss with students what a sample space is and work through examples.
• Students work through questions which involve giving the sample space and outcomes.
• Students to answer structured probability questions giving answers in decimal or percentage form.

Activity 7

Probability investigation

• Discuss with students theoretical probability and experimental probability, discuss the importance of large sample sizes.  
• Students do a probability investigation using a spinner, dice or playing cards. Carry out the task at least 50 times, recording the results on a table with a tally of each outcome. Students explain how the experimental result compared to the theoretical results.

Activity 8

Scams

• Class discussion on scams to find out students understanding of scams. The teacher chooses appropriate videos on scams. After watching the videos students can identify types of scams.
• Students access the website scamwatch. Students find out how much money has been lost to scams in 2021.
• Students research the top three scams by loss in money.
• Students research the current year and find out how much money has been lost in total to scams.
• Students explain how they can report a scam using the scamwatch website.
• Students list what some of the big scams of 2022 were.
• What is Phishing?

Activity 1

Design your plan

In this activity students research tiny house designs, exploring the key features and dimensions in order to draw a first draft floor plan.

• Guide students to research tiny house designs. There are several Australian tiny house companies that can be found online. Additionally, the YouTube channel ‘Living Big in A Tiny House’ explores many tiny house options and ideas.
• Lead a discussion with these questions:
  • What is the size of tiny homes? What are their typical dimensions?
  • What are they key features of tiny homes?
  • What features and furniture will you need to include in your tiny house design
  • What features are shown on the house plans you looked at? What will you need to include on your own house design?
• Discuss with students the positives and negatives of different design tool applications and decide on the best application for this task.
• Students create a first draft of their tiny house floor plan using a birds’ eye view. If they are designing a loft, they should use a second template to design its floor plan too and ensure they include stairs or a ladder
• Remind students to use appropriate dimensions and scale and label all key features.

Activity 2

Time to measure up

Students explore the concept of accuracy and tolerance within measurements and how to convert between different units of measurement.

• The teacher presents students with a range of both analogue and digital measuring equipment.
• Students select a piece of equipment and discuss:
  • What types of things it is used to measure.
  • What units of measurement it shows.
  • How we use the equipment accurately.
• The teacher leads a discussion exploring the concepts of accuracy and tolerance, including the situations when accurate measurements are required versus where situations when estimation or approximate measurements are sufficient.
• The class brainstorms metric units and their non-metric equivalents and explore techniques to convert between units such as:
  • Online conversion calculators or applications
  • Approximations e.g. 1 inch is approximately 25mm or 2.5 cm, kg to lbs; first double the kg amount, then add 10% of the result, Fahrenheit temp – 30, then halved is approximate Celsius temp.
  • Conversion formulae
• The teacher provides students with a series of measurement conversion questions to practice converting between metric units and relevant non-metric units.

Activity 3

Furniture and features

Students investigate and measure the typical dimensions of household furniture items and make appropriate adjustments to their tiny house plan.

• Students share the furniture items they have included in their house, for example a bed, stove, table and chairs, microwave, fridge, toilet, basin, shower etc.
• The teacher leads a discussion with students about how they decided what size to draw their household items on their house plan. Highlight that students have used estimation skills, but to draw a house plan we need to be more accurate with dimensions.
• The teacher directs students to measure the specific dimensions of certain furniture items around the school. This should include items they have included in their house plans, in particular the height of tables and chairs, the dimensions of a toilet, the height a wash basin is mounted, fridge, stove, washing machine dimensions, height and depth of kitchen bench.
  Note: These furniture items should be able to be located throughout the school in specialist classrooms, staffrooms, bathrooms etc. Please be mindful of students entering these areas and make the appropriate arrangements. If measurements cannot be taken at school, direct students to measure the items at home and take photos of themselves.
• Collate the measurement results and lead a discussion comparing the results, highlight instances of where the results are different and discuss possible reasons why (not using equipment correctly, misreading the measurements etc).
• The teacher directs students to review their tiny house plans and check if the dimensions of their included furniture and features are appropriate and reasonable, and make any necessary adjustments.

Activity 4

Construct your house

Students create a final scale drawing of their house and use this to build a 3D scale model of their tiny house.

• The teacher supports students to draw a final version of their tiny house floor plan, making sure it is accurate and to scale.
• Students replicate their design onto the relevant walls, making sure they don’t forget to:
• consider the height of their furniture/furnishings on the walls.
• include windows and doors
• include any internal or dividing walls or doors
• Students cut out and construct their tiny house model.

Activity 5

Construct your furniture

Students create 3D scale models of their furniture to place in their house.

• The teacher supports students to draw an appropriate net for each furniture piece using grid templates, making sure the furniture size matches what they created in their floor plan and the scale is consistent.
• Students cut out, construct and place their furniture pieces into their tiny house model.

Activity 6

Investigating temperature

Students review how temperature is measured.

• The teacher presents students with a range of analogue and digital thermometers and discuss the different uses for them. Demonstrate, or ask students to demonstrate, how to use and read each accurately.
• Students estimate, then select a suitable tool to accurately measure the temperature of a variety of items e.g.:
  • their body temperature
  • the internal temperature of a fridge
  • hot water from a freshly boiled kettle
  • the temperature outside in the shade
  • the temperature outside in the sun
• Students review and reflect on their estimations compared with the actual measurements.
• The teacher leads a reflective discussion making connections between measuring temperature and the weather, and how we need to understand what the local weather and temperature is like in order to heat and cool out tiny house appropriately.
• Ask students where examples of these thermometers could go within their tiny house, how they are used, and if there are any considerations to be had when using or installing them.

Activity 7

Investigating time part 1

Students review time durations including the use of months, weeks and days.

• The teacher asks students if knowing the daily temperature is enough when investigating what the local weather is like.  Throughout the discussion, as students mention the following words write them down on the whiteboard:
  • Annual
  • Year
  • Season
  • month/monthly
  • week
  • fortnight etc.
• The teacher leads a discussion with students about what the words mean in relation to time duration and make connections between the different time durations.
• Give students a selection of questions/scenarios to calculate time durations e.g.
  • 31 days in this winter month?
  • 12 of these in a year?
  • 30 days in this spring month?
  • 52 weeks in one of these?
  • Today is Tuesday, what day will it be in a fortnight’s time?
  • Which month has exactly 4 weeks?
  • How long is 72hours?
• Introduce the term ‘quarterly’ and discuss what things occur quarterly e.g. seasons, electricity bills, school terms etc. 

Activity 8

Heating and cooling

Students investigate which capacity heater and air conditioner they would need for their tiny house.

• Review with students what they know about the local weather patterns, identifying if or when they may need a heather or air conditioner. Discuss with students the factors that determine how effective heating or cooling is, including:
  • The outside temperature
  • The degree of cooling or heating needed (i.e. what inside temperature is wanted)
  • The size of the room space
  • Insulation etc.
• Instruct students to research the average seasonal temperatures for their local area. This becomes the ambient temperature. Ask students to also decide what their ideal inside temperature is. Note: it is recommended that heaters are set to 18-20°C in winter and air conditioners are set to 22-24°C in summer.
• Instruct students to calculate the dimensions of their tiny house including; length, width, floor area, ceiling height, and room volume.
• Demonstrate how to use the air conditioner calculator and heat loss calculator to determine what size (power) air conditioner and heater is needed.
• Students use the calculators to determine the heater power recommended for each season and the air conditioner capacity recommended.

Activity 9

Water supply

Students investigate and calculate the amount of rain water they can collect and store in a water tank.

• Discuss with students that it is important to understand how much water you can collect from your roof (roof catchment capacity) in order to choose the correct water tank size. If the tank is too small then you will have overflow, if it is too large you will waste unnecessary space and will never fill it.
  • Roughly, 1 millimetre of rain over 1 square metre of roof equals 1 litre of water. Therefore the catchment capacity can be calculated using the formula: rainfall (in millimetres) X Roof surface area (in square metres) = roof catchment capacity.
• Ask students to research what the monthly rainfall is (e.g. using the BOM climate data information http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/index.shtml?zoom=1&lat=-26.9635&lon=133.4635&dp=IDC10002&p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile).
• Using this information students are required to calculate the average minimum roof catchment capacity and average maximum roof catchment capacity.
• Students research and select three round (cylinder) water tanks. Each of the tanks must hold a different capacity and students need to justify why they think the capacity is suitable for their roof catchment capacity.
• Review how to calculate circular measurements using pi.
• Using the height and diameter dimensions given for each of the water tanks, students calculate the circumference, base area, and volume of each of the three water tanks. Based on the calculations, students select the most suitable tank considering both size and capacity.
• Possible extension: Students can construct a 3D model of their chosen water tank.

Activity 10

Investigating time part 2

Students review time measurement and durations including the use of hours, minutes and seconds.

• Ask students how accurate they think their time estimation ability is.
  • With their eyes closed, play a piece of music or make a sound for a specific duration e.g. 30second, 1 minute, 5 minutes etc. After each time duration ask students to guess how long the music/sound went for and discuss the range of answers and the strategies students used to try and estimate or keep track of the time.
• Review the units of time hours, minutes and seconds, how they relate to each other and how to convert between them. Discuss the tools that can be used to measure time, and in what situations different tools or equipment (or even no specific tools) are used.
• Give students a series of household tasks, for which they have to estimate how long it takes to complete such as:
  • Making your bed
  • Taking a shower
  • Brushing your teeth
  • Running the dishwasher (or washing dishes by hand)
  • The washing machine cycle
  • Filling up a cup of water etc.
• Instruct students to appropriately measure the actual time it takes to complete the tasks (at home) and to take photos of them measuring the time.  Once completed, review and discuss their estimations compared with the measured time.

Activity 11

Communicating across timezones

Students explore the different time zones across Australia.

• Give students the scenario that some of the parts, furniture or features required to construct their tiny houses need to be sourced from interstate and requires them to make phone calls to source them.
• Lead a discussion with students to establish their prior understanding of time zones and the different time zones across Australia. 
• Demonstrate how to convert times between time zones.
• Review with students how to read and interpret 24-hour time.
• Provide students with scenarios requiring them to determine when the appropriate time to call e.g.
  • A company in Perth says they will call you between 3 pm and 5 pm their time. What time should you expect their call?
  • You want to ask an Adelaide company to call you during your lunch break, which is 12:30pm – 1:30pm. What local Adelaide time should you ask the company to call you? Convert this to 24hour time to avoid any confusion.
  • You need to call a company in Brisbane. Their opening hours are stated as being 0800 – 1600. It is currently daylight savings time in Melbourne. Between what times can you call?

Assessment task

• The assessment for this task is the completion of all activities.
• Below is a checklist for students to check that they have submitted the correct tasks.
• Students need to produce a summary of the Problem-solving cycle, complete with the four headings and annotations for each section, outlining what they have done to complete the task

Using the Problem-solving cycle - Step 3 - Evaluate and reflect

The activities in this section relate to the section of the Problem-solving cycle - Evaluate and Reflect. A core part of evaluation and reflection is going back reviewing the mathematics. At times this may involve starting the cycle again at the ‘act on’ a phase. 

Have students reflect back on the work they have completed throughout the unit, to check and reflect on the appropriateness and reasonableness of their work.

Questions to consider include:

• Does the mathematics make sense in relation to the topic?
• Is the mathematical process you have chosen the most appropriate for the question or task?
• Can you justify the mathematics you have undertaken?
• Check and reflect your work – are your answers what you expected?
• Review and reflect on the reasonableness – do you need to make adjustments?
• Do you need someone to check your work with you?

Using the Problem-solving cycle - Step 4 - Communicate and Report

The activities in this section relate to the section of the Problem-solving cycle – communicate and report, requiring students to be able to represent and communicate their mathematical results.

Questions that may guide this process include:

• How will you communicate the results of the tasks?
• What methods have you learnt that you will include?
• What methods will you use that are hand-drawn or hand-calculated?
• What methods will you use that are completed with technology?
• What software will you use to make your final presentation?

Assessment Task

Students are required to submit the following for assessment:

• The 3D tiny house model, including the furniture and features constructed
• A justification on the size of the house, furniture and features included and how heir appropriate size was determined.
• The heater, air conditioner and water tank size chosen with an explanation of why they were chosen
• The solutions to the time zone questions (Activity 11)
• Any calculations and process taken to complete the tasks
• The problem solving cycle – their plan with notes made under each step.

Activity 1

Measure up the courts

• In this activity students visit sport fields and courts, estimate the dimensions, discuss areas for improvement and errors when estimating, and have students then use measuring tools to determine and record accurate measurements and produce a scaled diagram of the field/court to compare their court to the regulation sizes stated by the Victorian Sport Authority of that sport.
• Take the students to the first field/court and have them silently estimate the dimensions of the field/court just by site, and then allow the students to know the purpose of the task.

Step 1 - Identify the mathematics

In this stage students identify the task and purpose, and then identify the mathematics involved.

• Lead a discussion with these questions:
• What estimation did everyone make?
• What estimation techniques were used?
• What techniques were spoken about and wanted to be trialled?
• Do we always need measuring equipment to estimate, or we can use our body?
• What measuring equipment could we use?
• What measuring equipment do we use on the job site?
• How do we use measuring equipment accurately?

Step 2 - Act on and use the mathematics

In this stage students choosing the mathematics and the mathematical tools to use and performing the required calculations and processes.

• Provide students with opportunities to estimate their dimensions again, using another estimation technique.
• Have students collect the measuring equipment and allow them to work together to accurately measure the field/court. Include the use of analogue measuring equipment and digital measuring equipment.
• Repeat task for another court or field so that two sporting fields are covered.

Step 3 - Evaluate and reflect

In this stage students consider the best method/s to produce their findings, and to ensure they have communicated it sufficiently so that the audience is clear on the numbers and message being presented

• Compare the results and look for accuracy/inaccuracy.
• Discuss if the results are the same, or different, and why (including measuring technique, reading the equipment etc.).

Step 4 - Communicate and Report

In this stage students consider the best method/s to produce their findings, and to ensure they have communicated it sufficiently so that the audience is clear on the numbers and message being presented.

• Provide students with the opportunity to report back on the size of the field/court by drawing a scaled diagram of the court to include the measurements taken. Have students compare their measurements with the Victorian Sport measurements of the sporting field/court and discuss whether their field/court is accurate in measurement or not, and why they think that is.

Activity 2

Same, Same or Different?

AOS 3 - Dimension and direction

KK: a range of metric and relevant non-metric units of measurement and conversion between units

• In these activities students complete conversion calculations by comparing Australian National Rugby (NRL) League pitch to American National Football League (NFL) to an English Soccer pitch.
• Start the lesson by ensuring the students have seen footage of the three different games and see how the pitches look similar but different.

Step 1 - Identify the mathematics

In this stage students identify the task and purpose, and to then identify the mathematics involved.

• Lead the discussion:
  • How are the three fields similar and how are they different?
  • Identify the purpose of the task
  • What mathematics knowledge is needed?
  • What calculations will be needed?
  • What measurements are used in the three countries and how are they different? (metres in Aus, feet in USA, yards in UK)

Step 2 - Act on and use the mathematics

In this stage students choose the mathematics and the mathematical tools to use, and perform the required calculations and processes.

• The teacher supports the students as they investigate the sizes of the pitches and copy the diagrams – complete with their measurements as found.
• The teacher can prompt the students with:
  • How can we find the conversions?
  • Providing support for the calculations
• Students will need their calculators or spreadsheet software to perform these calculations.

Step 3 - Evaluate and reflect

In this stage students consider the best method/s to produce their findings, and to ensure they have communicated it sufficiently so that the audience is clear on the numbers and message being presented.

• Lead a discussion:
  • Check calculations to see if they are reasonable
  • What device can we use to check if our measurements are correct?
  • Compare your results with another person in the class – are they similar?

Step 4 - Communicate and Report

In this stage students consider the best method/s to produce their findings, and to ensure they have communicated it sufficiently so that the audience is clear on the numbers and message being presented.

• Lead a discussion:
  • How best to communicate these new dimensions to show how these three pitches compare?
  • What information is necessary for the audience to understand the task, the diagrams, and the message conveyed?
  • Will you hand-draw or use a computer to present this?

Activity 3

The Great Aussie Roadtrip!

AOS 3 - Dimension and Direction

KK: a range of units of time and temperature
KS: perform calculations using multiple units of time, including time zones, and calculate time durations, including the use of calendar months, weeks, days, as well as hours, minutes, and seconds.

• Start this lesson with a discussion about travels in Australia, and where the students have been, and how they have travelled. Discuss the idea of the ‘Great Aussie Road trip’, and that this challenge is to create an Australian road trip to suit their interests.
• Students plan a nine-month trip driving holiday around Australia, and create an itinerary
• Before planning the direction and stops, students use information from [bom.gov.au] to investigate the average monthly temperatures, rainfall and UV index to help guide decisions
• Plan stops in each major city and at least two other places of interest in each state and territory. Create an itinerary that shows:
  • the order of your travels
  • the departure and arrival times of your driving
  • the drive time taken between areas
  • the travelling dates
  • kilometres travelled
  • expected weather (average month weather, UV index and rainfall)
  • total time driving and kilometres covered.

Step 1 - Identify the mathematics

In this stage students identify the task and purpose, and to then identify the mathematics involved.

• Lead a discussion:
  • What is the purpose of this task?
  • What is the mathematics needed?
  • What calculations are needed?
• This allows the teacher to realise the students are aware of what is needed to complete the task, and for the students to start mapping out what the task ahead of them is. Students need to consider how to collate this information to create the itinerary.

Step 2 - Act on and use the mathematics

In this stage students choosing the mathematics and the mathematical tools to use and performing the required calculations and processes.

• Students should be planning their trip around each state and territory, and the sites they are stopping at.
• Students need to construct a table to enter their data and keep a logbook with organised headings to show their calculations, and trial the use of different mathematical tools to support these calculations.

Step 3 - Evaluate and reflect

In this stage students evaluate their mathematics, reviewing their steps and their results, questioning if the answers are expected, and/or needing to return to the ‘act on’ phase.

• Lead a class discussion:
  • How many kilometres, in total, has everyone found their trips to be?
  • How many stops are in the itineraries?
  • How long in time is the driving?
• Having a class discussion like this allows the students to compare their results and allows the teacher to question the students on their results and help them reflect.
• Students should then individually:
  • Review their work and decide if it is reasonable
  • Look at all stages and see if any adjustments are necessary
  • Check over the calculations performed

Step 4 - Communicate and Report

In this stage students consider the best method/s to produce their findings, and to ensure they have communicated it sufficiently so that the audience is clear on the numbers and message being presented.

• Students should compile their work, using tables, maps, and written summaries, of their ‘Great Aussie Road trip’. They should consider:
  • Digital vs hand-drawn methods of presentation?
  • What technologies have been used?

Activity 4

Get up and Abroad!

AOS 3 - Dimension and Direction

KS: read and interpret units of analogue and digital time including 24-hour time and time zones

• Students will investigate an organised overseas holiday tour or cruise and find one that is of interest.
• Students will create a table of the visiting destinations, and convert the time zones between destination and Melbourne (AEST) and vice-versa
• The teacher should instigate a conversation about overseas travel, and what experiences have occurred amongst the students and staff, or prompt a discussion that leads in with time-zones and New Years Eve fireworks – why do different countries come before others, why NZ before us, why is NYC always one of the last?
• The teacher should challenge the students to find an organised overseas holiday (such as Contiki or Intrepid, or a cruise) where they will visit several countries.
• Students are tasked with listing the countries, and at midday in those countries – find the time in Melbourne (AEST) by determining the time difference, and decide what time in their overseas country would it be best to ring home in Melbourne to speak to family and friends.

Step 1 - Identify the mathematics

• Have a discussion in the class to help direct students and see whether whole lessons need teaching, or individual support is needed for this task:
  • Of the steps involved and what they need to produce
  • What is the final product?
  • What mathematical calculations are needed?
  • What tools might be handy to carry out this task?

Step 2 - Act on and use the mathematics

In this stage students choose the mathematics and the mathematical tools to use and perform the required calculations and processes.

• Support students with their choices through this stage as they find data and produce information. Have students use a logbook to gather their data and calculations.

Step 3 - Evaluate and reflect

In this stage students evaluate their mathematics, review their steps and their results, question if the answers are expected, and/or need to return to the ‘act on’ phase.

• Have students consider the time differences, and see if they seem reasonable. Have they any experiences with time differences around the world that they could relate their work back too as a checking process, such as family phone calls, watching live events, their own travels?
• Are there any tools students could use online to check their work?

Step 4 - Communicate and Report

• Have students consider their reporting method, and encourage creativity amongst their organisation.
  • Could you have a funny photos competition of them ‘visiting’ the places using editing software, or as the teacher could you do that to surprise them?
  • Encourage students to be creative with their software presentation – we do not always have to rely on the same software for presentations. Talk to your colleagues or students to see what new software and/or something different to try. 

Activity 5

Bakers or Makers

AOS 3 - Dimension and Direction

KK: a range of measures of distance, perimeter, area, volume and capacity including the use and application of common and routine measurement formulae
KS: undertake calculations and determine measurements of distance, perimeter, area, volume and capacity for routine, more complex two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects including compound shapes. For example, the use of pi in circular measurements

• Task the students with designing a brief, to a celebration of their choosing, where they will design the cake and show the decorations. Expectations would be to include at minimum: a two-tier cake with different shapes, and decorations with a chocolate plaque and ribbon around the base as it is presented on a cake board. Students are expected to supply the recipe that would produce the amount of cake needed.
• Investigate a range of cooking equipment necessary to make a cake for an important celebratory event, such as a wedding, religious festivities or the opening of a new business.
• Lead a discussion and enjoy looking at fancy cakes. Enjoy talking about the different flavours, the different styles and decorations, the many tiers etc.
• Bring in examples of different cake tins, and look at their sizing and calculate their capacity, and different cake boards for the presentation (check your Food Technology classrooms).

Step 1 - Identify the mathematics

In this stage students identify the task and purpose, and then identify the mathematics involved.

• Lead the discussion:
  • What is the purpose of the task – students to assume the role of the caterer and write their own brief and explain the celebration, and provide some background information
  • What mathematical calculations are needed – students will need to have the tins capacity and number of slices it will produce, the area calculations for the chocolate plaques and cake boards, and the perimeter for the ribbon size, and the cake recipe adjusted.

Step 2 - Act on and use the mathematics

In this stage students choose the mathematics and the mathematical tools to use, and perform the required calculations and processes.

• Allow the students to have time to work on the task and check on their progress. Students may need support with remembering the calculations or using them, and how to use their calculators. Students are to keep a logbook of their calculations to show their understanding and process and encouraged to use headings to keep their work organised.
• Prompt students about what tools they need to support their calculations.

Step 3 - Evaluate and reflect

In this stage students evaluate their mathematics, reviewing their steps and their results, questioning if the answers are expected, and/or needing to return to the ‘act on’ phase.

• Have students complete a self-reflection of their work. They might want to consider the following questions:
  • Does my work seem reasonable?
  • Can I explain the processes that I used as I completed this task?
  • Do I want someone to check over it, or do I feel happy with the work?

Step 4 - Communicate and Report

• Students need to choose how to communicate their work. Drawing an example of their cake will allow them to express creativity and create some fun in the class.
• Students need to choose the best method to communicate their work. As teachers, we can support their choice and encourage a creative response. Perhaps encourage hand-drawn posters with annotations, and a small presentation, where students can role-play the caterer – especially if they wish to pursue a career in the field.

Activity 6

AOS 3 - Dimension and Direction

KS: convert between both metric and non-metric units where relevant such as cm/inch, Celsius/Fahrenehit and grams/pounds.
KS: Read, interpret and calculate temperature measurements

• Explore cooking for a large group of people for a celebration, and how to produce the meal where timing is crucial in the kitchen so everyone can sit down and enjoy it together.
• Lead the discussion where students discuss when they have come together to celebrate with their family, teams, community etc, and if they have done that over a meal. Enjoy hearing about the celebrations and learning about the events.
• Challenge the students to think about what it takes, in the kitchen, to have all that food ready, at the same time, for everyone to sit down and enjoy together (stress this!!). Ask if they have participated in these preparations, or what the vibe is from this area during the lead-up to the meal.  
  • What planning has taken place before the day? (Meal planning, shopping, who is helping, what equipment is needed, what time to start etc.)
  • Is the menu set the same each time, are there specific foods for that festivity, or can any foods be added?
  • Are there any dietary needs to be considerate of?
  • Who will do the shopping? Will/can it be shared?
  • Think of how the kitchen equipment is used – especially the oven, stove-top, microwave, fridge and other spaces when there is limited space but many things requiring these (the juggling act!)
  • How to we find out long something takes to cook? (Recipes and packet information)
• Challenge students to create a kitchen plan that displays the times, duties and jobs that are needed to create a sit-down meal for a group who are meeting together for a festivity. This involves everyone sitting down and eating at the same time.

Step 1 - Identify the mathematics

• Students need to be aware they need to:
  • Know their festival of celebration and any key dishes
  • Create a list of people coming so they know how many to cook for
  • Create a list of people helping so they can plan for that
  • Think of the table to communicate this information – especially with the use of ovens, stove-tops, fridge space etc and the times and temperatures needed
  • Any calculations needed to be performed
  • Show purpose of the task

Step 2 - Act on and use the mathematics

In this stage students choose the mathematics and the mathematical tools to use, and perform the required calculations and processes.

• Provide students with time and resources to complete the task.
• Have students keep a logbook of their calculations and processes.
• Prompt students to think about the tools they can use from their Mathematical toolkit.

Step 3 - Evaluate and reflect

In this stage students evaluate their mathematics, review their steps and their results, question whether the answers are expected, and/or need to return to the ‘act on’ phase.

• Students should look over their tables and decide if they think it seems reasonable.
• If they are unsure, suggest a student approach a family member (to encourage home participation if possible) or someone with experience in these big days, and have them present their plan to obtain feedback – and make any necessary adjustments.

Step 4 - Communicate and Report

• Communication techniques – discuss how best to display this. Have the student consider who is on the cooking team, and what size font is important.

Assessment task

From our Plans Goodness Will Grow

The assessment adheres to the curriculum requirement to include all three outcomes. Outcome 2 allows students to use the Problem-solving cycle within the context and skills outlined in Outcome 1, and Outcome 3 involves students using their Mathematical toolkit to support Outcomes 1 and 2.

Task students with designing and planting a vegetable and herb garden for the school to use in their Food Classes or for their students to take home or donate to local charities. This assessment task could easily become a task completed in the school environment with a themed WRS and PDS project.

Students are tasked with finding a space in their school environment where a vegetable and herb garden could be installed (the garden could be dug into the ground or installed above ground). Students would consider the best place based on weather and sun exposure after choosing and investing the best vegetables and herbs to grow, and the time they would spend exposed in the environment with/without shade.

Lead a discussion to establish task, and ask students their experience in gardens and vegetable and herb gardens, and visit one if possible for sizing. Students can predict how much this task could cost.

Students could design their own gardens, or the class could work together to design one together and each student work in a team to complete a different section. If you are completing the latter, it is important that students can identify their individual contributions for assessment.

Step 1 – Identify the mathematics

Teachers should ensure that students have the tools and supports in place to plan:

• What mathematics is involved in planning, and installing, a vegetable and herb garden from scratch – a trade website like Bunnings might a helpful starting point
• Students will need to plan the calculations needed with materials for the garden installation, any soil needed then the seeds/seedlings, and any other requirements
• Students will need to plan the roster to install and maintain

Step 2 – Act on the mathematics

• Teachers should allow students time to work on their individual tasks, engaging in one-on-one conversations about their mathematical processes and what tools they are using from their Mathematical toolkit.

Step 3 – Evaluate and reflect

• Teachers should help students reflect on their work before they prepare their presentation. Teachers could look at student work and question/ask for justification if something is wrong as a prompt for students to look again, and they can question students if something appears to be missing.

Step 4 – Communicate and Report

• Students need to ensure they have completed and have ready to submit:
• The school map showing where the vegetable and herb garden could be installed, and a justification statement of why they used that space in the school environment and what time of the year they have started this project
• A scaled diagram of the vegetable and herb garden with all measurements that is annotated describing what will be planted where
• The costings sheet of the whole project
• The roster for six months to help maintain and look after it – specific with jobs, dates, times, expected harvesting

Activity 1

Salaries

• Class discussion about the difference between salary and wages.
• Worked examples to find annual salary, monthly salary and weekly salary of specific jobs.
• Student use employment website to research four different types of jobs and find out what the annual salary is.
• Students answer structured questions on working out weekly, month and yearly salary.
  

Activity 2

Wages

• Students answer structured questions on calculating wages given different conditions and information.

Activity 3

Overtime and penalty rates

• Discussion and brainstorm with students of prior learning in Units 1 and 2 about overtime and penalty rates.
• Ask students if they are in a job that gets this and if they feel comfortable, ask them the specifics of the penalty rates, for example double time for public holidays.
• Students answer structured questions on calculating wages of individuals who are entitled to overtime and use specified penalty rates.

Activity 4

Commission

• Discussion with class on the types of jobs where workers get paid a commission. Discuss the pros and cons of this.
• Students do further individual research on this and create a poster, video or podcast about what they have found.
• Students to answer structured questions and calculate what the pay would be with specific information of the commission related to jobs and occupations of interest.

Activity 5

Piece work and royalties

• Discussion on the terminology of piece work and royalties. Spending more time on royalties as this is a new concept in this unit.
• Research the types of roles that pay in royalties. Students to then answer questions on overall pay for workers who get paid royalties or piece work.

Activity 6

Income deductions

• Discussion revisiting the topic from Units 1 and 2. Spend time going over what these things could be: income tax, Medicare levy, superannuation, union fees, health insurance etc.
• Students given example pay slips and answer questions on the deductions.
• Students given structures question to calculate net income, considering the deductions.

Activity 7

The bean game

• Teacher to talk through the task with the class ensuring student are clear on what to do. The task is better done in pairs. Students play the bean game, ‘Living on a 20 bean salary’. 

Activity 8

Money bags $1

• Students given the problem: Jane had fifteen $1 coins shared among four small bags. She labelled each bag with the number of dollars inside. She could then pay any sum of money from $1 to $15 without opening any bag. How many dollars did Jane put in each bag? Note: It is suggested to work in small groups and have 15 counters per group.

Activity 9

Accounts and financial institutions

• Class discussion on bank charges. Students to do further research on the types of charges banks charge.
• Students spend time researching credit cards and the charges involved. Students research two different credit cards, use the moneysmart page on credit cards to work out the interest be paid after one year with a balance of $1500.
• Students report back to a group or the class with their findings.

Activity 10

Budgets

• Class discussion on budgets and what kind of things families budget for.
• Students do individual research on the average income for families in Australia.
• Students answer structured questions on budgeting.

Activity 11

Household bills

• Brainstorm household bills and discuss the costs of different suppliers for utilities.
• Students research three different internet providers and create a poster, video or podcast about which is better value for money and detailing the features of the chosen internet provider.
• Students research the cost of renting a two-bedroom unit in the area using real estate websites.
• Students list other expenses that would be required if they lived independently and create a budget.
• Students work out how much income they would need to be able to pay for these things.

Activity 12

Superannuation

• Using the moneysmart website students research superannuation (super). Students discuss this as a class to report back their findings.
• Use the moneysmart superannuation calculator to calculate how much super you would have if you retired at 70 on an income of $150,000 with an employer contribution of 10.5%.

Activity 13

Money Bags task 2

• Students given the problem: You have 63 One Dollar Coins. What is the least number of bags needed so you can give away any amount of money (from $1 to $63) by giving a selection of these prepacked bags? (i.e. without opening any bags). Display your solution on an A4 sheet of paper.

Activity 1

Gutter ball challenge

• The aim of the challenge is for students to transport a tennis ball across the quadrangle or other suitable area in school. Teams should be made up of three to four students.

  Equipment required:

  • Various amounts and lengths of PVC guttering
  • Four tennis balls
  • Measuring tape

  Instructions

  1. Allow one practise run per team.
  2. Lay out measuring tape.
  3. One person stands at the start of the line (at the beginning of the measuring tape). They are the only ones who can handle the tennis balls and will be in charge of measuring the distance the ball travels.
  4. The remaining players take a gutter each and line up.
  5. People holding a gutter can only move or walk when there are no ball(s) in their gutter.
  6. Person at the start places one ball on the first gutter.
  7. The first person passes the ball, via tilting the gutter towards the next gutter.
  8. Once the ball is past the first gutter, continue down the line until the tennis ball hits the grass.
  9. The first person measures how far the ball travelled.
  10. Record how far each attempt travels.
  11. As a group you will have a few minutes discussing how you could make the ball go further.
  12. Repeat the process (you may like to change your start person).

  Penalties

  • Should the person with a ball(s) in their gutter walk or run, the ball is stopped/dropped and the distance is recorded.
  • If a ball falls, it is lost and cannot be picked up again.

  Students record the results; they can have up to four attempts.

  Attempt 1	Attempt 2	Attempt 3	Attempt 4

Activity 2

Imperial, metric conversion

• Class brainstorm on units of imperial measurement.
• Students research the conversion of the following imperial measurements to metric measurements: an inch, a foot, a yard, a mile, a pint, a gallon, an ounce, a pound, a stone.
• Students answer structured problems to convert between imperial and metric measurements.

Activity 3

Metric length conversion

• Students revise Unit 1 key knowledge and skills by answering questions that involve converting between metric length measurements.

Activity 4

Area of rectangles

• Students answer questions on finding area of rectangles and giving the response in requested units.

Activity 5

Heating water

• Experiment to observe the changing temperature of water and graphing the results.

Materials: candle, tripod, gauze mat, beaker, measuring cylinder and thermometer.
Method

1. Set up materials according to teacher instruction.
2. Measure out 100ml of water and add to beaker.
3. Take the initial temperature of the water and record it on a table.
4. Immediately light the candle and ensure it is set under the beaker.
5. Record the temperature of the beaker of water every minute, for 10 minutes, recording the results onto the table.
6. Graph the results.

Discussion

1. Comment on the shape of the graph.
2. How accurate were the measurements?
3. Investigate the unit of temperature known as kelvin. Write up the findings.

Activity 6

Reading temperatures

• Students given structured questions to read the scales on thermometers and identify the temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Activity 7

Temperature conversions

• Students research the conversion between Fahrenheit and Celsius. Use a suitable app or website to convert temperatures between Fahrenheit and Celsius.
• Students write down the formula that is used to convert between the units, Fahrenheit to Celsius and vice versa.

Activity 8

How many bricks

• Students are presented with a picture of a brick wall or if there is a brick wall in the school, take a picture of it and measure the length and breadth.
• If students have a picture, then measure the length and breadth of a brick. Students work out how many bricks are in the wall using a suitable strategy. Students present this in a clear way, sketching the brick and dimensions and presenting it to a small group or the class.

Activity 9

Rainbow lab

• Students work in groups. They will need six test tubes per group, test tube rack, two beakers, food dye and graduated cylinder.

Part 1:

1. Label six test tubes in order: A, B C, D, E & F.
2. Fill a beaker half full of water. Use this to rinse your graduated cylinder and test tubes.
3. The second beaker is for contaminated waste water.
4. Into test tube A, measure 25 ml of red liquid.
5. Into test tube C, measure 17 ml of yellow liquid.
6. Into test tube E, measure 21 ml of blue liquid.

Part 2:

1. From test tube C, measure 4 ml and pour into test tube D.
2. From test tube E, measure 7 ml and pour into test tube D. Swirl.
3. From test tube E, measure 4 ml and pour into test tube F.
4. From test tube A, measure 7 ml and pour into test tube F. Swirl.
5. From test tube A, measure 8 ml and pour into test tube B.
6. From test tube C, measure 3 ml and pour into test tube B. Swirl.
7. Measure the contents of each test tube and record how many ml were found in each test tube.

Students put their results on a table

Students to answer:

• Name the colours that were created.
• Why is it important to follow directions exactly?
• What would happen if the measurements were not correct?
• How many total ml of liquid did you have at the end of the lab?
• How many should you have?
• What are some of the reasons why you may have more or less ml of liquid than when you started?

Activity 10

Area of circles, semi circles and quadrants

• Students are given structured questions to work out areas of circles given the radius. Then students work out the radius of circles given the area of the circle.
• Students are given structured questions to find out the area of semi-circles and quadrants.

Activity 11

Area of composite shapes

• Student answer structured questions about composite shapes of which many have circular components.

Activity 12

Surface area of cylinders

• Class discussion on a cylinder and what shapes make it up. Teacher to do a worked example, using a tin of tomatoes to work out the surface area. Students are shown the formula to calculate this.
• Students answer structured questions rounding the answers to one decimal place.

Activity 13

Popcorn challenge

• Using a piece of A4 paper, sticky tape a ruler and scissors to make a vessel to hold popcorn. The aim is to make the biggest volume possible.
• It is up to students what shape they choose. They need to calculate the surface area and the volume of the container, using clearly labelled diagrams and working out.

Activity 14

Converting time from 12 hour and 24-hour time

• Class discussion on 12 and 24-hour time. Teacher gets feedback from students to fill in all the times on a clock, including both am, pm and 24-hour time.
• Students answer structured questions.

Activity 15

Time difference

• Class discussion on time zones within Australia, and as a class working out the times of different places in Australia.
• Further discussion on Greenwich meantime. Student do their own research for this.
• Students work out the time difference between where they live and five other cities in five different continents.
• Students answer structured questions on time difference between two places, for example Auckland is ______ hours ______ Melbourne.

Activity 16

Using timetables

• Students plan a journey using public transport to a place of their choice. This could be a day trip or a longer distance in Victoria to visit a place or person of interest.
• Students create a journey planner of the times, transport and places they might need to pass through to get there. This could be displayed in a pamphlet, poster or some kind of visual representation.
• Students use timetables to answer a mixture of questions on, for example, the length of time of journey and appropriate times to catch transport according to given information.

Activity 17

Vocational numeracy assessment

• Students complete a presentation that outlines their understanding of where each skill is visible in their chosen workplace. Students present some aspects of their research to the class as an oral presentation.

For each skill you will need to:

• Provide an explanation of the skill.
• Give at least three examples of how that skill relates to their vocation.

Skills:

• Estimation
• Measurement tools
• Units of measurement
• Accuracy
• Unit conversion
• Time
• Circles
• Using formula and mathematical expressions
• Scientific method
• Other

Activity 1

Where is it?

• Students investigate maps and symbols and where they are used
• The teacher presents different types of maps they might be familiar with such as
  • Melbourne CBD
  • Local area map
  • Shopping centre map
  • Melbourne Zoo
  • Melbourne airport
  • The train network
  • The MCG
  • The Royal Melbourne Show
• The class look at the maps and point out features – such as compass points, scale, key features listed etc. What is common about them? What is different? 

Activity 2

Maps and Stories

• Students choose a map from Activity One and use the Grid Reference System (or draw their own on it), and write a small creative story where the reader must follow the character and their journey with the directional language incorporated. At the end, the reader must reveal to the author where they think the character has finished in the story

Activity 3

Angles

• Students learn about the importance of directional language (such as the compass points and directions).
• Introduction to true and compass bearings – student familiarise themselves with angles – try different tasks such as making angles with their arms and bodies, drawing them without then with the use of protractors and rulers.
• Have students look for different shapes and angles they see in the classroom and sketch and measure those.
• Have students take photos in their local area, and investigate the angles in street signs and road markings.
• Have students take photos from their SWPL, and print them and add them into their workbooks. Students can measure and annotate the different angles they see, use and measure in their work placements.

Activity 4

Maps and SWPL

• Discuss with the class the idea that in many jobs employees have to drive from site to site or visit clients.
• Ask students what route they took to get to school and enter the information into Google Maps to see how far they travelled, and how long it estimates it took. Show students how they can tweak the route and change the course, and see if avoiding certain roads changes the length of route or time taken.
• Ask students to keep record of any site visits, or journeys conducted on their SWPL that week.
  Otherwise, provide a list of site that could have been visited.
• Ask students to use the school address as the starting point, and to plan a route to each of the site visits, and making a list of the visits, the directions needed using directional language, the length travelled, the time taken, and have them swap their work with another student and challenge the other student to see if they could come up with a faster route.

Activity 5

Public Transport

• Present the class with different scenarios (see suggestions below) and ask them to use the PTV planner to provide two sets of travel plans (either different route or different times) to ensure they arrive before the start time:

• The task is for students to be able to arrive before those times, including the time taken to walk between public transport drop off and to the venue, as students often forget this part. Students should manipulate the PTV planner to look at how they can change the plans to alter the arrival times.

Activity 6

Flight Plans

• Ask students to look at flights for domestic travel – and challenge them to look at different scenarios and the impact that has on the ticket prices.
• Have students make comments on the two ticket prices – and discuss the impact on the ticket prices to help them learn about price cycle of tickets.

Assessment task

Amazing Amazing Melbourne!

Students are to work in pairs to create an Amazing Race, where they will swap with others, and provide feedback as part of the overall assessment feedback.

• The teacher shows some clips of the Amazing Race to inspire the students
• Students are tasked with working in pairs to create an Amazing Race style challenge, and go into the city to complete the tasks.
  If possible plan two outings into the city where the students can practice their race and directions and allow them to make changes before going back for a second time to swap instructions amongst the pairs and having the race.
• To help prepare, the students create a scavenger hunt around the school where they have to practice writing their directions in instructional formats, and have students use the same format as below.
• Students use the Melbourne CBD map and boundaries that you set, and provide directional instructions to ten different sites that the team must visit using their map and instructions. Set a time limit for the race time – 60-90minutes – where participants must have completed the race and/or return to base.
• When each pair visits one of ten landmarks – they must take a photo for evidence of the visit.

Step 1 – Identify the mathematics

Students must decide the ten destinations – as a class you could decide on different headings to make the visits interesting, such as historical site, food site, job site, etc.

Step 2 – Act on the mathematics

Students should use Google Maps as a tool to start putting together the order of the visits – and start recording their instructions with directions on how the teams will walk from site to site. Students should also record the details between sites visited: walking length and time taken to walk between sites to ensure the task can be completed between the 60-90min period, and then start building instructions with directional language (including compass points of North, South, East, West)

Step 3 – Evaluate and reflect

Have students use Google Maps to follow their own instructions – and see if it works. What can they change and improve? Are instructions clear? Should they be checked with a staff member?

Step 4 – Communicate and report

Students need to type out their instructions to ensure near instructions are easily read on the race day.

Students need to think about the order of visits, and how to deliver the instructions clearly.

Students need to submit:

Two sets of printed instructions before the excursion day (one for the pair racing around, one for you at base in case students ring lost and confused)

Upload their instructions into Compass as an additional spare copy

Activity 1

Data Types and Collecting Data

Students explore ways that data can be collected and develop an understanding of the different data types.

• Lead a brainstorm about where the information for road safety data and statistics comes from. Ask students to identify or list the ways data can be collected and the different types of data that can be collected.
• Explicitly teach students the different data types including:
  • numerical (quantitative) data
  • categorical (qualitative) data
  • discrete
  • continuous
  • nominal
  • ordinal
• Discuss with students the different ways each of data types might be collected.
• Direct students to create a mini poster that shows each data type and an appropriate example.

Activity 2

Testing your Reaction Times

In small groups, students complete the ‘ruler drop test’ to investigate their reaction times. Students collect, record and calculate the average distance the ruler dropped. Then, students use the results to determine the reaction time in seconds.

• Explain the ‘ruler drop test’ procedures for testing reaction times. Student should work in groups of three or four to complete the following steps.
  • Place your forearm on a table with your hand overhanging the edge. Have your partner hold a metre rule above your thumb and index finger. The zero reading on the ruler should be just above your fingertips. Prepare to grab the ruler as it drops.
  • Have your partner drop the ruler without warning, as you attempt to catch it. Move your hand only not your arm.
  • Read from the ruler the distance it dropped before you caught it.
  • Do this a total of three times and record your results on the table. Then calculate the average drop distance.
  • Repeat until every member of the group has measured their reaction times.

• Show students how to determine the reaction time in seconds from the drop distance. Determine the most suitable process for the cohort group.
  • Read the values off a conversion table (https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chreflex.html)
  • For more precise calculations Input the measurements into the online calculator (https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chreflex.html)
• Use the formula t = √ 2y/g, where t = time (in seconds), y = distance (in cm) and g = 980 cm/sec2 (acceleration due to gravity).
• Students determine the average reaction time in seconds for each of the group members and record these on a class set of data.
• Ask students to reflect on the previous activity and decide what type of data they have collected.

Activity 3

Distracted Driving

Students repeat the ruler drop test, this time altering the conditions to simulate different distractions that can occur while driving.  Again, students collect, record and calculate the average distance the ruler dropped, then determine the reaction time in seconds.

• Explain to students that the reaction time test from Activity 2 was a simulation of having your foot ready on the brake of a car.
• Discuss with students that we don’t drive with our foot on the brake, but rather on the accelerator and need to move our foot to the brake.
• Ask students what effect this may have on reaction or braking times.
• Brainstorm with students the other conditions that might impact reaction times such as changing the radio station or adjusting the heating/AC, talking with passengers in the car, talking on the phone, sending a text message etc.
• Decide as a class the other conditions which will be tested and repeat the ruler drop test for each.
  • Foot on accelerator – have your hand next to the ruler and you have to move it to catch the ruler as it drops
  • Talking with passengers – have the other group members sit around you and involve you in the conversation during the ‘drop test’
  • Send a text message – type a text message into your phone during the ‘drop test’
• Students determine the average reaction time in seconds for each of the conditions and again records these on a class set of data.

Activity 4

How to show data

Students explore a variety of graphs that show road safety data, identifying the different types of graphs, what information is shown on them, the specific features of graphs and any patterns, variations or trends shown.

• Review with students how to create different types of graphs and read information from graphs.
• Students practice creating graphs for simple data sets and reading information from them.
• Show students a selection of different types of graphs that show road safety data (https://www.bitre.gov.au/statistics/safety).
• Instruct students to quietly look at the graphs and to write down
  • The different types of graphs they can see
  • What sorts of information is shown on the different graphs
  • The specific features of the graphs i.e. title, axes labels, scale etc.
• Ask students to share what they noticed. During the class discussion highlight the different types of graphs and what types of data each type could be sued for,
  • Line Graph – shows information that is somehow connected, like change over time such as number of road deaths per month
  • Column Graphs – shows relative sizes of different results such as the number of road deaths per state
  • Histogram – similar to a column graph but groups numbers into ranges such as average driving age of reported road incidents
  • Pie Chart – shows sizes as part of a whole (good for showing percentages) such as the road deaths of different age groups.
• Additionally highlight and discuss any patterns, variations and trends in the data and what information we can gather from the data presented.
• Review with students how to create the graph types and read information from the graphs – some may remember it, and some may not. Provide students with basic related data sets to practice creating the graphs and reading information from them.

Activity 5

Using Technology for Data Calculations

Review with students the process for calculating mean, median, mode and range of data sets. Then demonstrate how to use spreadsheet technology to perform the same calculations with the class data.

• Students discuss the different information that is given by the different measures of centre and spread. They also identify and discuss the impact of outliers.
• Students calculate mean, median, mode and range for the remaining reaction time data sets.
• Ask students to think about how data is handled when there are large numbers of results. Lead a discussion with students on using technology to collate and display data.
• Review with students the process of calculating mean, median, mode and range of data sets – some may remember it and some may not.
• Use the class data set from Activity 2 to demonstrate how spreadsheet technology can be used to calculate the different measures of centre and spread.
• Lead a discussion with students about the different information the measures of centre can give and how they can change the conclusions we make. Ask students to identify any outliers and discuss what the implications of outliers might be for the data.
• Support students to calculate the mean, median, mode and range of the remaining reaction time data sets.

Activity 6

Using Technology to Show Data

Explicitly teach students how to use the spreadsheet applications to create different graphs. Then lead a discussion to determine the best graphs to organise and display the data, in order to compare reaction times.

• Students create appropriate graphs for the class data sets.
• Lead a discussion with students on what information we are trying to get from the data collected i.e. how does reaction time change in different situations.
• Discuss how different graphs can be used to display and compare data.
• Using the class data sets, explicitly teach students how to use the spreadsheet applications create different graphs (charts).
• Discuss with students what they think is the most appropriate way to display the data, in order to investigate reaction times.
• Support students to create appropriate graphs for the class data sets.

Activity 7

Interpreting our results

Students discuss the results of the reaction time drop tests and data analysis to draw conclusions about distractions and reactions times.

• Students are required to write a written response analysing the data.
• In pairs, ask students to look at their graphs and measures of centre and spread and discus what the data is showing.
• Ask students to share their insights and discuss as a class what the implications are in relation to reactions times, distractions and avoiding incidents while driving. Highlight the way reaction times change and become longer when there are more distractions.
• Ask students to provide a written response and scaffold a writing technique to highlight how to do this. This could include;
  • an opening sentence to describe how the data source i.e. how it was collected
  • a sentence which describes the data, identifying any patterns, variations or trends and give suggestions to explain why this is occurring
  • the next sentence could infer or make conclusions about how reactions times relate to road safety.
• Remind students to be careful when drawing conclusions and when analysing data from a sample they cannot make definite statements. It is better to make statements such as: ‘The data suggests that ...’ or ‘on average ...’ or ‘the data supports the conjecture ...’.

Assessment task

Stopping Distances

The assessment adheres to the curriculum requirement to include all three outcomes. Outcome 2 allows students to use the Problem-solving cycle within the context and skills outlined in Outcome 1, and Outcome 3 involves students using their Mathematical toolkit to support Outcomes 1 and 2.

• Students investigate how reaction times effect the stopping distance of cars. The requirements of the task include:
• The requirements of the task include:
  1. Calculate ‘reaction distance’ using the average reaction times determined for the different test conditions. This should be done for a range of speeds including 40km/h, 50km/h, 60km/h, 80 km/h and 100km/h.
     
     Distance formula: d=0.278st, where d = distance in metres, s = speed in kilometres per hour and t=time in seconds
     
     
  2. Choose appropriate graphs to display the reaction distance results
  3. Use the provided information on breaking distances in wet and dry road conditions to calculate the total stopping distances at different speeds.
  4. Choose appropriate graphs to display the total stopping distances.
  5. Comment on the implications of the results in relation distraction and reactions times and the distance travelled under different driving conditions and different driving speeds.

For assessment, students should submit:

• The final infographic report
• The calculations and process taken to complete them
• Any spreadsheet created with graphs or tables
• The Problem-Solving Cycle – their plan with notes mad under each step.

Activity 1

What does it mean to be Australian?

• Students begin by watching videos on what it means to be Australian. Students write a couple of paragraphs about the main themes discussed in the video.
• Students undertake a practice citizenship test. Students record their scores and take note of the question number they got wrong.

Activity 2

Class citizenship test data

• Students share with the teacher whether they have passed or failed the Australian citizenship test and their percentage. Teacher to compile these results and give to the class.
• Students create an excel document. In the first cell (first column, first row). Write pass or fail. In the next cell down, write pass and in the cell down from this write fail. Next to these, record the number of passes and fails. Now highlight the cells and select insert on the toolbar. Use the small arrow and box at the bottom right of the charts section and select the clustered column option.
• Did more students in the class pass or fail?
• Does the bar chart make it easier to understand the numbers instead of just reading them? Why or why not?

More graphing

Move along to column D and type score in the first row. Below that write your score and the scores of your classmates. Now click and drag on these cells and select insert on the top left on the toolbar. Choose the box and arrow in the bottom right of the charts section and select histogram. 

• Which section in the histogram has the most data and therefore the most scores? This is known as the mode.
• Does the histogram make it easier to understand the numbers instead of just reading them? Why or why not?
• Extension task could be analysing the questions students got wrong through an excel spreadsheet. Further discussion or analysis could look at the commonalities and to discuss some of these responses.

Activity 3

Class Citizenship data

• Students look at the Australian citizenship statistics. Students list the five countries that have the most people passing the citizenship test.
• Students copy the table on the webpage and add a column to work out how the percentage of people from each country became Australian citizens.
• Students to research citizenship processing and waiting times and answer the following questions
  • What was average processing time for applications at the time the article was written?
  • What issues were raised as to why the processing time was so long?
  • Students use the home affairs link to find the current processing time.

Activity 4

Mean, median, mode and range

• Using the data from the class citizenship test results, students calculate the mean, median, mode and range.
• If students need further practice give students a set of structured question to calculate mean, median, mode and range.

Activity 5

Mean, median, mode and range problem-solving

• There are several sets of five positive whole numbers with the following properties:
  
  Mean = 4         Median = 3      Mode = 3
  
  Can you find ALL the different sets of five positive whole numbers that satisfy these conditions?
  
  Can you explain how you know you found them all?

• Here's an interesting set of five numbers: 2, 5, 5, 6, 7
  
  The mean, mode, median and range are all 5. Can you find other sets of five positive whole numbers where: Mean = Median = Mode = Range 

• Wipe out game.
  
  How to Play: Take the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and choose one to wipe out. 
  
  For example, you might wipe out 5, leaving you with 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. The mean of what is left is 3.2
  
  Here are some puzzling wipe outs for you to try:

• One of the numbers from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is wiped out. The mean of what is left is a whole number. Which number was crossed out?
• One of the numbers from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is wiped out. The mean of what is left is 3.6. Which number was crossed out?
• One of the numbers from 1 to 15 is wiped out. The mean of what is left is 7.642857. Which number was crossed out?
• One of the numbers from 1 to N, where N is an unknown number, is wiped out. The mean of what is left is 6.83. What is N, and which number was crossed out?
• Further problem-solving
  
  Can you find sets of five positive whole numbers that satisfy the following properties?
  A.   Mode < Median < Mean
  
  B.   Mode < Mean < Median
  
  C.   Mean < Mode < Median
  
  D.   Mean < Median < Mode
  
  E.   Median < Mode < Mean
  
  F.   Median < Mean < Mode
  
• Not all of these can be satisfied by sets of five numbers. Can you explain why?
• Show that some of them can be satisfied with sets of just four numbers.
• Show that all of them can be satisfied with sets of six numbers.

Activity 6

Types of data

• Teacher led discussion on the four types of data: nominal, ordinal, discrete and continuous. Further discussion on categorical data and numerical data.
• Students walk around the school and find as many examples as possible of data that could be collected for each of the four categories that have been covered (nominal, ordinal, discrete, continuous). Write these in a table. Then think of two examples for each type that relate to civics and citizenship.

Activity 7

Types of graphs

• Using the RBA website, Reading and Interpreting Charts, students and teacher discuss the examples. Teacher selects some of the learning activities.

Activity 8

Misleading data

• Teacher led discussion about the ability to recognise when data is presented in a misleading way. Every citizen needs to be able to see through any lies or misinformation that may be presented through statistics. Whenever we are presented with any information, we must be able to think critically and make an educated and informed decision about whether the information is presented accurately.
• Watch a few selected videos on how to spot a misleading graph.
  
  As a class discuss:

• Why are graphs commonly used to present claims?
• What is the best way to protect yourself against misleading graphs?
• Why might a person trying to persuade you toward their point of view use a graph to present information?

Activity 9

M & M task

Students work in groups of two to three and investigate the colours of M and M’s in a pack. Use Excel to record the colours, the number and to calculate the percentage of each colour in a pack.

• Which colour is the most common in this packet of M & M’s?
• What colour is the least common in this packet of M & M’s?

Research has been completed about the percentage of each colour: Blue 24%, Brown 13%, Green 16%, Orange 20%, Red 13% and yellow 14%.

• How do the percentages compare to the research? Are they the same, close to the same or very different?
• Students enter the above research data into Excel in separate columns. 
• Students create a CLUSTERED COLUMN graph to compare the research from our results.
• Compare the research and student results. What is the same about them? What is different?
• If you were to present this information to other students in the school, would you use the tables or the graphs? Why?
• What would you have to do to get a more accurate answer? 

Activity 10

Closing the gap

• Students research information and statistics about First Nations peoples’ rights and the disadvantages that they face.
• Write down any statistics found on the following topics: health, education, life expectancy, and the likelihood of finding employment, finishing school, and being hospitalised or imprisoned.
• In order to learn about Australia’s obligations to improve First Nations peoples’ rights, students watch a video in which the aims of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) are explained from the perspectives of Indigenous peoples seeking human rights globally. Record responses to the following questions:
  • What obligations does Australia have as a signatory to the declaration?
  • What rights does the declaration include?
  • Why is the declaration significant in Australia and globally?

One way to find out if the UNDRIP is being implemented and First Nations peoples’ disadvantages overcome in Australia is to analyse and interpret statistics about percentage improvements in rights over time.

In Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2020 (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision, 2020), the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is reported across a range of outcome areas. In the report, a strengths-based approach is used to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Focus on page 1 of the document; however, students may need to use further pages to provide evidence. Explore these questions: 

• What outcomes have improved? What is the statistical evidence?
• What outcomes have not improved? What is the statistical evidence?
• What challenges and barriers are there to improvement?
• What approaches have been found to improve outcomes?

 Students take note of statistics related to the following targets from: Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation Report July 2023

• Target 1 Life expectancy
• Target 2 Healthy birthweight
• Target 3 Early childhood education and care enrolment rates
• Target 10 Rates of incarceration
• Target 11 Rates of youth detention
• Target 12 Rates of children in out-of-home care
• Target 14 Rates of suicide

Students bring together what they have learned about the UNDRIP and progress being made to overcome First Nations peoples’ disadvantage in a short report/conclusion in which they answer the following two questions:

• What is the evidence to support the view that overcoming disadvantage for First Nations people in Australia is still unfinished business for the nation?
• What is the evidence to support the view that First Nations communities are achieving improvements through their community-based collaboration and actions?

Activity 11

Plan a trip to Melbourne CBD

• Students complete an investigation into the most efficient and effective trip they can take to Melbourne and back in one day. This task is to see how they can maximise their time and set adjustments when things go wrong.
• Students follow the components of an investigation to help them throughout this investigation. 

Formulation: What is the investigation about? What do you know? What tools can you use? What extra information do you need?

Exploration: Make calculations. Summarise results systematically, for example in a table, graph or spreadsheet.

Consider the results: Do they make sense? Is there a pattern? Make a conjecture? Test you conjecture.

Communication: Describe what you did? Summarise your results. Explain your conclusion.

To successfully complete this task, students will need:

• A price comparison on at least TWO ways of reaching Melbourne from school.
• At least one ‘what if…’ scenario, for example the tram is cancelled going back to Southern Cross.
• A cost breakdown of the entire day (this can be included in the itinerary) with total cost at the end.

Students can choose one of the following options to complete the communication component of the investigation.

• A report regarding what you have found.
• A PowerPoint presentation
• A poster
• A film
• A podcast

Activity 1

What does it mean to be healthy?

• Student brainstorm activities they take part in, to help them with their health and wellbeing.
• Discuss activities and habits that are less likely to help with health and wellbeing.
• Students research the top health habits of teenagers and research three unhealthy habits of teenagers. Present this information as a poster, video, podcast, cartoon or anything appropriate to students' choice.

Activity 2

Types of data

• Teacher led discussion on continuous, discrete, nominal and ordinal data giving examples for each.
• Structured questions on different types of data to classify.
• Students create a simple survey of their choice for their class or for students in their year. Examples could be students' birth months, height, number of people they live with, age range less than 16, 16–18, older than 18. Students identify what type of data this is: discrete, continuous, nominal and ordinal.

Activity 3

Creating a box plot using raw data

• Each student in the class measures their hand span from thumb tip to little fingertip (measure in cm). This information is to be shared with the class. This information is to be used to find the five-number summary.

Students:

• Order the raw data from smallest to largest below.
• Determine the median value by adding 1 to the number of data values we have and divide by 2.
• Find the middle value between the minimum the medium value (Quartile 1).
• Find the middle value between the maximum and the medium value (Quartile 3).
• Complete an outlier Check. Determine the IQR using IQR = Q3-Q1.
• Check the Upper Fence (UF = Q3+1.5 x IQR) for any value above the Upper Fence is an outlier.
• Check the Lower Fence (LF = Q1-1.5x IQR) for any value below the Lower Fence is an outlier.
• Create a table with the five-number summary.
• Draw a box plot based on the information above.

Activity 4

Five-number summary

• Students look up the scores of the winning teams from the latest round of AFL games or rugby league games. Find the mean and median scores.   
• Repeat this for the scores from the losing teams.
• Create box plots for the winning scores and the losing scores.

Activity 5

Box plots

• Students research different types of jobs you can do in the healthcare sector (find at least eight).
• Students further research the average salary of each of these roles. Students create a box plot using this data.

Activity 6

Different types of graphs

• Brainstorm students’ knowledge of graphs, recounting previous work from Unit 2. Teacher to give examples on segmented bar graphs and scatter plot.
• Students create a segmented bar graph on a topic of their choice. (What milk do teachers prefer in their coffee: dairy, goat, soy, almond, other?)         
• Students take their data on the hand spans and create a scatter plot.

Activity 7

Interpreting data

• Students answer structured questions using various graphs with a link to health.

Activity 8

Injury hotspots for your vocation

• Students use the Worksafe website to search for the vocation or pathway they are working towards and record the percentages of injuries to the various parts of the body.
• Teacher to give students a printout of a skeleton of the body to highlight where these injuries occur.

Students answer:

• What is the most common injured body part in your chosen vocation? Why?
• Create a bar chart to illustrate the percentages of injuries for your Industry. You are to do this in Excel and print off your graph and paste in your book. Please include labels, chart title and an appropriate scale.   

Activity 9

Homelessness in Australia

• Students read through the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data on Homelessness and homelessness services.
• Students give three reasons for the following: the ABS has defined homelessness as based on a person’s current living arrangement.
• Students answer questions from tables, graphs and data on the Homelessness and homelessness services.

Activity 10

Vaping and smoking

• Students conduct research on vaping. They consider the following:
  • Estimate how many flavours of vape are there?
  • Research has shown that vaping can assist with quitting smoking. True or false?
  • Nicotine based vapes can be purchased in Australia without a prescription. True or false?
  • Vape liquid has been found to contain cancer causing substances. True or false?
  • What are the short-term potential side effects of vaping?
  • What percentage of 12 to 17-year-olds have tried an e-cigarette?
  • What are some of the long-term side effects of vaping?
  • What are the known side effects of Diacetyl?
• Students watch a video on causation with smoking as the focus. Students work in groups and create a comparison of what we know about smoking versus what we know about vaping.
• In groups, students design an experiment that could be used in the future to determine the health risks associated with vaping. Students need to consider what mathematics would be used (provide an example) and what tools would be required for this. This is an Open-ended task which means there are many solutions to this activity.

Activity 1

Love the game and not the odds

• Teacher choose some videos from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation and introduce the topic to students.
• Students list the sports ads they have seen on TV in the last week. Discuss the results with class. Is there a sport that has more ads than others?

Students to research the following questions.

• What harm can gambling cause?
• How do you think gambling advertising affects young people?
• Do you think sports gambling is getting easier or harder to access? Why?
• What types of gambling language have you heard when people are talking about sport (e.g. ‘sure bet’, ‘odds on’)? What does this say about our sport culture?
• How do sports betting companies make gambling seem normal?
• In what ways do sports betting companies encourage people to take up gambling?
• What do we mean by normalising gambling?
• What are the dangers of normalising gambling?
• What interests do sports betting companies have in making gambling seem normal?

Activity 2

Gambling among secondary school students

• Give students the infographic on Gambling among secondary school students. Discuss as a class.          
• Students watch a video on the effects of gambling.

Students answer:

• When did Nick gamble for the first time?
• What were his initial impressions? What influenced Nick to continue playing?
• When do you think he developed a real problem with gambling?
• How did gambling impact Nick’s life?
• How was Nick able to deal with his gambling issue? How did this help?
• How has Nick used his experience to educate about gambling?

Activity 3

Gambling terminology

• Brainstorm some of the common language used in gambling advertisement. Discuss what students think it means.
• As a whole class or in small groups, undertake the matching activities (pages 15 and 16) from: What are the odds?

Activity 4

Card sharp

Explain rules of card sharp. Students work in pairs and each pair have a deck of cards.

• Each student selects a suit and then a card is pulled at random from the pack. If the card matches their selected suit, they win. The card is placed back into the deck and the deck is shuffled.
• Each student starts with an imaginary budget of $50.
• It costs $1 to play each round.
• If they win a round, they receive $4.
• If a student wins Round 1, their balance will be $53, not $54. If they lose Round 1, their balance will be $49.

Discuss strategies that students might like to adopt when they play:

• ‘random guess’
• ‘hasn’t come up in a while’
• ‘lucky streak’
• ‘consistent guesses’.

Record the results on the table from page 18 What are the odds?

Activity 5

Expenditure on gambling in Victoria

• Discuss the word expenditure. Look through the Expenditure on gambling in Victoria page.
• Students choose between pokies, all casinos, lotteries or sport and race betting and create a short talk or presentation on what the graphs show in terms of expenditure over the last few years.

Discuss the idea of risk and how it is an undesired outcome.

• Student are given a sheet with risky behaviours which have to be ordered after the students consider the odds of this occurring. Use page 64 from budgeting, odds and probability booklet.

Activity 6

Experimental and theoretical probability

• Discuss the difference between experimental and theoretical probability. Discuss theoretical probability with a coin and a die.
• Students carry out experiments using a die and packs of cards. Student record their results in a table and do at least 30 trials.
• Students compare the theoretical probability with the experimental probability.

Activity 7

How much are people spending?

• Using the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation page, students choose eight council areas to look at the spending habits on pokies per day. Put this information on an Excel spreadsheet and create a graph of this data.

Answer the following questions:

• Which of the LGAs had the greatest gambling losses in total? Name one factor that might contribute to this.
• What is the difference between the highest and lowest amount spent on pokies per day for your chosen LGAs?
• If the average gambling expenditure per adult in Australia was $12,000*, does that mean that every adult spent this amount on gambling in 2020? Why or why not?
• Use the data from your spreadsheet to identify another feature or pattern of gambling and show evidence to support this.
• Are there more pokies in metropolitan areas than in country areas? Use the interactive tool on the VRGF website (above) to help you make a decision. Give examples to support your decision.
• Which LGAs have the highest density of pokies? Do people living in these areas spend more on pokies? Show evidence of this possible pattern.
• Explain what is meant by the term ‘per capita’.

Activity 8

Chance has no memory

• Students play ‘Card sharp’ again, this time with 100 rounds.
  • Students work in pairs. One member of the pair has sheet 2A and the other member of the pair has 2B. Use the sheets from pages 20–24 from ‘What are the odds?’ booklet.

Activity 9

Tree diagrams

• Teacher introduces simple examples of tree diagrams starting with tossing coins, rolling four-sided die a certain number of times. Students then make tree diagrams for the following examples:
  • A fair die is rolled twice and the results need to be shown on a tree diagram. Find the probability that you will get the same number repeated.
  • A bag of skittles contains 20 red, 15 purple, 15 green, 25 orange and 25 yellow skittles. If you are to select one piece, eat it, then select another piece, find the probability that you would choose two red ones in a row. Hint: instead of showing all the colours we can just use red and not red.
  • A bag contains eight red marbles and 12 blue marbles. Ari selects two marbles, he replaces them back in the bag. What is the probability of selecting two blue marbles? What is the probability of selecting at least one red marble? What is the probability of selecting a red marble first and then a blue marble?

Activity 10

Venn diagrams

• Teacher to work through examples of Venn diagrams to show an effective way of showing data when two groups or more have some interaction. Students are given structured question to explore the data.

Activity 11

Classifying angles

• Discussion on classifying angles using the terminology: acute, right, obtuse, straight, reflex and revolution. Teacher to discuss how to name angles.
• Students given a number of angles to classify in the room and outside in the grounds. Students discuss their answers.

Activity 12

Compass bearings

• Teacher asks questions about prior knowledge of bearings from Unit 2. Students give the compass bearings of North, northeast, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest.
• Choosing a suitable destination in the school, create a set of instructions, at least 10, that includes compass bearings and number of steps on how to get there from the current position. These instructions are given to another pair in the room to find where the selected destination is.

Activity 13

Walking tour of Melbourne.

• Students work in pairs to create a walking tour around six tourist attractions in or around the Melbourne CBD. This tour is to be over two days.
• The tour should start from Flinders Street Train Station.
• The people on the tour need to go into at least two of the tourist attractions, not just walk to them.
• Students choose accommodation in the CBD for the tourists to stay. Accommodation cannot cost more than $250 per night.
• The people on the tour are not to use any public transport during the two days.

Students need to create clear instructions for the tour guide, including distances and directions between each of the landmarks, estimated travel times and an itinerary for arrivals and departures to the attractions.  

• Students create a pamphlet, make an advertisement or poster to try and make their walking tour stand out from others. Students need to advertise the price of the tour and justify the costs in a separate sheet.