Big Maths Day - Secondary Schools in London

A Big Maths Day allows up to 240 KS3/4 students the opportunity to carousel around a number of very different Creative Maths workshops in the course of one day. Big Maths Days are delivered by As Creatives - one of the UK's leading providers of creative learning to schools. 

Our specially designed combinations of workshops, all of which are differentiated for age, offer students opportunities to ...

• Use maths in context
• Consider how mathematical advances have shaped our world
• Practise a range of number-based skills and operations
• Develop their understanding of shape
• Consider notions of "value" and realise that "value" can change
• Engage in strategic problem-solving activities

Big Maths Days work by selecting up to four of the following creative maths activities:

CSI: Michaela Maths 

Combining football, murder mysteries and problem solving, CSI: Michaela Maths is one of the most popular programmes, offering pupils an opportunity to apply their skills and understanding of shape and measurement in a unique environment. If it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of one of her teammates, Michaela Maths, one of Britain’s most promising young athletes, would be dead – slain by an unseen hand! The police are baffled by the crime and want the pupils’ help in solving it. Having been introduced to the crime, the suspects and their possible motives, students will work in teams on a carousel probing a range of mathematical skills. Taken together, these lead to the suspects being eliminated, one by one – until, if all the calculations are correct, the criminal is unmasked.

or

CSI: Bake Off

All is not well in the world of the Bake Off – one of the judges, Saul Pinewood, has had food poisoning – and he knows it wasn’t an accident! He’s narrowed the field down to six suspects – and hopes that pupils can use their understanding of fractions, percentages and measurements to help him take the final step.

Selling Maths

Which discovery had more impact on the world – the concept of zero or the ratio characterised by pi? Which development led to the most advances – the binary system or the Fibonacci sequence? And which invention was the more eventful – the abacus or the yes/no gate? This intriguing workshop sees students addressing such questions themselves as, taking on the role of Maths Ambassadors, they plan, prepare and perform presentations that pitch given Maths Moments as the most important of all time. And, in a mathematical twist on The X Factor, they get to vote on the winner …

Trading Games

Our high energy Trading Games provide students with opportunities to think about maths in some very different ways. Working in an ever-shifting environment, they’ll come to understand that “value” can be a concept that changes depending on circumstances, that the ability to prioritise is an essential mathematical skill, and that the properties of 2D shapes allow them to be arranged in a variety of ways.

Working in small groups, each representing a different country, students first participate in warm-up activities – specifically designed to both support the development of team skills and get them thinking about shapes. The Trading Game itself begins – and the reason for its title quickly becomes clear as the teams realise that the only way they can succeed is by negotiating with other countries. The more they produce, the more points they get – and there are plenty of opportunities to win bonus points by answering explicitly mathematical questions (pitched at an appropriate level, after discussions with you).

The Expedition

Testing pupils' skills in pattern analysis, problem-solving and prioritisation, this intriguing workshop invites them to work to a tight budget in planning for an expedition to the rain forest. Have they made the right decisions? The proof will be in the pudding as they go on to tackle a series of unpredictable challenges at the airport, on the trek to camp - and in the forest itself.

Number Patterns: The Bunker

Inspired by the work of Alan Turing and his fellow mathematicians at Bletchley Park (work that, it’s generally agreed, shortened World War II by a good couple of years), The Bunker is based in cryptology – the writing and reading of codes. Appealing to all age and ability ranges, The Bunker has a simple premise. Working in teams, and at their own pace, students need to identify as closely as possible the location of a Enemy Radio Transmitter by cracking a series of increasingly fiendish numeric, geometric and semiotic ciphers. The more codes they crack, the more precisely they’ll be able to pin the Transmitter down. 

Find out more by visiting our website www.ascreatives.com/big-maths/

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