January Newsletter – 2015

Dear Fellow Smart Solvers,

Happy new year for 2015! We hope you enjoyed your well-deserved break and that you were able to rest and enjoy precious time with your family. Congratulations to Gauteng for achieving the top matric pass rate result in the country! (For more information on results from around the country please click here).

Afrikaans primary school maths teachers in Pretoria, VAW will be hosting their Pretoria branch conference on the 22^nd of January. VAW will also be hosting a conference in Cape Town on the 28^th of February for primary school teachers. Contact Valentyn (Valentyn@helpendehand.co.za) or Danie (daniebrink@helpendehand.co.za) for more information.

What have you been up to for the first three days of the school year? A fun way to start a geometry class (or any class where capturing their interest is key) is to do some origami. I confess that I am not a very good paper-folder but my crane, pelican and butterfly didn’t turn out too badly.

Can you see my first try in the middle of the picture? 🙂 Check out www.origami-fun.com for step by step instructions on how to fold the different shapes. If students ask why origami is important, then send them here– it explains how the mathematics of origami is being used to fold or store items in an optimal way. Origami might also be a great way to introduce the different types of angles and how they are related to each other.

Another great hands-on activity comes from Scientific American and is a great way to teach what happens when one dimension of a 3-dimensional object is changed. The best part is that you get to play with play-doh! Oh yes!! What grade 10 student would not be excited to play with play-doh?

Another nice way to get those young brains working is to play the 2015-mathematics game (the great thing is that this game changes every year). Get your students to use the numbers 2, 0, 1 and 5 to make up the digits 1 – 100 (or less depending on how much time you are willing to spend on the activity). Each of the numbers 2, 0, 1 and 5 can only be used once per sum. For the full set of rules please click here.

Need something to entertain yourself in evening? Try out the new 3D maths scrabble game which is free to download. There are many variations to try out and you can choose to play against the pc, with other friends or as part of a larger group. Happy scrabbling!

Go to the maths at sharp website for all of the first term worksheets for grade 8 to 12 including revision worksheets. Please let me know if you think there is anything missing or you are looking for a specific section, constructive criticism is welcome as well 🙂

The answer to the clock riddle is:

The new riddle for this year is:

A perfect number is a number whose factors add up to that same number (excluding the number in the factors). For example, 28 is a perfect number because its factors: 1, 2, 4, 7 and 14 add up to 28. What is the next perfect number after 28?

If your school is looking for a new photocopier then reply to this email with photocopier and your area in the subject line and we will have a rep contact you directly. For more information visit Seartec’s website.

And that’s all for now folks! All the best for the first term and here’s to a spectacular new year of solving smart.

Best wishes for 2015,

Tal and the SHARP team

Ps – don’t let the Monday get you 🙂

Ps – Our facebook page contains great maths posts, information and maths jokes to keep you going through the school day.