Free preview · Senior 4 Mathematics · Practical activities
Senior 4 practical activities
13 units · 26 activities. In every unit, activity 1 is improvised (simple local materials) and activity 2 is conventional (mathematical instruments): two different activities. Below are 5 free pages; then get the whole level in one PDF.
- Title and aim of every activity
- Required materials and safety notes
- A clear, diagram or diagram
- Step-by-step procedure and a results table to fill in
- Observation and conclusion
- Three questions per activity, with sample results and answers at the end of the unit
See all 26 activities of this level and what each one is about
- Unit 1: Operations on the Set of Real Numbers
- 1.1 Improvised · Tins and π: an irrational number. To estimate π by measuring circular objects and to discuss why measured values are approximations of an irrational number.
- 1.2 Conventional · Accuracy, rounding and errors in measurement. To compare measurements made with a ruler and a vernier calliper and to calculate errors in sums and products.
- Unit 2: Binary Operations
- 2.1 Improvised · Turning a square card. To build the operation table for rotations of a square and test closure, identity, inverses and commutativity.
- 2.2 Conventional · Clock arithmetic tables. To construct tables for addition and multiplication modulo 5 using the calculator and investigate their properties.
- Unit 3: Introduction to Logic
- 3.1 Improvised · Switches and a torch bulb. To model AND and OR with switches and build their truth tables.
- 3.2 Conventional · Proving equivalences with truth tables. To use ruled truth tables to test logical equivalences and implications.
- Unit 4: Fundamentals of Trigonometry
- 4.1 Improvised · The bicycle wheel and the sine curve. To show that the height of a point on a turning wheel follows the sine function.
- 4.2 Conventional · Drawing the unit circle. To read sine and cosine values from an accurately drawn unit circle and check the identity sin²θ + cos²θ = 1.
- Unit 5: Linear and Quadratic Equations and Inequalities
- 5.1 Improvised · A goat pen against a wall. To form and solve a quadratic inequality from a fencing problem.
- 5.2 Conventional · Solving quadratic inequalities by graph and sign table. To solve a quadratic inequality graphically and confirm with a sign table.
- Unit 6: Polynomial, Rational and Irrational Functions
- 6.1 Improvised · A pendulum and the square-root function. To show that the period of a pendulum is proportional to the square root of its length.
- 6.2 Conventional · Graphing a rational function. To plot a rational function and find its domain and asymptotes.
- Unit 7: Limits of Polynomial, Rational and Irrational Functions
- 7.1 Improvised · Halving a paper strip. To see a sum approach a limit by repeatedly cutting a paper strip in half.
- 7.2 Conventional · Limits by calculator tables. To estimate limits of rational and irrational functions with calculator tables and confirm algebraically.
- Unit 8: Differentiation of Polynomial, Rational and Irrational Functions
- 8.1 Improvised · Speed of a rolling tin. To find the instantaneous speed of a rolling object from a distance–time graph and compare with the derivative.
- 8.2 Conventional · Gradients of tangents to y = x². To measure gradients of tangents to y = x² and discover the derivative 2x.
- Unit 9: Vector Space of Real Numbers
- 9.1 Improvised · Reaching targets with two step vectors. To express target points as linear combinations of two vectors on a floor grid.
- 9.2 Conventional · Changing the basis on graph paper. To find the components of a vector in a non-standard basis by drawing and by solving equations.
- Unit 10: Matrices and Determinants of Order 2
- 10.1 Improvised · Market takings as a matrix product. To organise market data in matrices and use matrix multiplication to find takings.
- 10.2 Conventional · Determinant as an area scale factor. To show that a 2 × 2 matrix multiplies areas by the absolute value of its determinant.
- Unit 11: Operations on Linear Transformations in 2D
- 11.1 Improvised · Shearing a stack of books. To model a shear with a stack of books and show that area is unchanged.
- 11.2 Conventional · Composing transformations with matrices. To compare the composite of two transformations found by drawing with the product of their matrices.
- Unit 12: Measures of Dispersion
- 12.1 Improvised · Underarm or overarm? Throwing at a bin. To compare the consistency of two methods using range, variance and standard deviation.
- 12.2 Conventional · Standard deviation with a calculator. To use the statistics mode of a calculator to compare the spread of two data sets.
- Unit 13: Combinatorics
- 13.1 Improvised · Arranging name cards and counting handshakes. To discover the formulas for permutations and combinations by listing.
- 13.2 Conventional · Pascal’s triangle and the nCr key. To build Pascal’s triangle, link it to combinations and check with the calculator.
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