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MathXplosion, Ep 3: How many heads tall are you?

What are non-standard measurement units? Did you know we can reliably use objects in the real world, including our own body parts, to measure things? This concept of anthropometry, the ratios of body measurements, was first proposed by Leonardo da Vinci.

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The Third Dimension

This resource is a web page containing a drawing task to explore help visualise 3-D objects. Draw an arrangement of cubes on isometric paper which gives us a way of drawing 3D objects more easily. A link to downloadable isometric paper is also provided. This resource is an activity from the NRICH website.

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MathXplosion, Ep 17: Develop mathematical mind-reading skills

Amaze your friends with your super mind-reading skills. Here’s a brain game you can play by asking a few questions and substituting letters for numbers! Learn to follow a specific sequence of arithmetical steps to always arrive at the same answer.

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Fractions in the real world

How many quarters make up a whole? Watch this video to find out how else you can represent 2/4 and how to add up quarters to make a whole.

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Mixed Up Maths, Ep 7: Daredevil geometry

What does a daredevil jumps rider need to know about geometry? Find out as we discover angles for take off and for landing. But before we do that sit down for some angles basics! A good place to start is angles of turn through a circle from a 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, all the way to one full turn. See how many each represents as an angle.

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MathXplosion, Ep 42: Maths in nature

Maths can be found in living things and natural structures. Explore mathematical patterns in nature, such as the tessellating hexagonal units of a honeycomb, the bilateral symmetry of a leaf, the radial symmetry of a snowflake and spiderweb, and the number of right or left spirals on a pinecone or pineapple (Fibonacci numbers).

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MathXplosion, Ep 38: How to tell time using a sundial

Find out how to tell the time without a clock! A sundial uses the position of the sun to indicate the time. Typically, a stick (gnomon) casts a shadow upon a plane or surface that has markings, which indicate the time by the position of the shadow. See if you can create a sundial of your own.

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MathXplosion, Ep 6: Zero the hero

What is the role of zero as a placeholder for large numbers such as 1 million, 1 billion and 1 trillion? Find out about the notion of place value and powers of ten through the act of bead counting.

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Mixed Up Maths, Ep 6: Maths saves lives

Can maths really help to save lives? In this clip we see some real life applications of mathematics. Some are about helping to save lives others are about how maths can be useful. What do Florence Nightingale and WHO, the World Health Organisation have in common?

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Catalyst: Take the Phi Golden challenge

The golden ratio, Phi: fact or fallacy? What about the Fibonacci sequence? We are told this ratio and its cousin Fibonacci occur everywhere in nature. Let's see which of these claims stacks up when put to the test.

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Graphing

Graphs can be used to illustrate the relationship between two variables. Watch this fun animation from NASA to learn the basics of graphing.

Interactive

Australian coin history

This interactive slideshow from the Royal Australian Mint provides a series of high resolution images and brief descriptions of currencies from Indigenous barter systems to modern Australian currency. A downloadable fact sheet on Australian coin history is accessible from selected pages within the slideshow.

Interactive

Decimal currency

This interactive slideshow from the Royal Australian Mint provides a series of high resolution images and brief descriptions of the transition from pre-decimal to decimal currency in Australia.

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Catalyst: Probability and the gambler's fallacy

Mathematician Lily Serna visits Luna Park to explain a great probability pitfall. She shares a century-old tale from Monte Carlo casino, and then she puts its lesson to the test. If you flip a coin and it lands on heads three times in a row, what result would you predict for the next flip? Find out why intuition might land ...

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Area of a square and a triangle

Do you know the formula for working out the area of a square? How about a triangle? Watch this short maths video to learn the formulas for both.

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For the Juniors: Drawing a floor plan

How do we know what a house will look like before it is built? Discover how house plans work by looking at the design of a house that Hugo's family is going to build. See how a floor plan shows the room layout. See drawings of what the house will look like from different views.

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MathXplosion, Ep 32: A mean trick

Learn a cool trick using the concept of the mean (or average). Pick any 3 x 3 block of dates on a monthly calendar. The number in the middle square is the mean of the nine numbers that form the 3 x 3 square. If you add all the numbers and divide the total by nine (the number of squares), the answer is the number in the ...

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MathXplosion, Ep 39: Area vs perimeter

Want to know the trick to making a really big fort? Using cushions to build a fort, explore the concept of finding the largest area for a fixed perimeter. Surprisingly, there is no direct relationship between the perimeter of a rectangle and its area.

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What is a quarter?

What is a quarter? You get quarters when you divide a whole into four equal parts. Each one of these four parts is a quarter. Watch this great explainer produced by Monique in collaboration with ABC Splash and see how she explains quarters.

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MathXplosion, Ep 33: On the grid

Explore graphs, grids and mapping with a focus on reading and writing location data using coordinate geometry. Grids and maps illustrate the concepts of parallel/perpendicular lines (axes or labelled number lines), ordered pairs and intersection points.