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Catalyst: Probability and the birthday paradox

Even when a maths problem seems simple – for example, the chance of two people sharing a birthday – the maths can run counter to our human intuition. Mathematician Lily Serna poses a maths problem to the Clovelly Bowling Club: how many people do you need to gather to get a 50 per cent chance of any two people in that group ...

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Big data, better hospitals

Overcrowding in hospitals is one of the biggest challenges facing our healthcare system . In order to reduce hospital waiting times, the Patient Admission Prediction Tool (PAPT) uses historical data to predict how many patients, and with what kinds of injuries, are expected to arrive at the emergency department each day ...

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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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Catalyst: Small scale measurements

What units of measurements do we use to describe incredibly small things like blood cells and atoms? Watch as you are taken on a journey to explain the different units of measurement that we use to describe the very small.

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Different types of telescopes

You can find both refracting and reflecting telescopes at Sydney Observatory. How are they different in the way they work and look? What can you find in nature that is like a telescope? Which type of telescope is it like?

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BTN: What is an abacus?

An abacus is a tool that helps people solve maths problems. Why might some people still use, and encourage the use of, an abacus when there are more contemporary tools like calculators?

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MathXplosion, Ep 50: How to use a tetrahedron to solve the tree problem

How can you place four trees exactly the same distance apart from one other? By making a model! By using miniature trees to make a model of the problem, it becomes clear that a 2D solution is impossible. We learn how objects can help us visualise the problem situation, which in this case requires a 3D solution: a tetrahedron.

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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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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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Modelling climate changes

There is a saying: 'climate is what you expect and weather is what you get'. |Understanding climate change is very difficult for most people, especially when the weather we experience is different from the information we are given by scientists about the climate changing. The difference is that weather reflects short-term ...

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Catalyst: Prime number keys

Have you ever wondered how modern day encryption works? How are messages and financial transactions kept hidden from cyber criminals and hackers? Listen to reporter Ruben Meerman and mathematician Simon Pampena discuss the largest prime number ever found and how prime numbers are used to encrypt electronic information.

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Harvesting and cooking murnong

Murnong is an edible Australian native plant that was prolific in south-eastern Australia. Which part of the murnong is eaten? Why was it so abundant in certain parts of Victoria? Watch Aunty Julie to learn how murnong is harvested and cooked.

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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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Working out the areas

Do you know how to work out the area of a square, a rectangle or a triangle? Learn the simple maths formulas needed from this video. What would be the area of a rectangle with a height of 5cm and a length of 3cm?

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Numbers Count: What are factors?

What are factors? Watch as the jelly babies in this clip show you! What are the factors of 12? How many factors does the number 11 have? Try explaining to a friend what a prime number is.

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My Five Cents: What is opportunity cost?

What is the true cost of buying something? Gen Fricker explains that it's more than just money. Learn about opportunity cost - what it is, why it's a helpful tool and when to use it. Simple! Then test yourself with ASIC MoneySmart's "Things to think about" classroom exercises.  

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Count Us In, Ep 1: Comparing and classifying

Explore numbers with Flynn and Dodly as they compare their marble collection, dinosaur toys and the noses on Dodly's pictures. Who has more? Who has less? Who has the same? These are questions often asked during an ordinary day. Help Flynn work out how many dinosaurs Dodly has in his bag. Use the clues that Dodly gives Flynn.

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Count Us In, Ep 15: Which Container Holds More Magic Rocks?

Flynn and Dodly are going on a camping adventure. Watch how they measure the capacity of different containers. Which container will hold the most? 'Dodly the Adventurer' needs a container to put all his precious rocks in. Can you find a container big enough?

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Self Improvement Wednesday: The beauty of prime numbers

A prime number is a number that only has two factors: one and itself. Listen to Adam Spencer and Richard Glover discussing prime numbers. They cover how we define these numbers and how and why prime numbers are widely used in internet encryption.

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Mixed Up Maths, Ep 9: The giraffe ate it

When something has no chance of happening we say its impossible. Sometimes the chance of something happening is unlikely. Listen to these excuses explaining why the host did not do his homework. Which of his excuses might the teacher think, the chance of this happening is ... 'possible'?