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Listed under:  Health  >  Psychology  >  Cognition  >  Thinking  >  Problem solving
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Use your creative thinking skills!

Ashwini Ranjithabalan from Women in Engineering and IT at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) sees engineering as the business of solving future problems. What are some of the challenges we (and our societies) might face in the future? Get some friends together and see if you can brainstorm a list. Now choose one ...

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Getting satellite design right

Is it a good idea to build a complex and expensive machine without carefully checking the design first? This animated clip describes some of the steps NASA took during the design review process for the development of a new satellite. Can you think of any other steps in design reviews?

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Building a weather satellite

Designers and engineers improve upon existing products all the time. How important do you think it is to update and enhance something like a weather satellite? Can you think of some other objects that could be improved upon?

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Learning from design 'mistakes'

Finding the solution to a design problem involves generating creative ways to address a need or difficulty. Design is the key and it often involves an engineer. In this clip, explore what an engineer is and what they do, and see an example of how NASA engineers might plan, create and test an idea to fix a space station.

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Introduction 'Technology' in AgriBusiness (Animation)

This is a video about how Australian farmers embrace technology. Using animation, photographs and commentary with occasional puns and jokes by a primary-school--aged boy, it sets the scene of the overall impact of technology, describes why Australian farmers have always been innovative; provides a definition of technology; ...

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Spark: A better way to predict the spread of bushfires

In recent years, new technologies have helped us respond to natural disasters more quickly by providing up-to-date information as it becomes available. What if we could take this one step further with new technologies that can also predict disasters? Learn how Spark, which uses our existing knowledge of bushfire behaviours ...

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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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MathXplosion, Ep 40: Kaprekar's operation

Did you know that 6,174 is a very mysterious number? In 1949, the mathematician Dr Kaprekar from India devised a process now known as Kaprekar's operation. First, choose a four-digit number where the digits are all different. Then rearrange the digits to get the largest and smallest numbers these digits can make. Finally, ...

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What skills are important for programming robots?

Listen as David McKinnon from UNSW describes some of the skills that are useful to have if you want to program robots. David explains an activity that exercises problem solving skills. Why don't you try doing it? Look at a map and find some towns that are close to yours. Use the scale on the map to work out the distances ...

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BTN: What is the GST?

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax placed on things people buy with money or things people do for money. Can you name some goods and services that have GST? What about some goods and services that don't have GST? Find out when and why the GST was first introduced.

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Mixed Up Maths, Ep 12: Super Cyril's circus supplies

Do you know how to draw up a budget? Find out how it's done. In our example our host is throwing a circus party and has $100 to spend. See how he plans to spend the money. Throw in a few discounts of 10% and 50% and look what he can afford. Does he mange to stick to his budget?

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MathXplosion, Ep 1: Magic 9s

Follow these simple calculations to illustrate the special properties of the number 9. Pick your favourite number between 1 and 9 and multiply that number by 3. Add 3 to your answer. Multiply the result by 3. Treat your two-digit answer as two separate numbers and add them together. No matter what number you pick to start ...

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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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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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What are pixels?

Meet Kevin Systrom and Piper Hanson as they explain how digital images work. What are pixels, those tiny dots of light, made from? How are colours created and represented? What does Kevin say about the way mathematical functions are used to create different image filters. What is the difference between image resolution ...

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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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MathXplosion, Ep 11: Fun facts about the number seven

Did you know that the digits on opposite faces of dice will always add up to seven? Use dice as fun tools to reinforce fact families of seven, multiples of seven and subtraction skills.

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Mixed Up Maths, Ep 4: Late again!

Ever missed an appointment because you misread a timetable? Well it is easily done if you don't know how to read 24 hour time. In this clip, see how to read 24 hour time and find out where it is commonly used. Look at the other time system used -12 hour time. Find out what those letters 'am' and 'pm' really mean! Compare ...

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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.