Secondary Maths

Did You Know? Notes from the History of Maths

‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ In January 1916, Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), a self-taught mathematician working as a clerk in Madras, sent a letter to G.H. Hardy (1877-1947), one of the most famous English mathematicians of the day. Ramanujan sent letters to two others but… Read More

How are you celebrating Pi Day?

We celebrate Pi day on March 14th as this date (3/14) in the American system gives the well known approximation to Pi of 3.14. π is a fantastically surprising number offering both the professional and amateur mathematician a feast of discovery opportunities. Let us remind ourselves of the… Read More

Packing for the holidays

The ‘travelling to relatives’ season is nearly upon us. With this comes the need to pack suitcases and make sure you can fit everything in without leaving any important Christmas items behind. Packing is a very logical mathematical exercise and when packing anything from suitcases, the boot of your car,… Read More

Did you know? Notes from the History of the Alhambra

A blog exploring the history related to the geometrical symmetry used in the Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain. Read More

A Mathematical Rendezvous

Learning mathematics practically in the classroom is at the core of empowering an individual's understanding of the subject, writes Steve Humble. Read More

Coding’s Back in Town – Let’s Use it to Inspire Maths

  For me utilising coding in mathematics lessons started in my first school job. I was asked, “as a maths person can you code?” “Yes” was my response and off I went. I began by teaching students how to write retro-games such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man as… Read More

The Magical Number Seven

  Newcastle University hosted the ‘Numbers Festival’ from 27th June to 5th July 2015 in a variety of venues in and around Newcastle. The main aim for the festival was to promote… Read More

The Neighbour Problem

  Take a deck of cards and ask someone to shuffle it thoroughly. With the deck face down, ask them to name any two cards they think might be next to each other, not worrying about which suit, just the name/number. Before you take a look, ask them… Read More

What is your favourite number and why?

  As part of the celebrations for its 50th Anniversary, the IMA, in collaboration with the University of Manchester, ran the first ever UK Festival of Mathematics in June 2014. This event was a great success and was well attended by school groups, mathematicians in academia and industry,… Read More

Collins GCSE Maths Festival – The evolution of mathematics teaching

Mathematics teaching has evolved over many years and of course changes somewhat as the assessment process changes. Those of us involved over the last 30 years in both teaching and assessing mathematics have seen the pendulum swing in different directions! Read More