Maths Trail
Grades 3/4
Teacher Instructions
QVMAG Museum Inveresk
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery at Inveresk
Opening hours 10am to 4pm daily (closed Good Friday and Christmas Day)
www.qvmag.tas.gov.au
Teacher Notes
Overview
This Maths Trail is aimed at students in Grades 3 and 4. It is designed to provide students
with opportunities to practise and develop their mathematical skills and knowledge from the
Australian Curriculum content strands of number and algebra, measurement and geometry,
statistics and probability. It also encourages development of the proficiency strands through
a focus on making connections between mathematical concepts, selection of appropriate
procedures and operations, problem-solving and justification of answers and approaches.
The Maths Trail is designed to be completed in groups of 4 to 5, with an adult helper, in order to
facilitate discussion and group work. It should take approximately 50 to 60 minutes to complete
and the questions can be undertaken in any order. There are two versions of the trail – one for
students, and one, with annotated notes, to be used by the helper.
The questions are clustered in the following sites:
1. Weighbridge (located in the grey shed to the left of the Museum entrance)
2. Museum’s entrance hall (from inside the main entrance)
3. Phenomena Factory
Where is the maths?
This Maths Trail could be used to introduce, develop or extend upon the following
mathematical concepts:
Number
• Things can be counted
• Sometimes numbers are used for ordering and labelling and not for counting
• Real world situations can be represented through the operations
• Estimation enables us to find an approximate result and enables us to check for the reasonableness of a calculation
Measurement
• Measure, order and compare objects using informal units, and familiar metric units of length and money
• Represent analogue time on a clock face
Geometry
• Name and describe the key features of common shapes
Links with the Australian Curriculum
• Represent and solve problems involving multiplication using efficient mental and written strategies and appropriate digital technologies (ACMNA057)
• Represent money values in multiple ways ... (ACMNA059)
• Measure, order and compare objects using familiar metric units of length, mass and
capacity (ACMMG061)
• Compare the areas of regular and irregular shapes by informal means (ACMMG087)
Before the Visit
• Contact the QVMAG Museum and book your visit, email to [email protected] or by calling 03 6323 3798 (weekdays 8.30am to 4.30pm). Please advise Bookings Officer of reason for visit.
• Look at the mathematical vocabulary used in the trail – it may be necessary to review
some of these terms (eg, geometrical shapes, solids, triangle, cylinder, square, rectangle, estimation, four operations, scale, analogue time, common fractions, including ½).
• Photocopy or print enough maths trails for everyone and decide how each group will be
organised; establish recording expectations.
•
This Maths Trail has been designed for students not to require any equipment other than the Student Notes, a clipboard and a pencil. A site map would be useful for accompanying adults. The Teacher/Parent/Adult Helper notes are the same as the Student Notes with the addition of italicised prompts to assist and extend understanding.
• Please download this from our website.
After the Visit – What Next?
Potential extension exercises after the maths trail could include:
• Construction of a word wall/mind map to review the vocabulary encountered.
• Review the names of the shapes listed on the trail. Look at the features of the shapes and complete some simple sorting activities looking at common features.
• Use ‘Meccano’ or similar construction materials to build a triangular roof and a square roof and then compare features – which is stronger?
• Take the maths trail idea back to your school or home and design own trails for
others to use.
QVMAG at Inveresk Maths Trail, Grade 3/4
WEIGHBRIDGE
1.Stand inside the entrance to the weighbridge shed and look at the geometrical shapes around you.
Teaching notes: besides basic shape types there are patterns of triangles within
squares, hexagons within circles, hexagons on rectangles, rectangles on squares,
triangles on rectangles.
a)List all the shapes you can see.
Teaching notes: square, rectangle, right-angle triangle, isosceles triangle, cylinder, circle,
hexagon, dodecagon, semi-circle, quarter-circle; N.B. try to limit this exercise to a couple
.
of minutes.
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b)Look at the window to your left. How many window panes (rectangles) make up the whole window? How did you count these?
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c)Estimate how many window panes are in the shed. (Hint: look for patterns)
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.
1
Education kit designed by UTAS students: Raelene Davis, Helen Thomsett, Lina Zhao
http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/education.html
QVMAG at Inveresk Maths Trail, Grade 3/4
2.Look up! Draw the shape of the roof supports.
a) What name would you give these shapes?
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b) Why do you think this shape is used for the roof?
Teaching notes: triangles brace the roof, being stronger than squares.
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3.Locate the steel wheel. (Hint: it is away from the entrance and is off the ground)
a)List all the shapes you see in the steel wheel.
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Education kit designed by UTAS students: Raelene Davis, Helen Thomsett, Lina Zhao
http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/education.html
2
QVMAG at Inveresk Maths Trail, Grade 3/4
b)Look down and find the big bolt on the floor. What coin has the same shape
as the bolt? Can you draw the shape below?
Teaching notes: a 50c coin is a twelve-sided figure called a dodecagon; this term
can be introduced to students.
4.The shed has big, white, square doors.
Draw one of the doors and describe the shapes you see.
Teaching notes: six triangles within a square.
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3
Education kit designed by UTAS students: Raelene Davis, Helen Thomsett, Lina Zhao
http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/education.html
QVMAG at Inveresk Maths Trail, Grade 3/4
Shape Challenge! How many triangles or squares are there in the shed?
(Hint: if you count less than thirty then keep counting and remember
there are shapes within shapes too).
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Foyer
1. Find the wall plaque (sign) that shows when Sir Guy Green opened the
Museum -and write down the date.
Teaching notes: Sir Guy Green was the first Tasmanian-born governor and was
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania for thirty years.
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a) How many different ways can you write the date?
Teaching notes: 23.11.01, 23.11.2001, 23 November 2001.
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b) For how long has the museum been open?
(Hint: either estimate your answer or use one of the four operations
to get an exact answer).
Teaching notes: estimate number of years or work out exact answer
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Education kit designed by UTAS students: Raelene Davis, Helen Thomsett, Lina Zhao
http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/education.html
4
QVMAG at Inveresk Maths Trail, Grade 3/4
2. Go to the Donation Box and without discussing with anyone else,
estimate how much money is there.
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a) How did you calculate this?
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b) Compare your result with another group member and write down
both estimates:
1: $. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: $... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c) Was your estimate higher or lower than the other estimate?
Teaching notes: Discuss the use of different strategies; take note of accurate recording
of decimal answer.
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d)Show the difference in the two amounts using subtraction.
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5
Education kit designed by UTAS students: Raelene Davis, Helen Thomsett, Lina Zhao
http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/education.html
QVMAG at Inveresk Maths Trail, Grade 3/4
3. Find the large redback spider!
a)Estimate the spider length from the front leg to the back of the body
(the largest part). Write your answer in centimetres.
Teaching notes: this requires estimation, number sense and introduces the idea of scale
and/or ratio; encourage discussion about answers and the reasonableness of them.
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b)A real female redback spider is approximately 12 mm long.
Try drawing one to actual size below.
c)How many times bigger is the large spider than the actual spider?
10 x, 20 x ?
Write down your answer, and your reasons.
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Education kit designed by UTAS students: Raelene Davis, Helen Thomsett, Lina Zhao
http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/education.html
6
QVMAG at Inveresk Maths Trail, Grade 3/4
Railways Corridor
1.The Railways Corridor has signs of many different colours, shapes and sizes. Work in pairs to find the answers to the following questions and then compare your answers with your group.
a) Find the sign that has a fraction and write it down.
Teaching notes: 2 ½
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b) How many rectangular signs are there?
Teaching notes: squares are included in the definition of a rectangle.
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c)How many non-rectangular signs are there?
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d) Write the number of non-rectangular signs as a fraction of the total
number of signs.
Teaching notes: eg, 56 rectangular signs, 7 non-rectangular = 7/56 or 1/8.
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e) Write down all the numbers you can see on the signs.
(Hint: don’t forget that ‘0’ is a number too).
Teaching notes: eg, 0,0,0,0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 4, 10, 10, 30, 40, 73, 345, 377, 397.
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f) What is the smallest number and the largest number?
Teaching notes: smallest is ‘0’ and the largest is ‘397’.
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g) Put these two numbers on the number line at the two ends.
smallest 7
largest
Education kit designed by UTAS students: Raelene Davis, Helen Thomsett, Lina Zhao
http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/education.html
QVMAG at Inveresk Maths Trail, Grade 3/4
h) Choose three (3) different numbers from question ‘e’ and put them on
the number line where you think they should go.
i) Put 2 ½ on the number line.
j) Find the sign that has the number ‘73’. Now is your chance to write
the questions.
How many different questions can you write that have the answer ‘73’.
(Hint: use the four operations).
Teaching notes: eg, 76-6+3; 20x3+13; 20+50+3; 80-7;…
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Question Challenge!
Write the toughest question you can that has the answer ‘73’.
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Education kit designed by UTAS students: Raelene Davis, Helen Thomsett, Lina Zhao
http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/education.html
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