KS5, FIRST PLACE
FIBONACCI
One
Man
Thinking about
Rabbits’ family trees
Discovered nature’s own mathematical code
A “Golden Ratio” creating the world we see:
The prickly pattern of pinecones, the spiral of shells, florets on a flower
Sunflower seeds as well, even the human body, in our DNA and in the sky above us, the swirling Milky Way.
Coincidence or design, this sequence always surrounds us, a logarithmic phenomenon scientists still have yet
to suss. It’s in flowers and in art, architecture, even rabbits, one sequence bonding biologists, mathematicians
and even poets.
REBECCA MORAN, 13U
KS5, SECOND PLACE
PLACE HOLDER
I am good for nothing. A place holder:
No value to my name.
Yet, I am still the reason you play that game.
There is more of me in a million: 6 to be precise,
Otherwise you’d be 1: all alone.
I am the divider of positive and negative.
The heart of infinity ∞
“Quadratics”, you say? Would be nothing without me.
Use me to solve, but don’t multiply,
Because you’d be left with nothing.
But I am something.
The difference between 100, 1000 and 10000: a form of binary.
OI am the origin.
‘Zero’ they call me.
ZAHRA FAZAL
KS5, JOINT THIRD PLACE
01001100 01101001 01100110 01100101
Variables in this large system,
We’re all programmed the same.
Hard coded instincts which make us human.
But what makes you, you…and me, me?
Are we more than a 101, 101, 011 tree?
Could there be more to it than simple binary?
Countless years we spent searching for the programmer,
Variables that have written their own code.
It puts to ease, this simple existence.
Though what other functions do these variables provide?
Years of valuable data eradicated in fear…
Fear of the virus that harbours our end.
But the virus has always been
Hiding between the lines
Never to physically be seen.
Debugs we created ourselves to get by,
We crafted our own functions,
Without any help or guide.
So in this self sustained program,
His existence is uncertain.
Tell me what use the creator has?
Blind to the source code we prosper,
Innovation leads us in further,
So why worry about what was?
How about, what can be?
ALEKS LOGOSZ, 12S
KS5, JOINT THIRD PLACE
STANDING IN LINE
Life goes by in single file,
Someone to the front of you,
Another stood behind,
No one to the right of you,
And no one the other side.
There’s nothing to it, though,
It’s easily said and done,
Standing in a line,
Only staring straight ahead,
The next part of the vine.
I only follow one rule,
It’s the only one I need,
The rule of a sequence
Is my only guide, but it’s
The one people try to find.
Sometimes they cannot get it,
No matter how hard they try,
Children sigh in defeat,
And then they will stare in shame,
Down darkly at their feet.
Simplicity rules me,
My life spent looking ahead,
Stuck inside the waiting game,
One behind the other,
Standing in my line.
KATIE RENWICK, 13L
KS4, FIRST PLACE
THE NUMBERS OF OPPRESSION (LIKE MATHS ON A FRIDAY)
I paint by a measuring system, and the numbers I draw I can’t ignore
Like how Mike Brown was shot for “robbing a store”
And no one said a word about the issue in school
So answer me, why are humans so cruel?
The statistics I see are etched inside
In the numerous studies of Genocide
And the faces of my muddied brothers, who did not elapse
From the romantic glow of societal collapse
Who lie in gutters like unit prices
Like Van Gogh under the thumb of Isis
And the Government who choose to ignore
Everyone who is downtrodden, foreign or poor
If we cut off our ears will they stop speaking hate?
Or are we all just products of this Capitalist state?
When they won’t show you white from black
It’s hard to distinguish lie from fact
And we still maintain that the numbers are perfect
Like couplets and positives not just wilful neglect
We need to speak out about the power rule
And then maybe less people would be shooting up schools
And numbers wouldn’t need to be classified just to exist
And the inequalities in each country wouldn’t always persist
When it’s not seen to be mean about religion or race
And Islamaphobia is spread across the states
And the range of influences is always one sided
And the mode of the Government is always to hide it
How can I be anything other than negative and obtuse
When this whole world just suffers from shades of abuse?
So teach maths in classrooms and philosophy in the heart
So that students might just finally begin to start
To find the Right Angle, the truth and the clarity
And then maybe we could paint a nice picture of humanity
AMBER THORNTON, 10T
KS4, SECOND PLACE
MATHEMATICAL POEM
We enter the room,
And take a seat,
We open our bags,
What things do we need?
A pencil, a rubber,
A ruler, a pen,
A calculator, a compass,
We’re all set then!
We are ready to learn,
Sat straight and tall,
Then the teacher enters,
And closes the door.
They explain the topic,
Whether factors or pi,
I like doing fractions,
It’s a favourite of mine.
We are told the number,
And we turn to the page,
We have never seen this,
It’s an OUTRAGE!
But not to worry,
Our teacher is here,
To explain it all,
Our fear disappears.
Now we understand
The work at hand,
We whizz through it
All as planned.
The lesson is finishing,
The homework is set,
We have to do it,
To ensure our target is met.
We pack away,
Satisfied with what’s done,
We leave the room,
We love Maths, it’s fun.
LAUREN ROWLINSON, 10L
KS4, THIRD PLACE
MATHS MAKES ME MAD
Maths makes me mad,
But I need it in my life,
4 eg, I need 2 know
How 2 work out ∏ (pi)
I’ve never known y (why) x can’t be found,
Nor why a ⃝ (circle) has to be round.
M × A + T - H,
What are the letters doing in this case?
It’ll take me a while to remember my fractions,
As ½ of my brain – (takes away) my actions.
I had2 (had had) this ? (problem) before…
But Maths makes me mad,
Nothing more.
GEORGIA ZOLLINO, 10L
KS3, FIRST PLACE
MATHS POEM
Is it a decimal, is it a fraction?
Should I divide or use subtraction?
Addition is the easiest, we have learnt it since Year 1,
Now we are in secondary school the easy 1’s are gone!
Mr Byrne shouts QUIET PLEASE!!!
But these equations give me wobbly knees.
In primary school negative numbers were scary,
But that’s a myth, just like Fairies!
Push the buttons on a calculator,
But use your brains, you’ll need them later.
Dr C’s on about GCSEs,
So now we’re trembling, so stop it please.
All we used to know,
And we know it’s kind of low,
That 2+2 is 4 and 4+4 is more!
But now the bell has rang,
And all our sums have been sang,
So bye bye Maths, and to the next class!
ANNIE FINNERTY, DARRAGH GROVES & MADDISON EAMES, 8A
KS3, SECOND PLACE
NUMBERS EVERYWHERE
Numbers are here, numbers are there,
Numbers are basically everywhere.
You wake up at 5.20? That’s a bit too early!
Breakfast ready! 1 bacon, 2 eggs and 3 cups of coffee.
Ummm, yummy numbers in my tummy.
Off for some shopping, it’s only 10 steps away from here.
All those numbers surrounding me, what should I get?
15 apples, 6 eggs, 5 cookies and 1 banana.
Oh no, I’ll be late for my gymnastics. Let’s practice my routine.
2 steps forward, ½ turn jump, 2 cartwheels and 5 steps back.
Gymnastics finished, let’s go back home.
I’ll count how many cars I pass.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Oh, It’s 9.00, I think I should go to sleep. Goodnight.
Do you realise how many numbers you pass throughout the day?
No? Well now you do.
Numbers are here, numbers are there,
Numbers are LITERALLY everywhere!
NATALIA LODA, 8U
KS3, THIRD PLACE
PI
There was once a guy,
Who really liked pi,
To him it’s a wonder,
To us it’s an irrational number.
3.14159,
This number is a never ending line,
Mr Smith thinks it’s so fine,
When we use it we always whine.
William Jones was from Wales,
Everyone thought that he fails,
But the Mathematicians got together,
And realised that he’s actually clever.
People found out something about pi,
They realised it was not a lie,
Circumference of a circle, that’s the law,
Use pi and you’ll win for sure!
LUKE O’HALLORAN, JULITA NIEWEGLOWSKA, ABEAN GEORGE, ETHAN ROBINSON, 9L