The Angles Board, ©2014, Pythaora Educational, All Rights Reserved
The Angles Board can be used to
measure angles by placing a
fraction into the circle with a
straight edge along the centre line
from 0.
Read off the degrees for each of
the fractions. One quarter would
equal 90 degrees, one half would
equal 180 degrees and so on.
Exercise 1: Learn the names of the angles according to their degree. Less than 90
degrees is an acute angle. 90 degrees is a right angle, more than 90 degres is an
obtuse angle, one half is 180 degrees or a straight angle. More than 180 degrees is a
reflex angle.
These can be taught by giving the student a three period lesson. You may use the
fraction sets for 1 tenth, 1 quarter, one half and a combination of fraction to
demonstrate each angle.
Exercise 2: Use rulers, protractors, string or cut card to make your own
measurements. The points of the compass are also present to measure bearings and
coordinates. Children can use existing maps or make their own maps.
The board can also be used for pie charts, see example and attached presentation
sheets.
Age: 3 years upward
Purpose: To learn about angles, direction and graph making.
Related: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, PFD Equivalents.
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© 2014, Pythagora Educational, All Rights Reserved
Making Magnets
Presentation: You will need a magnet a cork, a needle, a bowl of water, a sponge and
a compass.
Show the student how to magnetize the needle by stroking the magnet repeatedly
over the surface of the needle.
Place the needle on top of the cork and tape the needle to the cork.
Explain to the student that you are going to float the cork in the bowl of water.
Place the cork, needle side up and tell the student that you have made a compass.
When the cork is placed in the bowl the direction the needle is pointing towards the
north.
Take the compass and ask the student to see if the needle is pointing North in the
same direction as North on the compass.
Return the materials to the way they were at the beginning and invite the students to
take turns to make a compass.
Control of Error: Teacher sets the table up correctly. The teacher rubs the needle
long enough and handles it lightly so that it becomes magnetized
Introduction to buoyancy and the concept of floating and sinking.
Age 2.5 upwards
Language: Compass, needle, magnetize, north, direction, sponge, float, etc.
©2014, Pythagora Educational, All Rights Reserved
The Angles Board Compass Presentation
Presentation: Invite the children to join you for a presentation. Place the degrees
board to your left. Ask if any of them know what a compass is and what it is used
for? Try and draw out their knowledge about compasses.
You may simplify that a compass helps us to find directions. A compass has a needle
that always points to the north. A compass can also point to the South, East and West.
Begin by showing the children how to find North.
Place the compass in the centre of the board and look down at the compass and say,
“The needle of my compass is pointing to the north. This should be aligned with
North on the board. From now on the compass and the board are completely
orientated.
Invite the children to stand with you and to point to North with their arms
outstretched in front of them. You may show the children that the N on the board is
short for North. This is an opportunity to have some discussions about North.
Invite the children to look at maps, to find the N for North symbol on maps. Have
plenty of materials available representing North. The North Pole, Northern Lights,
Northern countries and people. There is no end to the ways in which this activity can
go when the children begin exploring North.
Give the children instructions on where to find objects, e.g. It is 10 paces to the North
of the computer, etc. Encourage them to look at images, and find information on the
Internet relating to North
On subsequent days you could introduce each of the other points of the compass in
the same way. You may wish to theme a whole afternoon, a week or even a term on
one point of the compass. Children may label parts of the room or a single wall as the
North wall. They may use compasses to find North in other rooms or in the
playground. They may explore the types of light between north window and South
window. They may make their own compasses or include them in art work, story
writing and history research.
3 years and up
Language: North, South, East, West, direction, compass, etc.
The Angles Board Circular Graph Presentation
Take any set of numbers, e.g. scores in a test. How many children are wearing red,
green, blue, etc. This is called the frequency. Add the numbers together to get your
frequency total. Let’s say 15 children are wearing red, 4 are wearing blue, 2 are
wearing pink, 3 are wearing black and 6 are wearing yellow. The frequency total
would be 30.
Now we divide the individual numbers by the frequency total, e.g. 6 divided by 30,
which gives us 0.2 We multiply that number by 360, which gives us 72. This number
represents the degree or amount of the circle to be measured and coloured in.
We do the same for the other numbers measuring and colouring the segments of the
circle. Continue in this way until all the parts of the circle have been coloured in to
represent the circular graph. Children can add a legend to the graph.
©2014, Pythagora Educational, All Rights Reserved