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Broad Topics > Applications > Maths Supporting SET

Olympic Records

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Can you deduce which Olympic athletics events are represented by the graphs?

Who's the Best?

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Which countries have the most naturally athletic populations?

How Would You Score It?

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Invent a scoring system for a 'guess the weight' competition.

Mixing Lemonade

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Can you work out which drink has the stronger flavour?

Vector Walk

Stage: 4 and 5 Challenge Level:

Starting with two basic vector steps, which destinations can you reach on a vector walk?

Back Fitter

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

10 graphs of experimental data are given. Can you use a spreadsheet to find algebraic graphs which match them closely, and thus discover the formulae most likely to govern the underlying processes?

Immersion

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Various solids are lowered into a beaker of water. How does the water level rise in each case?

Aim High

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

How do you choose your planting levels to minimise the total loss at harvest time?

Maths Filler

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Imagine different shaped vessels being filled. Can you work out what the graphs of the water level should look like?

Dangerous Driver?

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Was it possible that this dangerous driving penalty was issued in error?

Time to Evolve 2

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

How is the length of time between the birth of an animal and the birth of its great great ... great grandparent distributed?

A Question of Scale

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

Use your skill and knowledge to place various scientific lengths in order of size. Can you judge the length of objects with sizes ranging from 1 Angstrom to 1 million km with no wrong attempts?

Equation Matcher

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Can you match these equations to these graphs?

Real-life Equations

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Here are several equations from real life. Can you work out which measurements are possible from each equation?

Stats Statements

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Are these statistical statements sometimes, always or never true? Or it is impossible to say?

The Monte Carlo Method

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Estimate areas using random grids

Taking Trigonometry Series-ly

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Look at the advanced way of viewing sin and cos through their power series.

Scale Invariance

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

By exploring the concept of scale invariance, find the probability that a random piece of real data begins with a 1.

Root Hunter

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

In this short problem, try to find the location of the roots of some unusual functions by finding where they change sign.

Differential Equation Matcher

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

Match the descriptions of physical processes to these differential equations.

Odd One Out

Stage: 5 Short Challenge Level:

In this short problem, can you deduce the likely location of the odd ones out in six sets of random numbers?

Temperature

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Water freezes at 0°Celsius (32°Fahrenheit) and boils at 100°C (212°Fahrenheit). Is there a temperature at which Celsius and Fahrenheit readings are the same?

Over-booking

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

The probability that a passenger books a flight and does not turn up is 0.05. For an aeroplane with 400 seats how many tickets can be sold so that only 1% of flights are over-booked?

Epidemic Modelling

Stage: 4 and 5 Challenge Level:

Use the computer to model an epidemic. Try out public health policies to control the spread of the epidemic, to minimise the number of sick days and deaths.

Far Horizon

Stage: 4 Challenge Level:

An observer is on top of a lighthouse. How far from the foot of the lighthouse is the horizon that the observer can see?

Gym Bag

Stage: 3 and 4 Challenge Level:

Can Jo make a gym bag for her trainers from the piece of fabric she has?

Toad in the Hole

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Is it cheaper to cook a meal from scratch or to buy a ready meal? What difference does the number of people you're cooking for make?

Isometric Drawing

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Explore the properties of isometric drawings.

Perspective Drawing

Stage: 3 and 4 Challenge Level:

Explore the properties of perspective drawing.

Witch's Hat

Stage: 3 and 4 Challenge Level:

What shapes should Elly cut out to make a witch's hat? How can she make a taller hat?

Make Your Own Pencil Case

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

What shape would fit your pens and pencils best? How can you make it?

Investigating Epidemics

Stage: 3 and 4 Challenge Level:

Simple models which help us to investigate how epidemics grow and die out.

Olympic Measures

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

These Olympic quantities have been jumbled up! Can you put them back together again?

Designing Table Mats

Stage: 3 and 4 Challenge Level:

Formulate and investigate a simple mathematical model for the design of a table mat.

Pinhole Camera

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Make your own pinhole camera for safe observation of the sun, and find out how it works.

Population Dynamics Collection

Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

This is our collection of tasks on the mathematical theme of 'Population Dynamics' for advanced students and those interested in mathematical modelling.