Assignment 2: Presentation on a maths phenomenon

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Assignment overview

This assignment requires you to create a video presentation and write a rationale. The video will demonstrate an engaging maths activity using an everyday phenomena, and the rationale will justify your choice and explain how this activity could be used with children. 

Related learning outcomes

This assignment assesses the following unit learning outcomes:

Identify everyday phenomena that can be explained using mathematics.

Recognise and develop opportunities for numeracy- and mathematics-related experiences in play, and everyday experiences in early childhood settings.

Assignment details

Maths phenomenon: a fact, an impressive maths occurrence, a maths 'miracle' or an event that can be explained using maths.

This assignment is an opportunity for you to show how maths can be fun and used to explain an 'everyday phenomenon'. You should choose a maths phenomenon that relates to one of the following topics:

• Nature (Week 5).
• Culture (Week 6).

There are two components to this task (Part A and Part B):

Part A

You are required to create a 5-minute video presentation that shows how you would use your selected phenomenon as the basis for a maths activity.

You can record your video using a video camera, smart phone or webcam. If you have any technical issues related to preparing your presentation, please communicate them to your eLA as promptly as possible.

In preparing your presentation you must:

• define the appropriate age group for your activity
• consider how you can physically engage your audience (i.e. engaging eye contact through the presentation).

Part B

Submit a 200-word rationale that justifies why you have chosen your particular phenomena and explains how you would apply the maths activity with children. This should also identify why it is appropriate for your intended audience, and describe any supporting resources.

Video presentation script

Hello, Fellow educators.

My name is XXXX, and I stand here in front of you today to discuss a classroom activity designed for the comprehension of a math's phenomenon in nature. For this purpose, I have chosen an audience of grade 6th, and the concept I will be discussing is symmetry in nature. The audience in question is young and curious, and at the same time interested in engagement. Hence, this choice of grade has been made. For the purpose of student engagement measures used in this lesson plan includes: eye contact, frequent activity and example inclusions and open discussions as well as engagement opportunities.

Mathematically, symmetry means that the objects in question are same in the context of shape, size and orientation and remains the same when they are flipped (Adam, 2011). When we apply similar principles to nature, we acknowledge that symmetry in essence is the presence of harmonious proportions (Field and Golubitsky, 2009). As much as the concepts of symmetry are studied by mathematicians and natural science experts as well as art and architectural savants, it is also a concept that is a combination of different definitions. Hence, for the present exercise, I have adopted the principles of EYLF learning, and enabled learning through play and activities in the classroom to achieve a continuity and responsiveness towards learning amongst the students.

For this lesson, I will first introduce the concepts of symmetry to the students where I will reflect that symmetry is present in varied aspects of nature, and is rather all around us. Whether we are looking at reflective symmetry (that is one half of the image is the exact same replica of the other half) – case in point butterfly' wings (show image and presence of line of proportion through drawing a line right in the center of axis) (Field and Golubitsky, 2009). Or when we study Rotational symmetry (which means that the object can be turned to its center point and still shows some image from varied angles)- case in point: yin and yang symbol (get a symbol and show its symmetry from varied sides), bring a five point star, and show its symmetry from varied sides (Adam, 2011)

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