So have you ever wondered why there are 360 degrees in a circle? Or why there are 60 minutes in an hour? or 60 seconds in a minute? Seems rather weird doesn’t it. Well, don’t worry - it’s not an evil conspiracy.
Simple Answer: Blame the Babylonians (about 4000 years ago!) - they used the Sexagesimal system. Don’t get excited - it means that instead of using base 10 (as we do) they used base 60. They chose 60 because 60 has a lot of factors, which made fraction calculations a lot easier!
Like to know more on the Babylonians and mathematics, then check out this site that gives you a great overview.
For more info check out Shaun McCarthy’s blog or see what Dr Math has to say about it! You can also read more about Sexagesimal on wikipedia.
http://www.professores.uff.br/hjbortol/arquivo/2006.1/applets/earth_en.html
This website helps the understanding of the concepts of latitude and longitude and it allows the visualization of geographical elements over the Earth’s surface like meridians, parallels, poles, political divisions and the location of many countries’ capitals.
Proof the theorem for yourself here with this great interactive site.
Learn more about Pythagoras here.
Looking for proofs of Pythagoras Theorem then head here, there’s heaps!
How likely is it that two people in your class have the same birthday?
Would you believe that for a class of about 23 students it’s fifty fifty!
What does Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia say about the Birthday paradox
Maybe try this site for a silmulation.
In the topic of Chance student completed an analysis task based on the game card called “The Ace Race”
A program that simulates the card game can be download here for free!
The Monty Hall problem is a puzzle involving probability loosely based on the American game show Let’s Make a Deal. The name comes from the show’s host, Monty Hall. A widely known statement of the problem appeared in a letter to Marilyn vos Savant’s Ask Marilyn column in Parade (vos Savant 1990):
Suppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what’s behind the doors, opens another door, say No. 3, which has a goat. He then says to you, “Do you want to pick door No. 2?” Is it to your advantage to switch your choice?
To try some simulations of the game online try some of the links below
http://www.planetqhe.com/beta/IB%20mini-projects/Monty%20Hall%20java.htm
http://people.hofstra.edu/steven_r_costenoble/MontyHall/MontyHallSim.html
Welcome to the Year 10 Blog
From time to time this page will be updated with links and tips to help you with your Maths. So please check but often. In the meantime if you find something on the internet that might be on interest to Year 10 students at this school please use the comments below.
