TQ Maths Hub Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

North Queensland themed PSMTs for years 7-10

The following activities are specifically designed to make use of NQ and FNQ contexts using the Problem Solving Modelling Task (PSMT) framework that forms part of the new Queensland Senior mathematics syllabi. The resources are organised according to year levels and content strands.

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Linear relationships (focus: equations). Task: Could Townsville ever run out of water? (DOCX, 332 KB)

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Support for Mathematics Methods and Specialist Mathematics

This resource has been created in response to a number of parent and student questions about how maths methods works, why students should learn it, and also the kind of junior maths that keeps sneaking back into Senior maths topics.

The word file will print in A3 size and the pdf will print in A4 size.

  • Page 1 is an overview of the subject with examples for students and their parents. This page can give a sense of how the subject will unfold and some applications to real world modelling.
  • Page 2 is a Year 7-10 algebra toolkit of topics that turn up regularly in Mathematics Methods. Students can use the toolkit as a reference to “spot” the Year 7-10 topics that are closely connected to their Year 11/12 work and to revise them if they find they are missing one of the tools (they are assumed in Senior Mathematics). Students will have more success in Mathematics Methods if they have a strong algebra toolkit and they learn to adapt those same tools now that they are working with more advanced maths concepts. This page could prompt students to spot Junior maths topics in their Senior maths work and also to remind them of what they should already know/need to revise.

Download the Junior Maths toolkit pdf (PDF, 410 KB)

Download the Junior Maths toolkit word document (DOCX, 290 KB)

High-quality, print-ready posters for your classroom, subject selection and career events. Guidance officers would also find these useful.

Why Take Maths Methods? poster (PDF, 1629 KB)

Why Take Specialist Maths? poster (PDF, 1470 KB)

Maths Explains Our World (MEOW) Workshops are hosted and delivered by JCU experts from a range of disciplines. The collection of videos support teachers in their own classroom or in maths clubs or other events, explaining the background, concepts and instructions for running MEOW Workshops. Teachers can use the fully developed downloadable workshop activity sheets to contextualise maths content at their own school. Suitable for Years 8-10.

Workshops and videos

  • MEOW Overview and Highlights reels
  • Epidemiology: When zombies attack! The maths of infection rates
  • Geology: Volcanic hot spots and continental drift
  • Economics: Putting a price on Castle Hill; Why we should spend locally
  • Sports Science: What parts of your body contribute most to a throw?
  • Physics: Forces, motion and egg-xtreme impacts
  • Chemistry: The great chem-mystery.

See the MEOW videos on these workshops.

Download the MEOW workshop documents.

Classroom resources to promote mathematics

Browse our document, video and website collections to find resources for classroom teaching, career information or professional development.

Educational resources with a northern Queensland flavour.

  • Townsville suburb by suburb statistics -  By choosing options on this dynamic website you can generate customised downloadable PDF reports describing a range of up-to-date statistics about Townsville and the region. Comparisons and time series data are possible.
  • Cairns suburb by suburb statistics - By choosing options on the Cairns Regional Council demographic site you can generate customised downloadable Word, Excel or image files describing a range of up-to-date statistics about Cairns regions. Community profiles, social atlas and economic profiles are possible.
  • Students of NQ datasheet - An Excel spreadsheet (XLSX, 8 KB) containing information collected from students in NQ and FNQ. The data can be used to explore ideas in statistics, practice generating graphs and creating infographics. Tinkerplots is a great tool to use in this context.
  • NQ Cowboys club statistics - From the NRL website, compare the Cowboys club statistics compared with other teams. Select Stats & Options to view a list of statistical reports. You can also view player stats .

While not NQ/FNQ specific, these activities are great for stimulating the ways of thinking required for general problem solving.

Numbers and Algebra

Order of Operations: The Four Fours Challenge - Try this challenge as a great way to consolidate students’ knowledge of the order of operations. Multiple solutions for this challenge can be found on the web.

Measurement and Geometry

Area, Perimeter: Playing with Pentominoes - This worksheet can be completed by students to show how areas and perimeters are not directly proportional. Students will need 5 squares of equal size (small tiles are great) to create as many pentominoes as possible at the start of the activity. Students can use the template to create a set of 12 pentominoes.

Problem Solving

The Golden Apples - This problem is adapted from the book called “Fostering Algebraic Thinking” by Mark Driscoll. It is designed to develop students’ algebraic thinking.

16 Questions - A set of sixteen challenging questions for Year 5/6 extension students. Print them up as cards for students to choose.

'Hidden Figures' movie lesson - This lesson plan uses the movie Hidden Figures as stimulus. Students learn what it is like to 'make new mathematics' when 'there is no formula', and experience what it takes to use mathematics they are familiar with (e.g. shapes, graphs) to solve a new problem: communicating with someone who can't see what you see, and can't ask any questions.

Going to the Show - Activities developed by an NQ teacher for maths students attending the Cairns Annual Show.

Make your own jigsaw puzzles

Easily create, print out, save and exchange customised jigsaws, domino activities and a variety of rectangular card sort activities. Formulator Tarsia is free and so easy to use.

Ready-to-use puzzles

Choose your topic, then click on the Lessons link to find tarsia puzzles. Of course, Mr Barton Maths has much, much more for teachers and students – logic puzzles, rich tasks and activities.

Quizzes

Make your own online quizzes for your students using Kahoot. There are also many maths quizzes already available on the site to sue or modify (search on the maths topic you are after).

Ever wondered if you can actually get a job as a mathematician? Your students are probably wondering, too.

Inspire your students with quality resources. These links provide information about the types of careers that are possible for people studying mathematics. Pick and choose for maths fairs, maths camps, parent/teacher nights, or lessons.

Video list

Why Maths? - This series of videos showcases the junior secondary mathematics knowledge used by professionals in the daily tasks they perform as part of their job.

Why Maths Teaching? This series of videos introduces six JCU students who are studying to become maths teachers. They answer questions posed by high school students about why they chose maths teaching as a career.

Maths at University - Give your students an idea of where they might need maths at university. JCU students from a range of disciplines talk about the important of maths during their degree.

Jamology - We are all familiar with jamming phenomena in various transportation systems, such as cars and buses, but have you ever seen it in ants? Interdisciplinary research on jamming of self-driven particles has been recently termed jamology. It is based on mathematical physics and also includes engineering applications. In this video, Dr Katsuhiro Nishinari of the University of Tokyo discusses the simple mathematical models that support his research into traffic jams.

Be a Maths Teacher Posters

High-quality, print-ready posters for your classroom, subject selection and career events. Guidance officers would also find these useful.

  • Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) Calculate provides resources and materials for the classroom, including videos that demonstrate the wide use of mathematics in the real world.
  • Australian Mathematics Trust (AMT) is a national not-for-profit organisation that holds mathematics and informatics competitions, administers enrichment activities, conducts workshops for students and teachers, and publishes books on mathematical enrichment for Australian and international students.
  • Cool Australia provides real world learning activities and professional development with a sustainability focus. Select mathematics activities using the subject filter. It is free to register and receive their newsletter.
  • Digital Technologies Hub website will support you to implement the digital technologies curriculum.
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Biointeractive website provides access to real data. Browse the Classroom Resources menu to source classroom activities, interactive media and teacher guides on a range of topics for various levels.
  • NASA's Space Math website is filled with wonderful resources, especially datasets, for use in the classroom. Their free downloadable books offer space maths programs, according to year level, e.g. calculating the height of a cloud, and tracking a sea turtle by satellite.
  • NRICH caters for teachers of different age groups. The best way to find resources is to search by topic, and narrow down to the most relevant information using the index at the top of the results of your search.
  • YouTube's Veritasium channel contain videos that are fun, educational, and will capture your students’ attention and imagination.
  • Plus magazine opens a door to the world of maths, with all its beauty and applications, by providing articles from the top mathematicians and science writers on topics as diverse as art, medicine, cosmology and  sport. You can read the latest mathematical news on the site every week, listen to podcasts and keep up-to-date by subscribing to Plus (on email, RSS, Facebook, iTunes or Twitter).