Sunday 29 July 2012

Online Safety

Online safety for children is an important issue for schools and parents. We discuss internet safety at school and we have set appropriate expectations for the use of computers and the internet in the neighborhoods. While we realise that many of you are very experienced users of the internet we felt that some tips on how to ensure your childs safety online would be helpful.

1. Password Security - Our passwords and usernames are our online identity and they need to be kept secret. If you or your child think that a password has been seen by someone else, change it straight away. Also talk to them about choosing passwords that are more than six characters and use a combination of letters, numbers and punctuation marks as this will ensure that they have a strong password.

2. Computer Location - Ensuring that your child uses the internet in an area of the house where you can supervise will help to ensure that they are safe when online.

3. Social Networking and Forums - Talk to your children about never giving away personal information when communicating with others on social networking sites or on internet forums.

4. Communication - Encourage open communication with your child about the internet and the things that they enjoy online. Encourage them to let you know immediately if they see something that they don't understand or something that makes them feel uncomfortable.

For more information and fun activities try the Australian government's Cybersmart website which is linked below.

http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Mathematics for Term 3

The Learning for term 3 Mathematics has been updated. You can read this by clicking HERE, or by clicking the Student Learning tab at the top.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Camp Manyung Recreation Camp


September 10th -12th 2012

Surrounded by vineyards and rural properties, Camp Manyung is nestled in a small rural belt between Mt Eliza and Mornington, overlooking Port Phillip Bay and only 1-hour drive (60km) from the Melbourne CBD.

Camp provides many experiences in the domains of health and physical education, science, personal and interpersonal development and the thinking processes.

The website address is: www.camps.ymca.org.au Melways reference map 105 A6.

We will be attending as a whole unit – together for 3 days. The accommodation is shared bunk rooms of 7 or 8 children. We will work out rooms, with the children, based on their friendship groups once we know who will be attending camp.

We need all expressions of interest with the $100 deposit to enable the final bookings and organisation to be made based on number of children attending by this Thursday July 26th 2012

Monday 23 July 2012

Multiplication and basic facts

We thought that you might like to read a document regarding multiplication written by the curriculum coordinators in mathematics. We hope that you find this information useful.

Chance and Data Investigation

This year, the 34 Year Group have been working on a Chance and Data investigation every week. Here is the detail of the investigation they will be exporing from this week.

The students roll two dice in a simulated game of Aussie Rules football. They play all four quarters in a competition against a partner and the scores are similar to the real thing. This simple dice simulation has the fun of a game, but also involves many number, chance and data concepts. Collecting class data allows analysis of several aspects of the mathematics. We then move into using a computerised model, which allows for long term patterns to be explored, and empirical results can be compared with theoretical expectations.

 Learning outcomes and related concepts
• Whole number skills
• Probability comparisons and calculations
• Collection and organisation of group data
• Probability distributions
• Concept of expected results
• Calculation of averages
• The mathematical investigative process (Working Mathematically)

 Learning stages
1. Building the simulation model with dice
2. Small group work playing the game
3. Coding and collecting group esults
4. Discussing and analysing the data
5. Investigations using computer simulation - calculating empirical probabilities
6. Conclusion and summary

 Features
Connecting to (and modeling) a recreational game: Most investigations benefit from an interesting context and games can be a great source of these. However, it is the conversion of the game into an investigation that frames the learning. Use of concrete materials: Each student rolls two dice; the first rolled being the goals and the second the behinds. The concreteness makes the entry to the puzzle accessible to all.
Non-threatening: The randomness of the game and the easy entry skills makes the game appealing. Having 'entered' the game context, students can then be informally exposed to various mathematical ideas at a level that suits their confidence and ability. Collecting group data: The game is a played in pairs, but the decision to invite students to list the scores on the board cleverly sets the scene to change from a game into a whole group investigation. The data, being generated by students provides important 'ownership' and any stories or patterns in the data are 'their stories'. Empirical versus theoretical calculations: At several places throughout the investigations calculations are performed in both modes, allowing students to see and discuss the relative merits of each.