Page 85 - The Bellfort - Summer 2015
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The Maths Department Year 10 STEM oughly engaging session of Pi Day In the summer term of maths, and the winners On the 14th March we cele- 2014, a group of Year 10 pu- were presented with a brated Pi day in school with pils had the opportunity to range of prizes. a Pi-related scavenger work with STEM specialists hunt. Pupils had to use from University of Ulster. their knowledge, the inter- The frst two sessions were net, friends and teachers to held in the school assembly fnd the mystery objects. hall, and the pupils used We had over twenty win- iPads to produce their own ners each winning their presentations on the topic choice of an apple Pie or an of trigonometry. They then ice cream sundae. used the tablets to pro- gramme and control Maths Treasure Hunt ‘spheros’ (remote con- Our series of Maths events trolled spheres), which continued on the 18th used angles and lengths to March with a Mathematical map right-angled triangles Treasure Hunt. 10 groups of on the assembly hall foor. Easter Maths Relay 4-5 pupils set of around For the third session, the The Easter Relay was back school following cryptic group travelled to the Uni- this year and proved to be clues to various depart- versity of Ulster campus in just as successful as last ments. When groups ar- Coleraine. They had a tour year, especially with our rived at the correct spot of the site, and used iPads new Year 8 pupils. Teams they had to work together to control and manoeuvre worked together to solve to answer a mathematical drones. It gave all of the various Maths-related East- problem. Once all prob- pupils a chance to see how er problems. Prizes were lems were correctly solved the maths they study in awarded to the winning the winning team received school can be applied to, groups of each session with the fnal clue which suc- and used by, modern tech- a small treat given to all cessfully led them to the nology. participants. hidden treasure. This was an excellent afternoon of Gingerbread Alley mathematical fun and ex- Prior to Christmas the citement had by all. Maths department wel- comed groups of P6 pupils from local primary schools as part of the ‘Gingerbread Alley’ event in Dunclug Col- lege. The pupils worked in teams to complete a maths relay, deciding how best to tackle the questions and playing their ‘Ask the teach- er’ card only when neces- sary. They enjoyed a thor- THE BELLFORT SUMMER 2015 85