Using the Maths Treasure Trails
Key Stage 2

Janice Staines, Education Officer, BECTa

Site 1 - Roman Numerals Calculator http://www.microworlds.com/library/math/index.html
As part of their work on numbers and the number system, your children might explore Roman Numerals. You might ask them to make a collection of where they can find Roman Numerals, for example on clock faces, monuments, copyright statements on TV programmes etc. They might then explore the number system to 'decode' the values of these numbers. This 'Calculator' microworld can be downloaded and used off-line by the children. They may want to translate their 'Roman' calculations into standard notation to check their answers or use the 'Roman Calculator' to turn their standard calculations into code for someone else to work out the values.

Site 2 - How Far is it? http://www.indo.com/distance/
This site deals with standard measures of distance. The children can enter any two places and be given the distance as the crow flies between them. This information might then be used in a number of different ways. The children might calculate average travelling times if they were to make the journey by car/ ship or plane (or a combination of the three). They might also use an atlas or globe to plan a trip around the world and work out the distances of each part of the journey. They might compare the distances if they chose different 'stopping off' places.

Site 3 - Bargain's Galore http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/dynamo/den/index.shtml
This site has a number of mathematical activities including 'Money Snap', 'Clockwise' and 'Matching Time' as well as 'Bargain's Galore'. It would be worth taking time to allow the children to explore each of these areas. The games are structured with different levels and so there should be something in each game that's appropriate for everyone in your class. 'Bargain's Galore' is about using the correct number of coins to buy a toy displayed on a conveyor belt. Children may need first to practice paying the exact amount for different items using plastic coins.

Site 4 - Your Weight on Other Planets http://www.ambleside.schoolzone.co.uk/ambleweb/planetweight/planet.htm
This site can be used as part of a topic on measurement, having first completed work about weighing different items, including themselves. You could talk to the children about how gravity on Earth affects how much we weigh and introduce the idea that gravity is different on other planets in our Solar System. If it is available, you could show video images of astronauts on the surface of the moon showing them carrying large objects and being able to jump very high because of the reduced gravity. The table on this site allows the children to enter their weight on Earth and then to see how much they would weigh on the other planets. You might ask them to predict whether they think they will be heavier or lighter on each planet and ask them to give reasons for their predictions. The children might then use this data to set up formulae on a spreadsheet to allow them to carry out and record the weight of each person in the class on the different planets in the Solar System. They can find out more on this by visiting: http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/activity.html

Site 5 - Braintwister http://www.ambleside.schoolzone.co.uk/ambleweb/quizes/brain1.htm
This site has a number of 'Mental Arithmetic' questions for the children to answer to do with the four rules of number, number sequences, measurements and doubling. These questions will already be familiar to the children as part of their daily mathematics lessons and most will have little difficulty in completing the quiz. You might ask them to work in groups to develop a similar 'Mental Arithmetic' quiz for others in the class to complete. Of course they should also provide an answer sheet so that the other children can check whether or not they have the correct answers!

Site 6 - The Fibonacci Sequence http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibinacci/fib.html
This site is all about Fibonacci and the number sequences he discovered. You might want the children to have experience of other number sequences before tackling this site. As an introduction, you might discuss the sequence with the whole class and either tell them how the sequence works or let them give their own explanations of what they think is happening. When the children are happy with how the sequence is developed they might explore some of the other sections on the site, for example, the 'Fibonacci in Nature' section. You might also ask the children to explore what happens if they find the difference between each of the numbers in the Fibonacci Sequence. For example:
Sequence : 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610,
Difference: 1 0 1 1 2 3...

Site 7 - Quest of 9 http://www.learning-connections.co.uk/questof9/index.html
This site is a mathematical adventure game and some aspects of it are particularly tricky, so you may want to set this for only your brightest mathematicians. The first question, however, looks at 'magic squares' and this should be something you can tackle with most children in your class. The entrance to the adventure is protected by a particular 'magic square'. the children will have to find the magic number and enter it into the combination lock to proceed any further. You can explore other mathematical number squares with them before undertaking this task. The simplest is made by arranging the numbers 1 - 9 in a 3 x 3 square so that the numbers added vertically, horizontally and diagonally all add up to the same number (15):

Site 8 - Penguin Posers http://www.sutton.lincs.sch.uk/zone/tables/penguin.html
This link forms part of Sutton-on-Sea's Numeracy Pages. It is a mental arithmetic quiz with a twist - all the problems are to do with a family of penguins. An on-screen calculator is available to lend a hand with the most difficult calculations. Having completed the quiz themselves your children might like to develop a quiz themselves. they could (e)mail their questions to the children at Sutton-on-Sea and let them try and get the answers right. the email address for the school is shown on the site.

Site 9 - Healthy Cooking http://www.dole5aday.com/COOK/COOKBOOK.html
Children love Maths that they can eat! This site contains healthy eating recipes using fresh fruit and vegetables. As part of a topic on standard and non-standard measures you might talk about the importance of using standard measures when lots of other people need to be able to use the same measurements, for example, when following a recipe. In the chosen recipe for this question, you might ask the children to consider if it would matter if they didn't all use exactly the same amounts used in this recipe? What about if they were baking a cake? or making a spaghetti sauce? You might explain that when cooking personal preference is often more important than following a recipe exactly. Would this be the same if we were following instructions on a map? How would they need to change the amounts in the recipe if the wanted to feed: 6 people? 2 people?

Site 10 - Geoboards http://www.microworlds.com/library/math/index.html
Your children will probably already have played with a Geoboard and elastic bands. This is an electronic version (much kinder on the fingers and the person sitting opposite you!).This microworld can be downloaded and explored off-line. The tutorial explains exactly what is happening when the electronic bands are stretched on the boards with differing numbers of pegs and steps between the pegs. It would be worthwhile asking the children to make a written record of the shapes they make and the instructions they used to created them. These can be discussed at a later date to learn more about the properties of the shapes (numbers of sides, angles of turn etc.).