Maths in a Box
In the UK, every school student has to study maths up to the age of 16. And every maths teacher in the UK at some point will have been asked by their students ‘But what is the point of maths?’ and ‘Why should I carry on studying it?’
Now teachers can get some fresh ideas on how to tackle these questions with Maths in a Box, a collection of resources, including posters, and booklets containing careers profiles and even a book of magic tricks.
The box contains resources which aim to encourage the uptake and further study of maths and are suitable from key stage 3 right up to key stage 5. These materials have been tried and tested in schools around England and Wales as part of the government-funded More Maths Grads project.
Each secondary school in England received a copy of Maths in a Box during the first few months of 2010. A similar box was also distributed to secondary schools in Wales with the same resources in Welsh.
More Maths Grads in a Box HE Edition
This was designed to help universities who want to work with schools to promote interest in mathematics. It contains resources that tackle questions school students ask such as "What is the point of maths?" or "Why should I carry on studying it?"
Together, they show that maths is used in a whole number of ways that school students may never have even thought of - from exploring how quadratic equations and probability are linked to football to understanding why logarithms are so useful in our analysis of earthquakes.
Selected contents from both of these projects are available to download below.
Additional downloads can be found on our Posters, Booklets and Leaflets page.
What's the Point … index posters
Posters describing the maths inside different photographs
|What's the point - Index Aerial|
|What's the point - Index Balloons|
|What's the point - Index Jump
What's the Point …
20 x A2 posters from that What's the Point booklet
A3 posters 'When will I ever need Maths?'
Posters describing the use of maths in different school subjects
Origami A3 posters
Posters describing the use of maths in different real world areas such as nature or architecture
|See the maths in aerospace|
|See the maths in architecture|
|See the maths in music
|See the maths in nature|
|See the maths in navigation|
|See the maths in sport
Cut Through the Numbers A3 poster:
Shows different kinds of careers where doing A-Level Maths would be helpful
|Cut Through the Numbers A3 poster|
Question Mark A3 poster.
Shows the different kinds of careers where doing A-Level Maths would be helpful
|Question Mark A3 poster|
FMSP Posters by undergraduates
Detailed posters produced by undergraduates on an interesting mathematical topic. These posters are at quite a high level, but could be used to inspire students.
|Perfect Circle Poster|
|Shape of the Universe Poster|
|The Zeta Function|
Age is just a Number posters
|Age is just a Number - Charles Babbage|
|Age is just a Number - Beethoven|
|Age is just a Number - Larry David|
| Age is just a Number - Morgan Freeman
| Age is just a Number - Stephen Hawking
| Age is just a Number - Florence Nightingale
Booklets and Activities
|Career Profiles Booklet
Booklet containing a selection of career profiles
| Enrichment Activities booklet
A small selection of enrichment activities.
| What do we need Maths for? Booklet
A booklet describing some of the maths used outside the classroom. Topics are considered which students should be familiar with, such as going on holiday.
| Everyday Maths booklet
A booklet describing some of the career opportunities available to maths graduates. The booklet links the jobs to applications which the students will be familiar with such as Climate Change.
|Maths Careers booklet
A detailed booklet for teachers on the careers that maths can lead to.
| More Maths Grads leaflet
| Maths at University
How to prepare and what to expect
| Reflections - Maths at University
Exploring attitudes to maths among university applicants and undergraduates.
| Good Ideas Guide
Using outreach work to encourage interest in maths.