IB Maths Resources from Intermathematics
IB Maths Resources: 300 IB Maths Exploration ideas, video tutorials and Exploration Guides
This is a great resource from Mr Collins - Maths Pictionary. What I like about this is that it can be incorporated into a large number of classroom activities - from Jeopardy games, to starters to topic revision. It can also be easily adapted to everything from KS3 to IB - and can be a... Continue Reading →
This is another fascinating branch of mathematics - which uses computing to illustrate complexity (and order) in nature. Langton's Ant shows how very simple initial rules (ie a deterministic system) can have very unexpected consequences. Langton's Ant follows two simple rules: 1) At a white square, turn 90° right, flip the color of the square,... Continue Reading →
Fermat's Theorem - one of the most famous and long running puzzles in mathematics is a great way to introduce proof, the history of mathematics and also to show how apparent work on an entirely abstract concept can actually drive the development of techniques which have real world applicability. The (much abridged!) story is that... Continue Reading →
This is a really interesting take on a very well known puzzle (courtesy of Ian Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities). The puzzle itself is pretty famous: A farmer wants to cross a river and take with him a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage. There is a boat that can fit himself plus either the... Continue Reading →
This is a really nice puzzle we looked at at the IB HL workshop: When x = 1, y = 1, when x = 2, y = 2, when x = 3, y = 3 but when x = 4, y does not equal 4. Find a sequence which describes these points. There are... Continue Reading →
Good at maths? Really good? Then maybe one day you'll be able to claim a $1million prize for solving some of the fiendishly difficult and important maths problems out there. In 2000, the Clay Institute offered the reward for any mathematician who was able to crack 7 mathematical problems. In 13 years only one of... Continue Reading →
A keyquestion in ToK is what can we know and what are the limits of our knowledge. Central to this, when it comes to the physical world, is the idea of chaos. Chaotic systems are those which are deterministic (ie. determined from initial conditions) and yet unpredictable - because small errors in approximating the initial state... Continue Reading →
Godel, a 20th century, Austrian American mathematician attempted to use the rigour of formal mathematical logic to provide a proof for the existence of God. Whilst somewhat daunting, a more simplified version can be regarded as, "God, by definition, is that for which no greater can be conceived. God exists in the understanding. If God... Continue Reading →
This formula above is one of the many staggering relationships found by mathematical genius Ramanujan - a largely self-taught Indian mathematician from around the turn of the 20th Century. It has been described by some mathematicians as Ramanujan's most beautiful formula - as it shows a remarkable connection between an infinite series, a continued fraction,... Continue Reading →
Fractals aren't actually on the syllabus - but they do offer quite a good opportunity to look at limits, infinite sequences, complex numbers (eg Julia sets etc), the relationship between maths and art and so on. This video is a fantastic introduction to fractals - looking at how the Koch snowflake has simultaneously a finite... Continue Reading →
This is a really nice worksheet and associated powerpoint for collecting a variety of data from the class - measuring reaction times, memory, head circumference etc etc. Everything is easily laid out ready for students to fill in. Would also be suitable for IGCSE, and even KS3 (you would just interpret to different levels.
Making Statistics Relevant is a brilliant website from the same creator as the RISPS resources - Jonny Griffiths. Each statistics topic has an extension task created to get students using their problem solving skills. Topics covered include measures of central tendency, probability, discrete random variables, poisson distribution, binomial distribution, normal distribution and chi squared. ... Continue Reading →
Maths Dingbats are great for lesson starters and for using in quizzes - I've uploaded about 50 to this website here. These one all use some maths terms to generate the answer There is a big powerpoint file with about 50 more here. These ones all give a maths related word as the answer. and... Continue Reading →
Maths Tarsia are one of the best group activities for maths - there are already a large number of Tarsia puzzles on TES Secondary Maths Resources but most of these relate to A level rather than IB. I've uploaded a few more specifically for IB here . There include: HL or SL: Binomial distribution Probability... Continue Reading →
One of my favourite resources is Jeopardy. For those not familiar with the game (I think it's American), it's a gameshow, where you get to choose questions of different levels of difficulty, from a range of categories. I downloaded the template from TES - it's a ready-made powerpoint which you can click on to take... Continue Reading →