The Super Curriculum
Mathema cs
The Super Curriculum
Super curricular activities are those that take your regular curriculum further. They take the subjects you study in the classroom beyond that which your teacher has taught you or what you’ve done for home learning. For example, you may go into more depth on something you picked up in the classroom, or learn about a new topic altogether.
These activities are normally in the form of extra reading but they can take many other forms, like watching videos online, downloading podcasts, attending lectures, visiting museums or entering academic competitions.
Engaging in super curricular activities will help you develop a love for your favourite subject or subjects. In this booklet, there are a range of activities, suggested by your teachers. They are by no means exhaustive lists but should get you started. I would encourage you to share ideas and opportunities you come across with your teachers so that, over time, the recommended activities in this booklet can grow.
In the future, employers or universities will be interested to hear about what super curricular activities you have engaged in; they will be interested in what you have learnt and impressed by your efforts.
I wish you well in your pursuit of super curricular activities!
Dr Caroline Creaby Deputy Headteacher: Curriculum
Super Curriculum – Year 7 Subject: MATHEMATICS
So you think you’ve got Hidden Figures, by Margot Wild Maths – explore, problems?’, by Alex Bellos. Lee Shetterly imagine, experiment, create!
Surprising and rewarding The story of the African-American puzzles to sharpen your mind. Mathematicians of NASA who helped Try and explore one of the America win the Space Race. games from the nrich site:
Read the book and watch the film. http://wild.maths.org/
Read ‘100 essential things King’s College London Research Pythagoras and the maths he explored you didn’t know about Visit KCL site and attempt the Maths and the Arts’, by John D weekly challenge competitions Find out about his contributions to Barrow. modern Mathematics. Use this
timeline to see how mathematicians What can you create from the https://www.kingsmathsschool.co “Stand on the Shoulders of Giants” book? m/weekly-maths-challenge https://mathigon.org/timeline/
Create tangrams using Science Museum STEM Centre Stevenage the online tool Maths Gallery
Visit the Stem Discovery Centre https://mathigon.org/tangram Visit the maths gallery in the in Stevenage Science Museum, London You can also make the shapes http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk https://stemdiscoverycentre.co. out of paper. What other pictures /see-and-do/mathematics-winton- uk can you make? gallery?keywords=mathematics
Watch ‘The Man Who Simon Singh’s Numbers A Brief History of Knew Infinity’, starring Dev Mathematics, a BBC Radio 4
Listen to 5 BBC Radio 4 podcasts podcast by Marcus du Sautoy Patel on ‘special numbers’
Enjoy the biography based drama Listen to all 10 episodes about the mathematician Srinivasa https://www.bbc.co.uk/program https://www.bbc.co.uk/program Ramanujan. mes/p00cl746/episodes/player mes/b00srz5b/episodes/player
Research the mathematics Watch BBC Teach: The Maths Research Homer Hickman. of magic. Show with Matt Parker Read his biography Rocket Boys.
Watch the movie October Sky Many magic tricks are based on https://www.youtube.com/playlis starring Jake Gyllenhaal. mathematics. What magic tricks t?list=PLcvEcrsF_9zKTfYVSyNpNGj can you find? Try them out on ewbf4lmpIs Learn how the son of a coal your friends! miner designed the space shuttle for NASA.
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Super Curriculum – Year 8 Subject: MATHEMATICS
Alex’s Adventures in Humble Pi – a comedy of Numberland, by Alex Bellos maths errors, by Matt Parker Explore problems from nrich.maths, including: Read an exhilarating cocktail Read real life stories about how Mathematical art of history, reportage and maths goes wrong with real world mathematical proofs that will consequences by mathmagician https://nrich.maths.org/secondary leave you awestruck. Matt Parker. https://nrich.maths.org/public/to pic.php?group_id=48&code=-405
Design a house or a Transum King’s College London school.
Produce a full scale drawing, Test yourself against the Visit KCL site and attempt the calculate area and show all the computer or each other in weekly challenge competitions. relevant measurements. Complete games of strategy. the task by creating a paper or https://www.kingsmathsschool.com cardboard model. https://www.transum.org/Sof /weekly-maths-challenge tware/Game/
Bletchley Park Science Museum – Maths Read articles, investigate Gallery problems, get creative and plan V isit Bletchley Park to explore visits. Everything mathematical! the world of coding and maths. Visit the maths gallery in the Science Museum, London. https://www.mathscareers.org.uk http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ https://bletchleypark.org.uk/visi /i-love-maths/ see-and-do/mathematics-winton- t-us gallery?keywords=mathematics
Hidden Figures, by Margot BBC Magic Numbers Listen to Travels in a Lee Shetterly Mysterious World of Maths Mathematical World podcast, by Peter Rowlett - featuring The story of the African-American mathematicians talking about their BBC documentary exploring the Mathematicians of NASA who work as well as features on maths world of maths with Dr Hannah Fry helped America win the Space history and maths news; Race. https://www.travelsinamathematical https://www.youtube.com/watch world.co.uk/ Read the book and watch the film. ?v=TKKUZoqSTxw
Watch Numberphile – Simon Singh’s Numbers Research the life and work maths and movies of Alan Turing. (Animation at Pixar) Listen to 5 BBC Radio 4 podcasts Watch ‘The Imitation on ‘special numbers’ Game’, https://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=mX0NB9IyYpU and read the book of the https://www.bbc.co.uk/programm same name, about his es/p00cl746/episodes/player There are lots of numberphile clips you involvement in code breaking of can watch! Enigma
Read the book and watch the Reading task Writing taskmovie starring Benedict Cumberbatch
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Super Curriculum – Year 9 Subject: MATHEMATICS
How Not to Be Wrong: The Simpsons and their This is not a Maths Book, by The Hidden Maths of mathematical secrets, by Simon Anna Weltman Everyday Life, by Jordan Singh Ellenberg. A fusion of maths and art/drawing. See how a writing team of Discover how maths touches on mathematicians include everything we do, and a little Work through fun drawing mathematical knowledge reveals the mathematics within this popular hidden structures that lie beneath the animation. challenges with a mathematical world's messy and chaotic surface. basis.
Research Srinivasa Wild Maths – explore, Sign up to Parallel and Ramanujan imagine, experiment, create! receive a weekly maths challenge
Find out about his contributions to to complete. Try and explore one of the games modern Mathematics. Use this timeline to see how mathematicians from the nrich site: “Stand on the Shoulders of Giants” https://parallel.org.uk/ http://wild.maths.org/ https://mathigon.org/timeline/
Hidden Figures, by Margot STEM Centre Stevenage Can you draw an impossible
triangle? Watch the clip to help. Lee Shetterly
Visit the Stem Discovery Centre in Stevenage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S The story of the African-American FUp4lFc1cA Mathematicians of NASA who helped America win the Space Race. https://stemdiscoverycentre.c What other impossible shapes can o.uk Read the book and watch the film. you draw?
Listen to Travels in a Watch the movie ‘A Beautiful Listen to A Brief History of Mathematical World Mind’, starring Russell Crowe, Mathematics, a BBC Radio 4 podcast, by Peter Rowlett - directed by Ron Howard. podcast by Marcus du Sautoy featuring mathematicians talking about their work as well Research the mathematical Listen to all 10 episodes as features on maths history genius of John Forbes Nash Jr. https://www.bbc.co.uk/program and maths news; mes/b00srz5b/episodes/player http://www.travelsinamathemat icalworld.co.uk/
Research prime Science Museum Explore problems from numbers by watching clips Maths Gallery nrich.maths, including: of numberphile Visit the maths gallery in the Science Mathematical art https://www.youtube.com/pl Museum, London. https://nrich.maths.org/secondary aylist?list=PL0D0BD149128BB http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see- and-do/mathematics-winton- https://nrich.maths.org/public/to 06F gallery?keywords=mathematics pic.php?group_id=48&code=-405
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Why do buses come in What is Mathematics? An Draw an impossible Hexagon threes? The Hidden Mathematics elementary approach to Ideas and of Everyday Life. Methods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Richard Courant’s book offers an =dq4z821A7L4 Wyndham’s book will change the entertaining and accessible portrait way you see the world! of the mathematical world. What other optical illusions can you draw?
The infinite hotel paradox Watch You-tube clips or Research Archimedes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= listen to podcasts from Uj3_KqkI9Zo&feature=youtu.be Find out about his contributions to the world of Mathematics. Use this timeline to see how The Numberphile mathematicians “Stand on the Shoulders of Giants”
full of fascinating number facts https://mathigon.org/timeline/ https://www.numberphile.com/
Create a revision video Challenge yourself with the Research the life and work of suitable for Key Stage 3 students on puzzles on this great website. Alan Turing. a topic of your choice. Watch ‘The Imitation Game’
and read the book of the same https://mathigon.org/puzzles name, about his involvement in code
breaking of Enigma
Humble Pi – a comedy of Read the book and watch the movie Brilliant starring Research Benedict the Cumberbatch links betwe en maths errors, by Matt Parker the Fibonacci Sequence, the
Try the daily challenges or other Golden Ratio and Nature. Read real life stories about how This could be a starting point. fabulous puzzles on this site. maths goes wrong with real world
consequences by mathmagician https://www.mathsisfun.com/numb Matt Parker. https://brilliant.org/daily-problems/ ers/nature -golden-ratio- fibonacci.html
Hidden Figures, by Margot Bletchley Park – visit Bletchley Park and explore the world of coding Lee Shetterly Read articles, investigate problems, and maths get creative and plan visits. https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/visi The story of the African-American Everything mathematical! Mathematicians of NASA who helped t-us America win the Space Race. https://www.mathscareers.org.uk/i- Read the book and watch the film. love-maths/
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Super Curriculum – Year 11 Subject: MATHEMATICS
Euler’s Pioneering Fermat’s Last Theorem, by Listen to maths Equation: The most Simon Singh documentary podcast – beautiful theorem in Relatively Prime, by Samuel mathematics The story of how Andrew Wiles Hansen solved a very old problem!
Robin Wilson explores this Then extend by researching http://relprime.com/ simple, elegant and profound Pierre de Fermat and all his formula !" discoveries in calculus. � + 1 = 0 Hidden Figures, by Margot Work in teams to solve Research the life and work of mathematical problems. Carl Friedrich Gauss Lee Shetterly Find out about his contributions to the
world of Mathematics. Use this timeline to The story of the African-American https://amsp.org.uk/resource/m see how mathematicians “Stand on the Mathematicians of NASA who helped Shoulders of Giants” aths-feast-materials America win the Space Race.
https://mathigon.org/timeline/ Read the book and watch the film.
Create a revision video Read articles, investigate Love a maths joke! suitable for a Year 10 student on problems, get creative and plan a topic of your choice Love a puzzle. Find them all here visits. Everything mathematical! .
http://www.mrbartonmaths.com https://www.mathscareers.org.u /jokes/#general k/i-love-maths/
Watch You-tube clips or Explore problems from Research Homer Hickman. nrich.maths, including: Read his biography Rocket Boys.
listen to podcasts from Watch the movie October Sky Mathematical art starring Jake Gyllenhaal. https://nrich.maths.org/secondary The Numberphile – full of https://nrich.maths.org/public/topic.ph Learn how the son of a coal fascinating number facts p?group_id=48&code=-405 miner designed the space shuttle https://www.numberphile.com/ for NASA.
Try some STEM related Can you take the square root Develop your problem origami and understand the of a negative number? solving skills by trying these maths behind them: UKMT Maths Challenge
Learn about IMAGINARY questions. numbers here… https://www.stem.org.uk/resour ces/community/collection/19810 http://www.drfrostmaths.com/hom https://www.khanacademy.org/m /origami-mathematics ework/browse.php?mode=ukmt ath/algebra2/introduction-to- complex-numbers-algebra- 2?t=practice
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Super Curriculum – Year 12 & 13 Subject: MATHEMATICS
Read 17 Equations that Why do buses come in The Man Who Loved Only changed the World by threes? The Hidden Numbers: The Story of Paul Professor Ian Stewart Mathematics of Everyday Life. Erdős and the Search for Mathematical Truth, by Paul (ISBN: 9781846685316 Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Hoffman Wyndham’s book will change the way you see the world!
The Simpsons and their The Music of the Primes: Humble Pi – a comedy of mathematical secrets, by why an unsolved problem in maths errors, by Matt Parker Simon Singh mathematics matters, by Marcus Du Sautoy. Read real life stories about how See how a writing team of maths goes wrong with real world mathematicians include consequences by mathmagician mathematics within this popular Matt Parker. animation.
Read Significant Figures: Hello World, How to be Power in Numbers: The Lives and works of trailblazing Human in the age of the Rebel Women of Mathematics mathematicians, by Professor machine, by Dr Hannah Fry by Talithia Williams Ian Stewart You are accused of a crime. Who Read about female History of many mathematicians would you rather determines your mathematicians throughout history and their influences on modern fate – a human or a machine? society
Watch You-tube clips or Hidden Figures, by Margot Visit Standup Mathematician Matt Parker’s Youtube channel for Lee Shetterly listen to podcasts from a selection of fun videos on a
The story of the African-American whole range of topics… The Numberphile – full of Mathematicians of NASA who helped fascinating number facts America win the Space Race. https://www.youtube.com/chan https://www.numberphile.com/ nel/UCSju5G2aFaWMqn- Read the book and watch the film. _0YBtq5A
For more videos to watch try Watch ‘The Man Who Knew Watch this 60 minute www.bensparks.co.uk a Infinity’, starring Dev Patel documentary film as nine UK-based mathematician, musician and mathematicians offering insights into speaker. their mathematical thinking across a Enjoy the biography based drama on broad range of fields Watch the golden ratio and listen to the mathematician Srinivasa Ben play Sting’s Shape of My heart Ramanujan. https://www.lms.ac.uk/library/fram as part of Sacred Geometry talk es-of-mind
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Super Curriculum – Year 12 & 13 Subject: MATHEMATICS
Research the life and Watch the movie ‘A Beautiful Watch Tom Crawford explain work of Alan Turing. Mind’, starring Russell Crowe, the SIR disease model for COVID- directed by Ron Howard. 19 (Coronavirus) as well as videos Watch ‘The Imitation on a wide range of mathematics on Game’ his Tom Rocks Maths website 1. Learn about the mathematical and read the book of the https://tomrocksmaths.com/2020/03/ same name, about his genius of John Forbes Nash Jr. 18/oxford-mathematician-explains- involvement in code breaking sir-disease-model-for-covid-19- coronavirus/ of Enigma
BBC Magic Numbers Documentary: Particle Fever Film: The Story of 1 Mysterious World of Maths Particle Fever follows six brilliant The Story of 1 is BBC documentary exploring scientists during the launch of the a BBC documentary about the the world of maths with Dr Large Hadron Collider, marking the history of numbers, and in Hannah Fry. start-up of the biggest and most particular, the number 1. It was https://www.youtube.com/wa expensive experiment in the history presented by former Monty of the planet, pushing the edge of Python member Terry Jones.. tch?v=TKKUZoqSTxw human innovation. https://vimeo.com/56113926
Research Homer Hickman. Research Gearg Cantor Research Florence Read his biography Rocket Boys. and different infinities. Nightingale to understand her Watch the movie October Sky contributions to the world of statistics starring Jake Gyllenhaal. https://mathigon.org/timeline https://mathigon.org/timeline Learn how the son of a coal miner designed the space shuttle for NASA.
Research Ada Lovelace Research Muhammed Al- Anyone for magic? Learn the and her works Khwarizmi maths behind magic tricks and https://mathigon.org/timeline/al- try the magic out on your friends https://mathigon.org/timeline khwarizmi and family. Look at the timeline of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= GUB2JrKyVBU mathematicians to see how each https://mathsnoproblem.com/blog builds on the work of others. /learner-focus/creative-magical- maths-activities/
Read Things to make Draw an impossible Hexagon Try some STEM related and do in the fourth origami and understand the dimension by Matt Parker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v maths behind them
=dq4z821A7L4 What can you create? https://www.stem.org.uk/resou
rces/community/collection/198 What other optical illusions can you 10/origami-mathematics draw?
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Super Curriculum – Year 12 & 13 Subject: MATHEMATICS
visit Bletchley Park and Visit Mechanical, Art & Design Science Museum, Maths explore the world of coding and museum Stratford-upon-Avon Gallery maths https://themadmuseum.co.uk/ http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/ /see-and-do/mathematics-winton- visit-us gallery?keywords=mathematics
London Maths Trails created Bank of England Museum National Museum of by Chris Olley at KCL https://www.bankofengland.co. Mathematics in New York if you http://www.themathszone.com/ uk/museum/plan-your-visit ever happen to be there…. ?p=641 https://momath.org/
Listen to A Brief History of Listen to In our Time with Listen to maths documentary Mathematics, a BBC Radio 4 Melvyn Bragg discussing the ideas podcast – Relatively Prime, by podcast by Marcus du Sautoy of Carl Friedrich Gauss. Samuel Hansen Listen to all 10 episodes. https://www.bbc.co.uk/program https://www.bbc.co.uk/programm http://relprime.com/ mes/b00srz5b/episodes/player es/b09gbnfj
The Infinite Monkey Cage, a Listen to The Curious Cases Try the two trains puzzle podcast with Robin Ince and of Rutherford and Fry, with https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ Professor Brian Cox. Adam Rutherford and Hannah TwoTrainsPuzzle.html as https://www.bbc.co.uk/program Fry. discussed in the film A Beautiful https://www.bbc.co.uk/program mes/b00snr0w/episodes/downl Mind. oads mes/b07dx75g/episodes/player
Design a mathematically Cambridge University Think about what makes a perfect paper aeroplane. https://undergroundmathem good mathematician….Visit atics.org/ for resources https://nrich.maths.org/14652 https://www.youtube.com/watc with the aim of “Enabling all to get some prompts and links h?v=3BNg4fDJC8A students to explore the to many other activities. connections that underpin mathematics
Help teach GCSE students Research the Golden Gate Proving Pythagoras’ Theorem Bridge and how the curvature of http://www.cut-the- the earth changes its structure knot.org/pythagoras/ https://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=0PbrSnAu7To&disable_polyme r=true
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RISPS Open-ended Love a maths joke! Join the Institute of investigative activities for the A Love a puzzle. Find them all here Mathematics and its applications Level Pure Mathematicians http://www.s253053503.websiteh http://www.mrbartonmaths.co https://ima.org.uk/support/stude ome.co.uk/risps/index.html m/jokes/#general nt/ Subscribe to e16Plus newsletter Try challenging Subscribe to the online Read articles, investigate Plus Magazine mathematical problems. problems, get creative and plan visits. Everything mathematical! https://plus.maths.org/con https://brilliant.org/daily- tent/about-plus problems/ https://www.mathscareers.org.uk /i-love-maths/
Use Wolphram Alpha for its Use Desmos to create Join the Society of young fascinating search engine and to interesting and different graphs Mathematicians. https://www.m- explore new mathematics a.org.uk/syms#:~:text=The%20 https://www.desmos.com/calcul Society%20of%20Young%20M https://www.wolframalpha.com ator athematicians,motivates%20an /examples/mathematics/ d%20encourages%20young%2 0mathematicians.
Mathematics Careers Mathematics Careers MacTutor History of Maths Archives – biographies of http://www.futuremorph.org/1 https://www.mathscareers.org. thousands of mathematicians 4-16/next-steps/follow-your- uk/ https://mathshistory.st- favourite-subject/careers-from- andrews.ac.uk/ maths/
A magazine for the Practice for UKMT Click on Students and follow mathematically curious challenges the links for options after mathematics at KS5 http://chalkdustmagazine.com/ https://www.drfrostmaths.com/ https://amsp.org.uk/ browse.php?mode=ukmt
Make video clips of maths Lots of fun puzzles to try Celebrate Pi day topics to help GCSE students An interesting way to calculate Pi with revision https://mathschallenge.net/ using colliding blocks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= HEfHFsfGXjs
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