Get the App....

You can now download an app (for Android only at the moment), that makes it easier to view the blog on your Android device.

This app is really just an experiment in app creation, so all comments really are appreciated.

SmartPhone Apps for Learning

Whilst you are (rightly) not allowed your phones out in school, unless your teacher specifically tells you that you can use it, there are a number of apps you can download (free) from the android market place that can help support learning.

Yes, this is android specific, but many of these apps are also available for apple, be it ipad, iPhone or iPod touch.

Evernote is one of the most general purpose. Keep notes, photos, voice memos organised, and tagged. It has the advantage that all notes stay synchronised across all devices. This means my notes are on my phone, my iPod touch, and my school laptop. I can also access than by logging on to their web site from any other computer. Some students have used this to take pictures of exam question s that they struggled with, using the photo as simply writing about a graph question is less effective. The picture is taken from a y11 learning journal, and shows how it can be used (click to enlarge).

Algeo is a graph drawer / calculator. Whilst there is no substitute for your own scientific calculator, if you are plotting or sketching a graph it can be useful to double check the shape. It only draws graphs in radians, so don't forget to double check. For things that don't involve sin / cos / tan, however, it is very simple to use.

Dropbox is also general purpose, and replaces the need for a usb memory stick that is too easy to lose. It's a free online 2Gb storage space. Like Evernote it synchs between web browser, PC download, and Android / Apple download, but instead of notes, it is files of any sort. This means you can work on a document at home, and upload to dropbox when done. You can download to your mobile device if you want to check it, or you can access it through the web at school, or on any pc. It also allows the sharing of files between users, although this is not something I've tried.

Triangle Solver is a simple triangle solver. Type in any three bits of information from the six about any triangle (3 sides, 3 angles) and it calculates the other three using Sine / Cosine rule. It also copes admirably with the case with 2 possible solutions.

Solver, on the other hand, uses the quadratic formula to solve quadratic equations - again, useful for checking answers. Bad news (for most students) if you have an equation that doesn't really have any solutions, you will get a funny complex answer which involves the number i. Sixth form further mathematicians - good news - if you have quadratic with no real solutions, it will give you complex ones!

Wolfram alpha is not a free app, but the mobile website is free. Anyone who has seen it in action knows how powerful it is. If you haven;t then go play! Wolfradroid is a free app, which allows you to speak your entry to W|A!

One last one - Shush! IT allows yuo to put your phone on silent, but decide what time it should become noisy again! Perfect for school. Silent (and in the bottom of your bag) at 08:30, but automatically coming on again at 15:30 for home time. I use it all the time.

So, who has used any of these apps - how have they supported your leaning? What other apps are out there for android that will help your maths, or your learning more generally.

Who uses apple? What ipod touch / iphone apps would you recommend? Who wants to write a blog post on apple apps to support learning? Email the usual address, or come and find me at school.

Published by Mr Smy.

120 Percent

Have a look at this one, as spotted by Miss Martin on her holiday in America.

Clearly 120% of the drink cannot be Vitamin C - that would be silly. What do you think the 120% does actually mean? What else could it mean?

World Maths Day

Yes, its back and bigger than ever.

All students should have their login details from tutors, and its tutor group vs tutor group and year vs year. There is team glory and individual glory to be won.

Go to www.worldmathsday.com, log in and get going.

You can also download the free apps for iPhone, iPod touch or even iPad.

Subscribe to this blog for regular updates.

My Averages Question

My maths teacher mr Smy gave me a maths question, totally made up in his head, and told me to go away and try to work it out.

Question: If I have 5 numbers with Mean=9, mode=10, median=11. What are the numbers?

= 10,10,11,?,?

And i said it won't work because....

• you cant get a higher number than 11 to make 45 because it all ready adds up to 31
• if you add 12 to that it will equal 43 then you would need a 2 and the two can't go in front of the 10 beacuase the median will change.

Luxmi 7BN

Year 9 - Sharing Petrol Costs

What is fair?

9M5 looked at this problem last week...
They looked at different ways that the costs could be shared between the students

Here are their different solutions.


Which do you think is fairest?
Are there any other answers you could suggest that you think are fairer?

QR Codes, what are they?

Do you know what a QR code is?

It's one of those 2-D barcodes you see cropping up all over the place. The QR stands for Quick Response. You may have seen this one around school...

A QR code can be a number of things.

• It can be a link to a website (like the one on the right).
• It could simply be a piece of text with some information on.
• It can write a SMS (text) on your phone, with the number to send it to already there
• It can be a mobile phone contact, ready to save.
• An iTunes link, or an Android Marketplace link.

Go and have a look at http://www.qrstuff.com/ for easy ways to create your own.

There are three main ways to read QR codes like the one above...

1. On an iPhone. Go to the App store, and search for a QR reader.
   
2. On an Android. Again, go to the App market, and search for a QR reader.
3. Using a PC and webcam. You will need software to read the codes. I recommend QuickMark (which is also available for iPhone / Android).
   

Look out; here comes the maths bit.

A QR code is a 2-dimensional array. Each pixel is either black or white. QR codes like the one above are 32 pixels by 32 pixels. How many different QR codes do you think there can be?

Mathematicians would try to make it simpler to work out (at first). What about a 4 x 4 QR code? How many do you think there would be. If you want to practice colouring some there is a blank grid here...

Be careful - even with the smaller grid there are a huge number of possible codes - think systematically.