40 Mathematical Newspaper Searches

P. Ganderton, G. Hurn, M O'Brien, M. Weston

ISBN 0 9588575 0 4

This book contains forty mathematical activities that can best be described as "Newspaper Searches".

The Newspaper Searches in this book are suitable for a variety of students and for inclusion in a variety of courses. Some of the newspaper searches could prove useful as part of the mathematics course for upper primary students whereas others have been developed specifically to increase the relevance of the mathematics in upper secondary school mathematics courses.

Inside the book the specific objectives of each of the Newspaper Searches have been outlined.

There is also some discussion on assessment, and sample marking guides of one type have been provided for all of the newspaper searches in the book.

Click here for a downloadable sample: SAMPLE

The following article gives further information on the use of Newspaper Searches as a learning tool.

The Newspaper Search:

More Than Just Cut and Stick

A Newspaper Search involves the collection, interpretation, and manipulation of printed information pertaining to some mathematical concept or application of that concept.

The use of Newspaper Searches as part of a mathematics course can fulfill many objectives that are considered important but are not properly met by more traditional methods of teaching mathematics.

Some of the benefits of using Newspaper Searches are listed below;

(i) relating the mathematics the students are learning to the real world

(ii) the integration of several mathematical concepts into one activity

(iii) increased student involvement in the learning situation

(iv) increased student motivation

(v) the variation of teaching strategy

(vi) the requirement for the student to identify examples of the concept being studied

(vii) the need for students to recognize the language associated with the concepts

(viii) the need for students to communicate, in written form, aspects associated with the application of the concept

(ix) the awareness developed in the student that a single mathematical concept can take many forms

(x) the individuality of this type of activity which enables students to produce work that is recognizably different from other students, hence removing the desire or necessity to copy

(xi) their use as an alternative means of assessment capable of measuring different objectives from other tools

Conducting Newspaper Searches in Your Classroom

There are three ways that a Newspaper Search can be conducted.

The first of these is for the Newspaper Search to be given to the students in the classroom and for them to work on it during a lesson. If you intend to run a Newspaper Search in this way it will be necessary to have the following materials:

1. Enough newspapers so that each student can look through a variety of them to find relevant cuttings. A reasonable amount to have is about two per student. There is no need for them to be the same day's newspaper and they can be used for many different newspaper searches before being discarded.

2. An adequate supply of scissors and glue. Obviously the best situation is to have one of each per student.

The second way is to provide class time for students to commence work on a Newspaper Search and then allow them to complete the Newspaper Search at home.

The third method is to give the Newspaper Searches as home assignments with only a brief introduction in the classroom.

Whichever method you choose we are sure that you will reap the benefits that Newspaper Searches can provide and that your mathematics classroom will become a more interesting place for students.

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