(UK) Activity 3 - Maths and Travelling

Activity 3 - Students had to think of ways of travelling to the partner schools' countries using the fastest/cheapest/most economical transport and to extend, more specifically, to the cities/towns of our partner schools.

                                                                     UK to Turkey

UK to Romania

UK to Catania

and .......we also got a little help from the globe to check our answers!!

Within this activity we looked at many different aspects of Maths and travelling. Some pupils considered weights and sizes of luggage and matched sets and worked with the language of comparison.

Another group looked at travel between the capital cities and how long flights might take.

Another group looked closely at local travel and compared costs of travelling locally by bus, train and car.

ACTIVITY EVALUATION (STUDENTS)

ACTIVITY 3: Maths and Travelling

1.     Please tick the appropriate box for the activity

Very Interesting	Interesting	Ok /Nothing Special	Really Boring /Tiring	I can’t decide
9	12	2	3

2.     What did you enjoy most during this project activity?

It was different

Making a power point about it

Learning how far it was to other places

Going to local places

3.     What did you not like?

It was a bit difficult, it was hard maths

4.     What changes would make it more interesting/effective?

dont know

ACTIVITY EVALUATION (STAFF)

ACTIVITY 3: Maths and Travelling 

1.     Do you feel the pupils engaged with the activity?

Yes as it was different from day to day Maths

2.     Did you enjoy the activity?

Yes	Ok /Nothing Special	No
60%	40%

3.     What changes would make it more interesting/effective?

Would have liked more time on this topic

More local travel trips to measure time and distance

4.     Would you use this again when teaching maths?

Yes	Maybe	No
100%

Yes it encouraged measuring without the students thinking they were doing maths

Evaluation Report for the transnational meeting in Poland

                   

“MATHS IS EVERYWHERE!” 2014-2016

COLLECTIVE EVALUATION REPORT

For the first transnational project meeting in Rudki, Poland, Febuary 2015

Areas and Activities Discussed/ Presented

During the meeting we presented/ discussed the following:

• got acquainted with the other partners, their schools and towns
• observed the project activity ‘Maths and Travelling’ being delivered in school
• discussed evaluation of topics, proforma to be created
• discussed dissemination for the project
• discussed use of social media for the project
• discussed dates for next meeting in Sicily, Italy
• discussed use of project management budget and how to use mobility tool
• discussed how to use of E-Twinning platform (Twinspace) and the blog (erasmusmaths.blogspot.com)
• School Evaluation teams (1 adult/ 1 students) to chat or Skype asap
• Need to have schemes of work for all activities in format relevant for each school to support final booklet/ guide of popular tasks
• introduced to some Polish history, traditions, food and culture.

Concerns arising

• How to use mobility tool
• Becoming familiar with TwinSpace
• Any queries prompt different answers/ comments from national agencies and the need to ask own agencies independently
• Use of social media with respect to photographs of students
• Appropriate use of project management budget

Joint staff project

• Activity 1 Maths Around Us: Staff took photos to show the numbers, shapes and patterns in

1.      Wieliczka salt mines

2.      Krakow and surrounding area

• Staff Development in ICT: Staff created collective Power Points to record the results of Activity 1. This succeeded in showing staff how to
• upload and edit photos, cropping and adjusting the images.
• Insert photos and text into documents/ Power Points
• Rearranging and positioning photos and text

Team Comments

UK Team Four members of staff from Pendle Community High School, Nelson, Lancashire, BB9 8LF took part in the first transnational project meeting in Rudki, Poland:

·         Debra Grogan  (Head of Maths, Geography) CO-ORDINATOR

·         Shelley Plant   (Teacher)

·         Angela Cowgill  (Teaching Assistant)

·         Laura Barratt   (Teaching Assistant)

Evaluation of the meeting:

The UK team has a very high opinion of the meeting. It was very well planned and the agenda gave us the possibility to achieve our aims and goals with regards to the project. Our hosts created good conditions for work. The accommodation was excellent and there were splendid opportunities to gain an intimate knowledge of Polish culture and cuisine. The UK staff are even more enthusiastic about the project as they feel they know so much more about it and the impact will hopefully be seen in school upon our return.

It was a pleasure to meet everyone after such a long communication in planning and we are delighted that the teams are so obviously keen to work well together to make the project a success.

Turkey Team Four members of staff from Balikesir Karesi Ortaokulu; Dumlupinar Mah. Kocaokul Sok. No:13/4; Balıkesir – Turkey took part in the first transnational project meeting in Rudki, Poland:

- Gonca ÇİLLİ - CO-ORDINATOR

- Fatma BAYIR

- Erdal ÖZEL

- Mehmet Ali GÜRSOY

Evaluation of the meeting:

This was the first meeting of our project. We have been working with each other for nearly two years and it was nice to meet after a long time of communication online.

We were greeted very friendly in Polish town and school. We learned a lot about Polish culture, tasted food from their cuisine. We also had workshops about our project which are very useful for understanding the framework of the project better. We also observed a Maths lesson which was about the 3^rd task of the project. It was an interesting and developing experience.

We are very happy to be in this project team and looking forward to taking part in the upcoming meetings.

Italy Team Four members of staff from Scuola Media Statale M. Pluchinotta; Via Marletta, 2

Sant' Agata li Battiati; Catania; Sicilia; Italy took part in the first transnational project meeting in Rudki, Poland:

- PICCIONE Linda

- BELLOFIORE Teresa

- VASTA Maria Filippa

- ROLLO Claudia

Evaluation of the meeting:

We arrived at Warsaw on the 7^th of February, the day before we were supposed to meet our partners, because it was more economically convenient. This offered us the chance to visit the capital and some of the most significant  historic places of the country. We visited the historic center, the Jewish cemetery and historical memorials. Also inside the Palace of Culture, with our surprise we found cardboard models of the building: an activity of our project. 

It is hard to find the words to express how we feel: it has been a wonderful experience!

We live in Sicily and we are not used to cold weather, but our hosts, partners, students and all the community warmed us up!

We were very impressed how talented all the students are!

We are also very proud to be part of  the project “Maths is everywhere” and to have partners as friendly as all of you.

We are looking forward to the next gathering.

Romania Team Four members of staff from SCOALA GIMNAZIALA ,, SFANTA VINERI''; Municipiul Ploiesti No. 19, Postei Street; Romania took part in the first transnational project meeting in Rudki, Poland:

- Georgescu Magdalena-Maria

- Petre Cristina

- Zahiu Oana - CO-ORDINATOR

- Puiu Tina-Elena

Evaluation of the meeting:

We all feel that the meeting in Poland was a genuine success. We managed to work on some of the aspects of the project that were more difficult to tackle with via internet and team-work proved to be very productive. We were also able to see how the Polish partner approached each task of the project and the Maths lesson we took part in regarding task 3 of the project was a great example of good practice.

We must also add the fact that we felt everybody did their best to make us feel comfortable and made every effort necessary for us to get to know and appreciate the extraordinary diversity of Polish culture, customs and traditions. We are certain that our students will be delighted to be part of this meeting during dissemination and will be encouraged to discover other countries in the European Union.

We are extremely glad to have had the opportunity to work together on the project and share ideas. 

Activities from the First Transnational project meeting in Rudki, Poland

This video gives a good snapshot of the welcome that we received in Rudki by the staff and pupils of the school.

Also the Polish press got involved...
please click on the link to see the coverage

                                                   Link

We also observed lessons that began Activity 3 - Maths and Travelling.

Schedule of the training session

Task 3 – Maths and travelling- (Teachers from partner countries,  2 Polish teachers – Maths and Geography and students from Zespół Szkół in Rudki)

1.     Students together with the teacher have to show on the map the countries and home towns of our partners (Great Britain, Romania, Turkey and Italy)

2.     The teachers tell the aims and describe Task 3 to the students.

3.     The multimedia presentation in the form of an instruction for task 3 (as an example of a teacher discusses the plan of a trip to Roca Cape Roca.

4.     The students prepare the plan of a trip to Moscow.
a) The division of students into 3 groups
b) Each group draws its means of transportation of the trip (car, plane, train)
c) Group work

5.     Leaders present their plans of the trip.

6.     Discussion - students evaluate their work and choose the best solution.

7.     Summing up

8.     Feedback.

Observation and Participation in Activity 3 - Maths and Travelling

During the visit the staff worked on a combined project of searching for numbers, patterns, shapes and symmetry in the city of Krakow.

There was also a combined staff project on numbers, shapes, measurements and distances in the Wieliczka Salt Mines.

Many ICT skills were developed in creating these and they were a little more detailed with transitions and animations, however this website has a file size limit of 100MB so they have been kept simple to comply with the given limits.

(Italy) Activity 1 & 2 - Maths Around Us

Our students created a few models of monuments and historic buldings.

(Poland) ACTIVITY 2 (Making buildings out of shapes)

In the second task students from Poland made a number of models. They created models of our school, houses, churches, museums and famous buildings such as the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, Poland, the Tower Bridge in London, Britain or Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan.

 

 

After the models were finished, a team of students made a PowerPoint presentation about TASK 2 Maths Around Us. You can watch it as a movie:

EVALUATION AFTER TASK 2

After the task was finished, our students and staff did its evaluation.

Here are the results:

Students' Evaluation of Task 2: Maths Around Us

89 students did the test. 

1.  Please tick the appropriate box for the activity	Yes	No	I don’t know
Did you like Task 2 ?	73,2	9,8	17,0

       
 2. What did you enjoy most during this project activity

I enjoyed the task because:	Yes	No	Sometime
1. I learned new things.	61,2	27,2	11,6
2. I learned how to work in group.	62,8	18,2	19,0
3. I learned how to work in the European project.	69,0	14,7	16,3
4. I learned th new English words.	48,8	27,7	23,5

Extra comments – 27

Positive comments - 81%

Negative comments - 19%.

• I liked it because we worked in groups
• We spent free time in interesting way looking for mathematical object around us
• Task 1 was difficult
• Some people in my group didn’t want to work
• We had too little time for this task
• I learned a lot of new and interesting things and how to work in group
• We had fun making the models
• The task was great: easy, interesting and useful
• We could check our knowledge
• I am not happy because it took time which could be spent for the rest
• It was sometimes difficult

Teachers' Evaluation of Task 2: Maths Around Us 

1. Do you feel the pupils engaged with the activity?

Yes	Ok /Nothing Special	No
100%

2. Did you enjoy the activity?

Yes	Ok /Nothing Special	No
100%

3. What changes would make it more interesting/effective?

We asked our students to make models of Polish buildings or buildings from partner countries’ in Erasmus+. Now I would let my students create models of buildings from all over the world.

4. Would you use this again when teaching maths?

Yes	Maybe	No
100%