Gifted and Talented
The National Schools' Observatory is an ideal vehicle to use in developing the mathematical skills of gifted and talented students.The Key Stage 3 Framework for teaching mathematics states the need to:
- develop pupils appreciation of the contribution of mathematics to other subjects and how mathematical skills can be enhanced when pupils are given opportunities to apply them across the curriculum (pg21).
- meet problems and applications that extend content beyond what has just been taught (Page 20) and for extension and enrichment activities to develop the breadth of the mathematics and the depth of thinking for pupils who are very able.
This unit of work has been developed to offer G&T pupils an opportunity to cover challenging problems as well as extension work based on the key objectives. It starts by building on the fact that most pupils have a fascination for the planets and this interest can be used as an initial starting point for many different mathematical activities.
The activities can provide an initial stimulus for the more able pupils who will develop and follow their own lines of enquiry. The NSO website provides a rich source of information and data which able pupils can easily access and use to answer their own questions
Activity 1 - Age on Planets
The starting activity is concerned with age on different planets, with pupils using the data provided by the How old do you think you would be? web-based NSO activity. With this resource pupils can work out their age if they could live on different planets in our solar system.
This can lead to the obvious correlation between age on the planets and the planet's distance from the Sun. This can stimulate discussion about other possible correlations such as the size of planets and length of their day. These can be investigated autonomously by the individual according to interest.
Problem solving challenges - pupils to work out which planet they are
on or what age they must be.
Activity 2 - Comparison of planetary data
This activity combines the pupils developing a better understanding of the basic differences between planets using data from the Solar System page of the NSO Astronomy Section and an appreciation of the use and importance of standard form when dealing with scientific facts involving very large numbers.
Pupils could use a spreadsheet to display data in a rank order for their own chosen criteria and feed back to the rest of the group. A booklet of results could be produced and pupils could summarise findings for different planets.
Pupils can learn the names used for large numbers.
They can also compare temperature and mass of planets. Is it the same as how a star's mass affects its temperature?
Pupils can look up information about stars in the
Astronomy Section.
Activity 3 - Speed of Planets
By assuming the planets move in a circular motion about the Sun, the radius of the path will be the distance from the Sun (ORBIT Data). The time taken to complete an orbit is the LENGTH of year Data.
By converting the data provided into suitable units, the speed of the planets can be worked out. These speeds can be compared and ordered.
For more details describing pupil activities associated with determining the speed of planets click here.
A graph can be made of distance versus speed to look for correlation.
Pupils could compare their figures to actual data or look at elliptical paths to consider differences.
Using speeds and an initial starting point, pupils could see how long it would take before two planets line up.
Pupils can also be directed to the Electric Orrery
resource to help in their research.
Activity 4 - Size of Planets
This activity allows pupils to work out the volume of each planet assuming each to be approximately spherical using the radius data provided in the Solar System page of the NSO Astronomy Section. It also involves a discussion on rounding and suitable approximations to use when calculating volumes.
Possible discussion of scaled down version of the planets or use of the Electric Orrery and relative sizes if Venus was a golf ball, etc.
Compare speed of planets with size.
