Maths Fun Day - 17th June 2010
On Thursday 17th of June all of Year 8 had their Maths Fun Day. After registration we had to go to the Boys' Gym and we met Mrs Clack from NEELB who did a session called "Maths Magic" with us. She asked us to take the month our birthday falls on, give it a number and then multiply this by various other numbers. Mrs Clack was then able to take our final answer and tell us the exact date of our birthday. She was really good at doing this and we all though that she had incredible powers to be able to read our minds.
Along the Maths corridor there was a different activity happening in every room.
In Mrs Houston's room it was the "Table Quiz". We all split up into groups and sat around tables. There were five rounds and with eight questions in each. Some of the questions were easy while others were more difficult. We were allowed to play a "Joker card" which enabled us to receive double points for one round. There was also a bonus "Sudoku" round. Unfortunately, my team didn't win but we all got a sticker for trying our best.
In Mrs Wright's room there was "Football Paper Folding". As a team we were given paper folded into small hexagons and pentagons and we had to stick them together to make a paper football. The footballs were quite hard to do as you had to remember where and when you needed each shape. Luckily my team was awarded the best football.
In Ms McConaghie's room it was the "Beetle Drive". This was really good fun because you had to roll the die and for every number, you got to draw a part of the beetle's body. It was very frustrating because you had to get a six for the beetle's body before you could start. You always seemed to get every number other than a six and then when you got a six you ended up getting a pile of them!
Later in the Boys' Gym there was the "Maths Roadshow". On every table there was a different puzzle, for example, making a picture out of triangles or making a cube out of different pieces of wood that was already cut into different shapes. This was really hard and it definitely tried my patience.
After the road show we had the "Relay Race". In teams of five or six we had to answer twenty questions. There was a row of tables along the middle of the gym and at every desk there were two prefects. As it was a relay race it included running. We had to run up to get the question then in our teams we had to solve the question and write the answer on our question sheet. Then a member of our team had to run up, get the answer checked and then get the next question. If our answer was incorrect we had to take it back and do it again! This was my favourite game because it was very different from all the other activities and it was really fun.
Lastly, it was the prize giving. All the teams that had won an event got a prize. My team got prizes for the Relay Race and the Football Paper Folding.
I enjoyed the Maths Fun Day and I would encourage all Year 8s in the future to go to it as it gives you a day off timetable and a fun day at school.
By Julie McIlmoyle (8A1)