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2004 Newsletter 02
Welcome to the June edition of the 10ticks newsletter. A Happy Midsummer to all
the Swedish readers!
The Perfect Marriage
So you're single and thinking about marriage. According to theory, 32 is the
right age for men to tie the knot and the right age for women is 27. Who says
so? Dennis Lindley, emeritus professor of statistics at University College
London. He has developed an equation which pinpoints the correct age for men
and women to stop 'playing the field'.
M = Y + (1/e(X-Y))
M = the age when it is right to consider marriage,
Y = the earliest age for marriage (16 for men and women),
X = possible latest age for marriage,
e = 2.71828, the base of natural logarithms.
Under the formula, the age you should switch from searching for the dream
spouse to making a commitment to the first suitable person is M. You should
choose your own personal values for X and Y and apply them to the formula.
The average age at which people now marry is 31 for a man and 28 for a woman.
More than half however still marry in their twenties.
Even mathematicians agree that the formula has its limits. Professor John
Ermisch, an expert on the economics of the family at the University of Essex
said, 'If you lived in the north of Scotland, you may want to take the first
person who comes along who is willing to accept you because there aren't going
to be many people. But in London there are more opportunities, so you may want
to wait.'
Alien Algebra, Alien Angles, Shape Shooter and Soak the Teacher.
New in the Games Station are four games.
Alien Algebra is linked to an engine that will cover algebra from simple
substitution to factorising quadratics (progressions are all based around level
4 to 8 of the National Numeracy Strategy). Choose the algebra type and then
shoot the correct aliens.
Alien Angles is a game based on bearings and very difficult to complete.
Shoot at a bearing to destroy the alien!
Shape Shooter is a space invader type game. You have to shoot the shape
that matches the word. Basic shapes and words. Great for Level 3/4 pupils. Not
meant for higher pupils who would recognise that a square is also a rectangle
or an isosceles triangle is also an equilateral triangle.
Soak the Teacher is a number line familiarisation exercise. Pupils have
to guess the number between two limits to soak the teacher. This moves on to 1
and 2 decimal places.
s_games.aspx
Revision area and weighted percentage scores
Try our brand new revision area in the student area. Students can decide which
key stage level or examination level they want to revise. Within that they can
decide to revise the whole level or just a component such as algebra.
Then 24 questions are generated which they then answer. For those they get
wrong Students can click through to the explanation of the question type and
try the specific questions again. If they have logged into the site all scores
are stored for simple analysis. We use our unique weighted percentage
calculation which takes out the element of guessing.
There is now a simple, easy to print page showing an overview of Student scores
in your User Area.
s_revision.aspx
Winners/Tests
Back at Christmas The Manchester Metropolitan University Business School polled
our users offering our New soon-to-be-released Tests for schools drawn at
random. The winners were:
Frank Burke, Fairfield School, BS6 5JW;
Steve Lyon, Fulford School, YO10 4FY;
Jill Mellon, St Davids RC Technology College, TS5 7EY;
Jenny Evans, Withins School, BL2 5JR;
Rob Moore, Salavatorian College,HA3 5DY;
Richard Cowley, Eltham Green School, SE9 5EQ;
Sarah Welsh, Weald School, RH14 9RY;
Sharon Stroud, Guilsborough School, NN6 8QE;
Miss A Harland, Harper green School, BL2 5JR;
Blue Coat Cof E Comprehensive, WS1 2ND.
We are hoping the tests will be ready late this term, but definitely by
September 1. Watch this space!
Starter. Write It
1. Think of a number (a whole number);
2. Write it down in words;
3. Count the number of letters in those words;
4. Write this number down in words;
... and continue
What do you find? Does this always happen? Try different starting numbers.
Check out the Daily Puzzle page in the Student area for a starter everyday!
s_dailyPuzzle.aspx
If you have a great starter send it to us at starters@10ticks.co.uk
Link to 10ticks
As our site continues to grow steadily and you have already seen the superb
content on offer, why not link your school website to us. Many have already.
Tell your Website coordinator you want to link to us, http://www.10ticks.co.uk.
It is best to jot the site address down on a piece of paper and pass it to
them!
From everyone at 10ticks have a great Summer term,
10ticks WebMathster.
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