Penalty Angles

Going back a couple of months, we came across 'The science behind Eden Hazard's FA Cup winning penalty' on Facebook. We watched it and, of course, it gave us an idea for a lesson...

It was the video's thumbnail (above) that caused our minds to begin thinking 'school' and 'maths'.

Like you, we imagine, one of our biggest tasks is the 'how do we get them engaged?' question. Football is usually quite successful!

Here's a photo of Messi taking a penalty. Similar to us, you could search the internet, or screen capture penalties being taken (remember to check copyright laws!). 

If you attend football matches, you could take your own photos:

Perhaps, even better. Get the children taking and photographing their own penalties. 

28/10/18 Update: See here for numerous examples!

Finally, whichever you choose, give the children example shots of the penalties being taken. Get them to put on the '0 degree line' and measure the angle from there. If using your own photos, is there an angle that guarantees scoring?

Got some examples? Do share them...

Road Sign Angles

In the past we've used roller coasters as a real-life link and vehicle for studying angles in maths. When driving to work last week, I started to wonder about angles I could see on road signs...

It started with the 300, 200, 100 yard marker boards: "What angle are they at?"

Image credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Motorway_road_sign_300m_next_exit.svg

Next, on the the directional signs, "Are the two obtuse angles on the end of the smaller are larger signs the same measure?"

Image credit: http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/06/99/069969_ef16d83f.jpg 

Image credit: http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/86/42/864217_17e209ec.jpg

Are there similar or same angles in lots of road signs? 

As of September 2007, 'Traffic Signs'.

Due to the responsible nature of my driving, I chose not to take photographs of the road signs whilst driving. These images came from a Creative Commons image search. However, next time I'm a passenger, I may snap some of my own. 

Image credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Road_signs_at_the_B6309,_A696_junction_-_geograph.org.uk_-_156841.jpg

The Angles Roller Coaster

We believe that to give learning purpose and ignite interest it's important to link learning to real life situations. We have demonstrated this in some of our previous blog posts.

For this post we are looking at a real life situation for measuring and drawing angles in maths. We decided upon roller coasters as a good subject to base our lesson on. Roller coasters, after all, are all about angles!

Firstly, reading the angle of rises and falls on roller coasters involved looking at pictures of roller coasters. Then, drawing on lines to show the angle to be measured and then measuring this angle. We discussed what angles made the best roller coasters and why different angles were used. Below is an example of this:

Next, came drawing angles. Using the knowledge gathered from the 'reading angles' lesson the children had a go at drawing their own roller coasters. They then peer assessed which roller coasters they liked the look of, which they did not and why:

 

Give it a go. See what stomach churning rides your class can come up with...