Into the classroom

Two microworld investigations to try in your classroom

You can find support materials for the two microworld tasks here. These include big-print versions of the problems (useful for whiteboards) and the software you need Choose the task you are using on the bottom left of the screen. Press "play" to have the task read out. If you need to install the software on classroom computers, see the Resources index

Spirolaterals

A microworld to investigate

Type some numbers into the Spirolaterals machine. Press "Go" and watch what happens. How do the numbers control what is drawn on the screen? List some questions to explore. These might start like this:

• "How can we make the computer draw ....?"
• "What will happen if we .....?"

Try and answer your own questions! Make up some conjectures. These might start like this:

• "When you use three numbers then ..."
• "When you repeat a number then ..."
• "If you change the order of the numbers then ..."

Can you prove your conjectures?

Dance moves

A microworld to investigate

Try clicking the different buttons on the software. Describe, as precisely as you can, what each button does. Write down some problems that occur to you. These might start like this:

• "How many different ways...?"
• "How can I make the dancers move so that...?"
• "How many beats would....?"
• "Can I get the dancers to do .... in .... beats?"

Now try to solve your own problem. Make up some conjectures. These might start like this:

• "You can make the dancers reach every position in ..."
• "It is impossible to ..."

Can you prove your conjectures?