Cosmic Redshift

Cosmic Redshift Flowchart

When you have worked your way through the flowchart write down your final answer and circle or highlight it. Repeat the procedure at least another five times with different digits.

What do you notice about your final answers?

Can you explain what the final answers have in common?

Does this always happen or are there exceptions?

Can you explain why this happens?

Investigate what happens if two digit numbers are used. What about four digit numbers?

An Open-Ended Mathematics Investigation

There are many other mathematical investigations waiting for you on the main Investigations page.

Transum.org

This web site contains over a thousand free mathematical activities for teachers and pupils. Click here to go to the main page which links to all of the resources available.

Please contact me if you have any suggestions or questions.

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Mathematicians are not the people who find Maths easy; they are the people who enjoy how mystifying, puzzling and hard it is. Are you a mathematician?

Comment recorded on the 8 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Mr Smith, West Sussex, UK:

"I am an NQT and have only just discovered this website. I nearly wet my pants with joy.
To the creator of this website and all of those teachers who have contributed to it, I would like to say a big THANK YOU!!! :)."

Comment recorded on the 19 October 'Starter of the Day' page by E Pollard, Huddersfield:

"I used this with my bottom set in year 9. To engage them I used their name and favorite football team (or pop group) instead of the school name. For homework, I asked each student to find a definition for the key words they had been given (once they had fun trying to guess the answer) and they presented their findings to the rest of the class the following day. They felt really special because the key words came from their own personal information."

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Featured Activity

Triangle Solver

Triangle Solver

This simple calculator will work out the lengths of the sides and the size of the angles of any triangle given thee particular pieces of information.

Numeracy

"Numeracy is a proficiency which is developed mainly in Mathematics but also in other subjects. It is more than an ability to do basic arithmetic. It involves developing confidence and competence with numbers and measures. It requires understanding of the number system, a repertoire of mathematical techniques, and an inclination and ability to solve quantitative or spatial problems in a range of contexts. Numeracy also demands understanding of the ways in which data are gathered by counting and measuring, and presented in graphs, diagrams, charts and tables."

Secondary National Strategy, Mathematics at key stage 3

Go Maths

Learning and understanding Mathematics, at every level, requires learner engagement. Mathematics is not a spectator sport. Sometimes traditional teaching fails to actively involve students. One way to address the problem is through the use of interactive activities and this web site provides many of those. The Go Maths main page links to more activities designed for students in upper Secondary/High school.

Teachers

If you found this activity useful don't forget to record it in your scheme of work or learning management system. The short URL, ready to be copied and pasted, is as follows:

Alternatively, if you use Google Classroom, all you have to do is click on the green icon below in order to add this activity to one of your classes.

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When planning to use technology in your lesson always have a plan B!

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Did you know that the numerical value of the cosmic microwave background radiation redshift is about z = 1089 (z = 0 corresponds to present time)