Albany Senior High School/Coursebook/Course Descriptions/1MAS

What is this course about?
This course is for students who want a solid foundation for pursuing a more mathematical course of study while developing an understanding of variation which would enable them to include statistics and probability in their future curriculum choices.

What will I learn?
This course will provide you with the algebra and trigonometry skills you will use to describe and solve problems in the physical world. It will also help you develop your understanding of statistics and probability so that you can recognise and account for the variation that occurs in nature and in human activities. Apart from developing your skills you will learn to be creative and effective in your problem solving and exploration of new ideas by:


 * understanding and analysing situations so you can determine when there is a problem to be solved or a prediction to be made
 * understanding how mathematics and statistics work so you can choose and use the right tools at the right time
 * describing situations with models and evaluate them so that you can understand their limitations and improve them when possible.

What sorts of things will I do?
You will:
 * carry out experiments and activities which will either help you understand concepts better or provide you an opportunity to solve practical problems
 * use your graphical calculators and software such as Geogebra to investigate real world situations and understand how you can use mathematics to describe what you see
 * use Fathom software to investigate and compare variation in real life situations so that you can describe it and take it into account when making choices and decisions.

Frequently asked questions:
What learning paths will this course prepare me for?

This course will prepare you to study further at level 2 in either 2MAC - Mathematics with Calculus or 2MAS - Mathematics with Statistics course if you wish to do so.

What calculator will I need?

Graphics calculators are required. The Casio FX9750GII is recommended.

Students using only a basic scientific calculator will be significantly disadvantaged since NZQA assumes that all students have access to graphics calculators.

Costs: Casio FX9750GII - RRP $103.