The first topic covered by Head of Mathematics Cassandra Church is complex numbers.
After being told throughout high school that it’s not possible to find the square root of negative numbers, all bets are off.
Maxime Laurans-Wall, Lena Tinney, Daniel Orlay and Adele Chandler (pictured below) used string and chalk to trace out Loci (curves formed by all the points satisfying particular mathematically defined conditions).
This activity is followed by an investigation using an App called Geogebra, where students trace out loci of circles, ellipses and arcs.
This investigation helps develop an understanding of the Mathematics involved in sketching regions on the Argand Diagram.
“Ms Church helps teach mathematical theory in terms of practical application, helping us visualise and further comprehend the laws of geometry and how it functions,” Maxime said.
“As a visual learner, it has been much easier to understand the complex world of Mathematics applying our theory to visual applications.”
