MATHS - Problem solving

NEW PROBLEM SOLVING MATHS

• Focuses on reason mathematically and solve problems Code Title Price ebook price Book + ebook
• Develops exam skills with longer, wordy questions special offer
• Flexible to dip in and out of for class or homework tasks PMCE Crime and espionage £44.95 £44.95+VAT £49.95+VAT

Each book in this series is a collection of fresh and versatile PMEM Events management £44.95 £44.95+VAT £49.95+VAT
photocopiable activities. They are unique in providing the PMSU Sustainability £44.95 £44.95+VAT £49.95+VAT
highest learning outcomes with instant usability. Use Problem- PMWC War and conflict £44.95 £44.95+VAT £49.95+VAT
solving maths to supplement and reinforce your existing Special offer
resources, to extend student capabilities or for revision. The
PMBX Problem solving £144.95 £144.95+VAT £164.95+VAT
word-based, problem-solving activities are ideal for developing maths all 4 titles
the skills needed for examinations and provide an essential link
between maths skills and real-life contexts. The series has been Includes permanent whole-school licence
designed to motivate and interest students of mathematics
across all year groups.

Teaching benefits Sustainability - applies maths skills in various real-world

• Creative teaching ideas ecological contexts including transport, energy sources,
• Developing greater student interest and understanding recycling, water, composting, food miles and the Earth in space.
• A fresh approach to a topic or lesson War and conflict - an ideal cross-curricula resource, topics
• A way of targeting student weaknesses include World War 1 and 2, conflict in Vietnam and Iraq, and the
• Suitable for individual or group work war on terror.
• A variety of activities for home study
Activities include:
• Interpreting and using maps and plans
• Identifying, interpreting and analysing data
• Perimeter, area, volume and mass
• Percentage and proportion
• Calculating costs
• Area, volume and surface area
• Venn diagrams, two-way tables
Crime and espionage – students learn about
outlaws, spies, forensics and social crime
such as deforestation, dangerous driving and
cyberbullying.
Event management - features the application of
mathematical knowledge and techniques to the
planning, organising, managing and marketing
of a range of events, from parties, dinners and
weddings to art exhibitions and music festivals.

axiseducation.co.uk \ tel: +44 (0)1743 460021 \ fax: +44 (0)1743 454890 33

 Skills
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Lara Croft,
Croft, Tomb Raide
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Lara Croft is a fictional character and the star of the Tomb Raider video game series. As a thrill
seeking archaeologist her adventures take her into many situations involving criminal activities
and espionage. Several movies have been produced that capture the exploits of Lara on the big
screen.

When Lara Croft first appeared in the 1996 video game Tomb Raider, her three dimensional
character model was made of around 230 polygons. The model was later updated to add more
realism by increasing the number of polygons to 4,400. Further improvements saw this increased
to 9,800 and still further improvements took this to 32,800 polygons.

1. Calculate the percentage increase, to the nearest unit, in the number of

polygons at each stage of improvement.

2. What was the largest percentage increase?

Fan web sites dedicated to Lara Croft appeared on the Internet after the release of Tomb Raider.
More than 100 web sites were present by the end of 1998. By 2000 there were around 4,700 web
pages of Lara Croft stories on the Internet.

3. Calculate the percentage increase in the number of web pages devoted

to Lara Croft.

In the movie Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life, Lara Croft is seen racing Terry along the Great Wall
of China on a motorbike. The motorbike used is a TRX850 Yamaha, capable of speeds up to 215
km/h.
d
Use the formula v = to assist with your calculations.
t

4. At a speed of 190 km/h, how long in hours would it take Lara to ride:

a)
50 km?

b)
120 km?

c)
30 km?

d)
180 km?

5. If Lara is riding her bike at an average speed of 180 km/h, how far does she ride in:

a)
3 h?

b)
4.2 h?

c)
1 h 30 min?

d)
45 min?

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 8 Skills
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One of the highlights of the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was the ‘bungee ballet’. During this
sequence Lara’s mansion is attacked by commandos seeking an artefact that she possesses. Lara
needs to find out the correct length of cord she needs to make the drop in her bungee harness
device. She took these measurements during some trial jumps.

Length of cord (m) 5 10 15 20 25 30

Length of bungee drop (m) 12 28 29 54 61 65

6. On the axes provided draw a scatter plot of the data.

7. Draw a line of best fit through the points. Use the graph to answer these questions.

8. Calculate the approximate bungee drop for cord lengths of:

a)
7m

b)
19 m

c)
4m

d)
32 m

e)
20 m

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 Skills
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Fashion week here insert skills copy here

Promoters are organising an annual event in the UK called Fashion week. This important event is
to promote existing and new fashion designers to buyers from all over the world. During Fashion
week, display stands are fitted out to show and promote fashion collections. This year’s Fashion
week is themed ‘Botany’, to emphasise the importance of the environment. Eco-friendly products
are used throughout the exhibition centre. The WonderDome is hosting this prestigious event. Six
runways allow fashion houses to display their designs.

SHOW I N G OF F !
1. a) 
Promoters are expecting 12% more people than at previous events.
The previous Fashion week drew 250,000 people. Calculate the
number of people expected this year.

b) 
At the previous Fashion week, £50,000,000 worth of fashion
purchases were made, but sales are expected to increase by 6% this
year. What is the projected value of purchases?

c) 
Four runways, each with a seating capacity of 1,000 guests per day,
and two runways, each with a capacity to seat 600 per day, are
available. Calculate the total number of guests that could sit across
all runways per day.

d) 
Calculate how many seated guests are possible across all runways
over 7 days.

e) 
Using the answer to Question 1.b calculate the anticipated average
spend of each of the 4,500 fashion buyers.

TA K E A S TA N D ON FASH I ON !
2. a) 
A total of 1,500 display stands at the event are hired to fashion
brands, caterers, magazine sellers, forecasters of fashion trends and
first aiders. The promoters calculate some of their income from the
stands they hire out. The stand sizes are shown in the table. What is
the average price for a display stand?

Display stand options No. of stands Hire fee, per Total hire fee Total floor
available stand space
Option A: 1.3 m × 3 m 1,000 £2,000 £ m2
Option B: 2.6 m × 3 m 500 £3,500 £ m2

b) Calculate the potential total hire fee for both display stand options and write your
answer in the table.

c) Using the table, calculate the total floor space each option occupies in m2.

d)
What is the total potential revenue from the stands?

e) 
Calculate the total display area for Fashion week.

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15 Skills
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f) 
In Question 1.b the potential invoice amount was calculated at
£53,000,000. Use the total display area in m2 to work out the
average return on each m2.

RU N WAY C H I C !
3. a) 
In addition to display stands, designers can purchase a place in any
of the runway shows. The shows run daily during the 7-day event.
Each show comprises 6 brands and runs for 30 minutes. The shows
are staged with one hour intervals and are timetabled between 10
am, for the first show, until 6 pm, for the last show. How many shows
run between 10 am and 7 pm?

b) 
How many shows run during Fashion week?

c) The cost to each designer is £4,000. If one runway show parades 6 brands, how much
income comes from one runway show, a day of parades and all of the runway shows?

E X T R A C HA RG E S
4. a) 
A security team, caretakers, gardeners, cleaners and a medical unit
are on site for the week. These services are charged as an extra fee,
along with the stand hire fees. This extra fee is 5% of the stand’s hire
charge. Use the table from Question 2 to calculate the total income
from this extra fee.

b) 
The total advertising and promotional cost for the event is
approximately £555,000. What is the average price of advertising
per display stand?

How much is spent on advertising and promotion per m2.

c) 

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 1 Skills
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5. Brett and Sonia want to cover the south-facing

roof of their new home with a solar energy system. 5m
The panels they have chosen are each 1.58 m long
and 0.8 m wide. The roof measures 15 m by 5 m. 15 m

a) If the panels are fitted with their

longer side down the roof slope,
how many panels will fit in a
single row across the roof?

b)
How many rows of panels will
fit on the roof?

c)
What is the maximum number of panels that will fit on the roof?

d)
Calculate the area of each panel.

e)
What is the total roof area covered by panels?

f)
What is the roof area left uncovered?

4m

0.1 m
8m

6. The north-facing section of the roof on this house is the shape of a 45

degrees isosceles triangle.

a)
What is the area of this section of the roof?

b) What area is taken up by six solar panels, each 1.2 m long by 0.9 m
wide?

c)
What percentage of this roof section is covered by panels?

d) What is the height of the top triangle above the panels? (Hint: use the
length of one solar panel and the information shown in the diagram.

e)
What is the length of the base of the top triangle?

f) 
Use your answers to parts d and e to calculate the area of the top
triangle.

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 Skills
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Where the wind blows
Wind is an important source of sustainable energy. A wind turbine uses the wind to turn its large
blades, which drive an electricity generator at the top of the tower. Electric cables carry the
electricity to the mains grid. Wind farms range from a community wind farm with a few turbines,
to large commercial farms of several hundred turbines. Wind farms are sited in areas of high wind.

1. A typical wind turbine produces about 20 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy per day. On
average, a household uses 16 kilowatt hours (kWh) per day

a) One megawatt is the same as 1,000 kilowatts. How many kilowatts

are there in 20 megawatts?

b) How many households can a typical wind turbine power?

c) 
How many wind turbines are needed to power a town of 5,000
households?

2. To complete this question, you will need to use the

trigonometric ratios sine (sin), cosine (cos) and tangent (tan).
Each ratio involves two sides of a right-angled triangle:
H
• H (hypotenuse, opposite the right angle) O

• O (opposite the angle x)

x
• A (adjacent or next to the angle x)
A
SOH CAH TOA is a useful memory aid.

SOH CAH TOA

sin x = O cos x =     x = O

H A

3. a) 
Jason is 100 metres
from a wind turbine.
He measures the angle
of elevation of the top
of the tower as 35°.
How tall is the tower,
to the nearest metre?
35˚
b) At the same position,
Jason measures an 100 m Not to scale

angle of elevation
of 47° to the top of a turbine blade as it reaches the top of its rotation. Calculate the
height to the top of the blade to the nearest metre.

c) 
How long is the blade itself? Answer to the nearest metre.

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 8 Skills
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The Rats of Tobru

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During World War 2, North Africa became a place of strategic importance to the Allied and
German forces due to its position as a supply route. The Allied forces in North Africa included
troops from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, United States and India. German troops were joined
in their fight against the Allied forces by the Italian army.

• September 1940: Germans invade Egypt

• January 1941: Allied forces capture Tobruk and its port
• March 1941: Germans defeat the Allied forces at El Agheila in Libya
• April 1941: Germans capture Libya (except for Tobruk)
• April 1941: Germans attack Tobruk
• June 1942: Germans threaten Egypt
• May 1943: The Allied forces evict Germans from Africa

1. Draw a timeline to represent these events.

ROMANIA RUSSIA
FRANCE
IT BLACK SEA
AL
Y
L UGA
PORT

GREECE
SPAIN TURKEY
SICILY

MALTA IRAN
O IRAQ
CC TUNISIA
RO Tripoli
O Tobruk
M
Alexandria Suez Canal
ALGIERS

LIBYA
EGYPT
SAUDI ARABIA
1000 km

IRAQ NIGER CHAD SUDAN

2. Colour the countries and the seas on the map.

Germans and Italians reported 62,000 casualties in the campaign, the British and Australians lost
220,000 men. United States casualties in Tunisia totalled more than 18,500.

3. Calculate the total number of these reported casualties in the North

African battles.

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4. Calculate the fraction of the casualties from:

a)
Britain and Australia

b)
United States

c)
Germany and Italy.

5. Convert the fractions in Q4 to percentages.

The British and Australians won a decisive victory over the German and Italian forces at El
Alamein in Egypt. The Germans and Italians had a total of 110,000 men and 500 tanks. The Allies
had more than 200,000 men and more than 1,000 tanks. This battle cost the Allied forces nearly
13,500 men; Germans and Italians lost 25,000 soldiers. The battle lasted for 13 days.

6. How many days (inclusive) did the battle last?

7. Calculate the total number of soldiers killed.

8. On average, how many soldiers were killed per day in the:

a)
Allied forces?

b)
German and Italian Army?

9. Calculate the percentage of soldiers killed from the:

a)
Allied forces

b)
German and Italian Army

10. What fraction of the tanks belonged to the:

a) German and Italian Army?

b)
Allied forces?

‘Operation Supercharge’ was an attack by British and New Zealand troops against the forces
of Rommel – the leader of the German and Italian Army in North Africa. 124 tanks attacked the
German lines but 75% of them were lost in a sandstorm.

11. How many tanks were destroyed by the German Army? How many tanks
were left?

The Allied forces began damaging the supply lines to Rommel so that only 33% of what Rommel
needed was getting through to him. During June he received 5,000 tonnes of supplies compared
with 34,000 in May and 400 vehicles compared with 2,000 in May.

12. List some of the supplies you think Rommel may have needed.

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