On the 17th of January, Manchester Academy took part in the second phase of the maths squad. It was the same schools involved last time in November 2007 namely Manchester Academy, St. Peters, Kaskenmoor and Littlemoss.

The only thing that was different was the teams that we were put in and the building.

The building we used last time had some renovation work getting done, so we moved to the Mathematical area of Manchester University. This building has a special name, and was named after a famous Mathematician in the war - Allan Turing.

As we were waiting for all the schools to arrive, we all had put our name tags on and made our way to the hall we were going to be taught in. "Kaskenmoor" was running a bit late, so we had a go at the starter activity. We had to make a ducks head out of paper, which most people found very confusing!    

When the school had finally arrived, we quickly went on to the first activity. We had to write down our birthday, add numbers and then add our birth date; we had all ended up with a number above 300.

One of the tutors there asked some students their numbers and had guessed their birthdays from the numbers. He had got all of the birthday's right as soon as the number was told. He even knew if it was the wrong date as one person gave a wrong number and his birthday ended up being on the 72nd of March!

Next we were shown how to make shapes out of paper and then we had to make a poster out of the shapes made. As we were making the posters, other people on the teams had to glue it down and write the features of that particular shape.

Half way through this we had a 5 minute break and got back on with the work. When it was completed we were all told to put it up on the wall and the judges decided which one was the best.  

While the judges were deciding, the students were all taking part in a Maths relay. The first table to put their hands up got the points.

That activity did not last very long as we were running out of time, but we went straight on to giving out the prizes.

The table with the most points won a memory stick, 1 GB each, and the hard worker, who was from our school Lewis Clearie won a £10 HMV gift voucher.

Before we left, an evaluation sheet was handed out asking us if we enjoyed the day, and what activities they would like to see happening next time. 

Most students agreed that it was an improvement then the first phase of the maths squad. We all have to wait now to see what happens in the 3rd part of the competition.

Watch this space!

Aliyah F, Manchester Academy

Maths Squad: Phase Four / Maths Squad: Phase Three / Maths Squad: Phase One