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Teachers TV
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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.
Simon Singh
This resource from Teachers TV introduces Simon Singh, author of the best selling Fermat's Last Theorem and Big Bang, as he visits a class of Year Ten students from Queen Elizabeth's School for Boys in Barnet. He explains how mathematics has been used to create secret codes from 1573, when the school was founded, to today's sophisticated internet security systems.
The students discuss the use of encryption in modern life and, to illustrate the importance of applied mathematics, Simon has brought an original WW2 Enigma code machine, which holds the attention of the students, as he explains the mathematics of encryption and illustrates its influence on the course of history.
Simon informs the students that the biggest employer of mathematicians, in the world, is the American secret service who requires their skills for breaking codes. He explains that a degree in mathematics provides opportunities for employment in a wide range of professions and, to encourage problem solving skills, he challenges the boys to solve a puzzle.
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