A Catalyst article investigating a few of the uses of naturally occurring oils. These oils are extracted from animal fats or plant seeds and can be turned into a variety of compounds including soaps, fuel and margarine. The article looks at oils as fuels, their use in paint and detergents and problems with their...

Students examine the sugar content of potatoes in relation to emerging interest in the carcinogen acrylamide produced when potatoes are cooked at high temperatures. Employing cutting-edge techniques to genetically modify E. coli bacteria, they will insert the jellyfish gfp gene to make the...

This mathematical activity provides students with the opportunity to solve a realistic animal care problem and become active problem-solvers. Students are encouraged to make a mathematical model of a real-life situation, identifying and incorporating relevant factors, obtain information relevant to the problem,...

This resource provides examples of solving problems using Fermi Estimates. These examples are similar to the ones covered in the resource "Estimates From Limited Data". The tasks may be suitable for group and internet access may be beneficial.

This resource contains a short presentation which introduces three problems where approximate solutions can be calculated.

The first activity asks students to use Fermi estimation to calculate the quantity of tea used in China in a three month period. Students are also invited to calculate an estimate of the...

A Fermi problem involves making estimates and using mathematics to answer a question, in more colloquial language they might be termed ‘back of envelope’ calculations.

Many of the questions don’t have clear cut answers, and sometimes alternative paths to solutions are possible.

The level of...

‘A secret of bees’ is a series of 7 problems that looks at an interesting feature of the family tree for bees. The series shows how to take a complicated problem and break it down into manageable parts. It is recommended that the sheets are given to students one at a time.

Initially a family tree for bees is...

‘Ball bouncing’ is a series of 7 problems that looks at what happens if you put a tennis ball on top of a basketball and then drop them both. This is done through mathematical modelling. The series shows how to take a complicated problem and break it down into manageable parts. It is recommended that the sheets are...

‘Interstellar flight’ is a series of 7 problems that plan for establishing a base in another solar system. The first four problems involve getting to the base, the final three focus on what to bring and whom to take along.

The mathematics required for the first problems include use of the formulae for...

This problem serves as an introduction to the ideas of Fermi problems. The question posed is ‘how many dump trucks would you need to move Mount Fuji, a major mountain in Japan?’
The topics required to complete this problem are calculating the volume of a pyramid, working out mass from density and volume, and...

This question asks us to consider a person opening a burger bar, doing all of the cooking themselves, and then estimate how much space should they rent?

The main topics required are rates (number of burgers per hour that one person could cook, number of customers per hour), and areas.