University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: High Jumping
If you are training seriously for any sport then you are in the business of optimisation - doing all you can to enhance anything that will make you do better and minimise any faults that hinder your performance. John Barrow takes a look...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Archery
Use our interactivity to simulate picking up a bow and some arrows and trying to hit the target a few times. Can you work out the best settings for the sight? This activity gives an opportunity to gather and collate data, and to test...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Medal Muddle
Can you work out which order these thirteen nations finished in after competing? This activity presents an exercise in strategic thinking, accessible to lower secondary students (but hinting at the more advanced mathematics of sorting...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Reaction Timer
Whether you're responding to a starting pistol or hitting a ball served by your opponent, reaction times are enormously important in sport. This activity includes both an interactive computer test of reaction times and suggestions for a...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Triathlon and Fitness
The triathlon is a physically gruelling challenge. Can you work out which athlete burnt the most calories? This activity provides a real-life context for working with proportionality, speed, rates, and units of measurement and is aimed...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Who's the Winner?
If two goals are scored in a hockey match between two equally-matched teams, what are the possible scores? This activity gives an opportunity to investigate probability in the context of sport, and is designed to be accessible to...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Charting More Success
This activity follows on from Charting Success and encourages students to consider and analyse representations of data from the world of sport, to make sense of the stories they tell, and to analyse whether the right representation has...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Charting Success
Sports statisticians, trainers and competitors create graphs, charts and diagrams to help them to analyse performance, inform training programmes or improve motivation. This activity encourages students to consider and analyse...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Nutrition and Cycling
Can you analyse the nutritional needs of a long-distance cyclist to help him plan his calorie intake? This activity provides a real-life context for handling data, converting units and proportional reasoning and is aimed at secondary...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Who's the Best?
Can you use data from the 2008 Beijing Olympics medal tables to decide which country has the most naturally athletic population? This data-handling activity encourages mathematical investigation and discussion and is designed to be...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: The Fastest Cyclist
As a coach for a long distance cyclist, can you come up with a race plan to help him win his ride from Lands End to John o' Groats? This activity is a more challenging follow-on from Nutrition and Cycling and is aimed at secondary...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Track Design
You are designing and marking out the running track for a new Olympic stadium. Where should the staggered starting positions be marked for the 200m and 400m events? This activity is aimed at Key Stage 4 students (age 14-16).
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Training Schedule
The heptathlon consists of 7 athletics events. Looking at a heptathlete's current performance in these events, how should she plan her training schedule? This activity examines the maths behind the heptathlon's scoring system, and is...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: A Question of Balance
These project ideas explore moment of inertia and its consequences in a number of different sports including diving, gymnastics and cycling, and encourage investigation, experiment and discussion. This activity is aimed at higher level...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Alternative Record Books
Take a look at the amazing limits that athletes push themselves to in search of Olympic glory. Which events see the fastest speeds, furthest distances and highest forces? This activity challenges students to undertake some research,...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Project Ideas: World Records
This activity suggests a number of investigative projects, focusing on athletics and swimming, exploring some of the trends between performances in different sports at the same time in history and in the rate of improvement of records...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Stadium Sightline
How would you design the seating for an Olympic stadium to give spectators the best view of events? This geometry and modelling activity is designed to be accessible to both GCSE and A-level maths students (Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5),...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: What's the Point of Squash?
Squash isn't an Olympic sport (yet!) but it has an interesting scoring system. If you reach 8-all in a game of squash, when should you decide to play to 9 points rather than 10? This activity is a starting point for mathematical...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Can You Do It Too?
Can you throw a beanbag as far as the Olympic hammer or discus throwers? This activity introduces children to informal measures to compare distances, and is designed to be accessible to primary pupils at Key Stage 1.
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Going for Gold
Looking at the 2008 Olympic Medal table, can you see how the data is organised? Could the results be presented differently to give another nation the top place? This activity encourages children to develop their skills in data analysis,...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Half Time
What could the half-time scores have been in these Olympic hockey matches? This activity encourages systematic working and discussion, and is designed to be accessible to primary pupils at Key Stages 1 and 2.
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Jumping
After training hard, Ben and Mia have improved their performance in the long jump and high jump. Can you work out the length and height of their original jumps? This activity explores multiplication, division and fractions in the context...
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: National Flags
During the Olympic and Paralympic Games many national flags will be on display. This activity explores 2D shapes, angles and symmetries in the context of flag designs, and is designed to be accessible to primary pupils at Key Stage 2.
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Maths and Sports: Now and Then
Look at the changes in results on some of the athletics track events at the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948. What will the results be in 2012? This slightly more challenging activity encourages children to examine data and consider...