Hero video
Tōtara Maths
 
Video by KSS TV Knights Stream School

Maths in Tōtara

Craig Allchurch —

This term our students have been designing 100-120 square meter houses. The houses needed to be to scale and incorporate key design elements

A group of students in Tōtara were given a brief to design their very own house. At first the excitement levels were high as most wanted to kit it out with the latest gizmos and gadgets, but they very quickly learned the fact that there was a brief. The key elements to the brief were;

-The house needed to be between 100 and 120 sq m

-The house needed 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living space

-Students were given a 60k budget to work with when kitting the houses out. They had 3 websites available to them for 'purchasing' their furniture and gadgets, and a spreadsheet was required

-The design process needed to incorporate future proofing considerations and be aesthetically pleasing (consider the prevailing winds, locations of rooms, sizes of spaces etc). 

-The students were then given chalk, rulers, tape measures and were put to work with drawing their designs on the court. These chalk drawings were to scale. 

There were some great learnings involved for the students, mainly based around design elements, proportions, collaboration, and hold-ups with getting their design approved by the local council (Matua Craig and Whaea Emma). 

A practical/hands on maths task that was enjoyed by all.