Ordering Resources Tasks evolve from, and inspire, our Support Services. Over 230 tasks are available individually or in a variety of teacher-developed kits. Each task is an invitation to work like a mathematician. Each task has another life as a whole class investigation which models how to work like a mathematician.   Task Catalogue ... PDF file of every available task   Price List ... Description & prices for all resources   How To Order

Task boxes from Avoca West Elementary School, Chicago, USA Orders from Outside Australia Please read this information first.

Tasks & Kits		Tasks & Maths300		Other Resources
Individual Tasks Kit for Aboriginal Students Library Kit for Home Lending Mixed Media Unit Read about the model and the Points of View kit. Replacement Unit Read about the model and the Chance & Data kit. Tasks for Infants How To Order Orders from Outside Australia Our Order Form Storing Tasks Refresh Your Task Centre Notes Some tasks include Recording Sheets to support the investigation. If you purchase 50 or more tasks you receive a pack with master copies and an extensive manual. For smaller purchases, or if you misplace your masters, you can print your own Recording Sheets. If you came to this site from Maths300 Membership information, or you only want the on-line membership, return to Maths300 here.		Maths With Attitude Why? Because I want to build my Working Mathematically curriculum at particular year levels and in particular strands with maximum support. Each kit offers 20 tasks, a CD-ROM of lessons and a week by week planner for integrating tasks and investigations. Working Mathematically Curriculum Pack Why? Because I want to introduce a Working Mathematically curriculum in a large scale, sustained way taking advantage of the discounted professional development and Maths300 membership, and broad resource base available in this pack. Starting Maths300 & Tasks Why? Because I want to experiment with a Working Mathematically curriculum across multiple year levels and strands. This discounted package includes 31 tasks, a CD-ROM of the first 50 lessons and Maths300 membership. Starting Maths300 Why? Because I want full access to the Maths300 site now and a CD-ROM of the first 50 lessons may be useful.		Poly Plug Sphinx Shapes Trisquares Tricubes Pyramid Puzzle Pentagon Triangles 3d Geoshapes Professor Morris Puzzles Matt's Maths Mat Matt's mini-Whiteboard

Tasks & Kits

Individual Tasks Clients purchasing individual tasks usually order 100 - our Task Centre Package. However, you may order any number, or any combination, of tasks from our Task Catalogue. If you want to order separate tasks, there is no need to list them one by one. You only need to state the number of tasks you want to order, the year levels where you will use the tasks and any special conditions related to your students. If there is any difficulty with filling and sending your order, you will be contacted. Therefore please include phone, fax and email contacts.

How To Order Our Task Catalogue of all 230+ tasks can be found in the link at the head of this page. It shows task names and numbers, year levels and curriculum strands. Our order form below lists the major services and resources built around these tasks. You DO NOT have to use our order form. We would be happy to receive your official order form. There are many choices. Please contact us at any time to discuss options for your school. We also offer a fine range of support services and resources. Our full selection of services and resources is listed in the Price List link at the head of this page.

Our Order Form Services, Products & Prices ... PDF file This document has three pages. Page 1 is a list of our major services, products & prices. Page 2 is an expanded description of some of these. Page 3 is our order form. You do not have to use our order form. Your official purchase order will do nicely.

Orders from Outside Australia All prices are in Australian Dollars. Price to clients outside Australia is the Australian price plus freight. For your convenience, this Currency Converter is provided as a guide to current exchange rates. Payments can only be accepted in Australian Dollars (AUD) either as a bank cheque or by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Our invoice will provide details for bank cheque or EFT payment. Before you order, you are invited to contact Ina Koetsier, Distribution Manager: T: +61 3 9726 8316 F: +61 3 9727 4644 inak@blackdouglas.com.au to find out the exact AUD price of your order. Now, please read the How To Order section.

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Each Poly Plug set costs the same as a task, and yet you can think of each one as a multi-task. You get the equipment and the bag just as with any other task, but instead of the card you get:

• a web site of teachers' activities, each one of which is a problem solving situation,
• a resource which, by its nature, seems to encourage children to develop their own investigations.

Poly Plug has been described as classroom friendly. It is safe, colourful, tactile, quiet, durable and easy to pack up. In addition:

• The Poly Plug site also offers many activities for older students; therefore maximum use of the resource through the school.
• The Calculating Changes project, which focuses on engineering 'aha' moments in number, uses Poly Plug as a preferred resource, so further benefits could develop through exploring the professional development opportunities offered on that site.

On the other hand, over the years, various infant teachers have reported that these Infant Tasks can be adapted for use with young children.

We publish this list for your information. Your colleagues have judged these tasks as adaptable to infants; we leave the process and details of adaptation to you. However, we would be very happy to begin a new page on this site which details teachers' experiences using tasks with Infants.

For example:

One school we visited many years ago, which had developed its own infant task set, used large poster size problem cards. The students could gather around them on the floor. They were hand written on coloured card and laminated. The storing process was clever too. The cards were pegged to coat hangers hung from a rolling home-laundry drying rack.

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• Boxes
  Plastics & Storage Warehouse tell us that it is no longer possible to obtain the traditional boxes shown in the photos above. However, they can provide one that is a little larger and are experienced at supplying throughout Australia. Wayne is very easy to deal with.

  Plastics & Storage Warehouse
  Contact: Wayne Bartlett
  Tel: 03 9334 2392
  Fax: 03 9330 4337
  Price: Approx $3.50 - $4 and free delivery in the Melbourne Metropolitan area.
  Delivery charges applies to other areas.

  In the USA schools have had success with similar boxes through the Rubber Maid web site.

  It may also be possible to find appropriate boxes at the local discount shop. The critical measurement is that (almost all) our cards are 20cm x 20cm. See photos of this solution from Moonee Ponds West Primary School.

• Press-Seal Bags
  All our tasks are packed in specially made, sturdy, press-seal bags whether you order a kit or your own selection of tasks. If you are intending to move tasks around the school in tubs or kits, these are very effective. Should you need additional bags at any time we can supply the same type for 22c each plus freight. Freight can be significant depending on the number of bags and the delivery address.

  Press-seal bags can be hung from racks using 2-clip trouser hangers available from large chain stores.

• Raeco Hangbags
  Raeco Hangbags clip at the top but don't completely seal. However, tasks are delivered in press-seal bags so popping those inside the hangbags works like a charm. Add the large, crisp, clear labels Sue prepared for Southern Cross Primary School, Canberra, and its all 'ready to roll'. If you are interested in the 'Raeco solution' ask your Librarian, or check the Raeco web site.

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• Has your task resource been left to languish?
• Do you want to revive it?

Ina Koetsier, Distribution Manager, provides a service which includes checking, repairing or replacing your tasks. Service fee is $137.50 per day (travel and accommodation where necessary) and parts are replaced at cost - most of them on the spot. Contact Ina through the Contacts link at the head of the page.

Near the end of the year, Ina came to sort out our task centre. This is a job no-one wants to do and no-one has the time to do. She spent the day sorting, replacing missing bits, and cleaning with some chosen helpers - and she was so enthusiastic!
How wonderful it was to see our task centre perfect, no parts missing, no problem sheets missing and the right parts in the right box.
Thank you Ina for a great job.

Tiffany Chandler, Notre Dame College, Shepparton

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Tasks & Maths300

• Starting Maths300 CD-ROM (above)
• 31 hands-on tasks related to lessons on the CD-ROM

This is a discounted package offering 31 tasks for the price of 28. The kit contents are listed here.

This package is an excellent way to begin constructing a Working Mathematically curriculum. The Maths300 lessons support teachers in modelling how a mathematician works. Each task is an invitation to the students to apply the model for themselves.

Each task comes in a sturdy press-seal bag and contains a laminated problem solving card and enough equipment for two students to explore the problem.

The package provides sufficient teacher support, hands-on problem solving, software and investigation sheets to nourish curriculum shift towards Working Mathematically across a range of curriculum strands. More tasks can be added to the collection later. There is a discount for Maths300 members who order 50 or more and quote their membership number.

Price ... $946

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• 50 lessons
• 21 with software
• 30 linked to hands-on tasks, and
• Crazy Animals, Lesson 57, as a bonus
  (This lesson also grows from a task.)

Price INCLUDES a one year membership of the Maths300 site, so you will ALSO be issued with a Username and Password.

Starting Maths300 allows you to begin including Maths300 in your curriculum without any on-line issues. When you are comfortable with the material the username/password allows immediate access to all the other lessons.

Price ... $533.50     Additional copies of the CD-ROM ... $38.50

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Other Resources

• it is colourful and tactile
• it has a loss proof pack up system built in
• it is silent
• it cannot be used to hurt
• it is almost indestructible

It can be used to turn many of the tasks into whole class investigations. It also has many other uses such as exploring the array visualisation of multiplication, concepts of fractions and ratio, creating equations and illustrating the difference between two squares.

Please visit our Poly Plug page.

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To get the most from this task a teacher needs multiple copies of the Sphinx shape. At either link a mechanism for printing these is provided. We also know that some enterprising teachers have had students make their own in conjunction with the Design & Technology teacher.

However, the Sphinx shape is available in sturdy, colourful plastic at a very reasonable cost.

• Sphinx information and prices

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• Shape discrimination & other spatial experiences
• Perimeter & area
• Problem solving
• Square numbers
• Algebra

• Trisquares information and prices

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• Tessellations
• Volume
• Surface Area
• 3D Constructions

• Tricubes information and prices

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• Pyramid Puzzle information and prices

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• Pentagon Triangles information and prices

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The shapes resource several of our tasks, such as Cube Nets, Tetrahedron Nets or Pointy Fences, and to activate their whole class investigation life you will need a class set of the materials.

For example, as a whole class investigation, Cube Nets, Task 31 (and Maths300 Lesson 116) is an excellent way to illustrate what it means to work like a mathematician. In addition the lesson offers several learning features which encourage us to reflect on better choices for teaching and learning.

• 3D Geoshape information and prices

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The Teacher's Notes connect each puzzle to tasks from the Task Centre collection and, importantly, list many Start Talking questions to extend each puzzle. To explore the educational features see Poster Problem Clinic and Lesson 14, Maths300, The Farmer's Puzzle which is built around Professor Morris Puzzle 49 and its extensions.

• Professor Morris information and prices

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Matt Skoss, experienced task centre teacher and consultant, has found a way to mass produce these mats. There are many learning opportunities that develop when you have one of these mats. I have used one many times in my teaching and professional development work.

Mat Activities Slide Show
Maths on a Mat Swedish style - Matte på en
More information.

The Mat 7.5m x 3.6m mat made from virtually indestructible shade cloth 3 x fluoro elastics (many applications eg: geometry) 17 x LamiPanel labelling sheets (postcard size - 6" x 4") axes for graphs packed in a suitcase on wheels

Contact Matt Skoss Possum Educational Services 31 Battarbee St. Alice Springs NT 0870 Australia Phone: 0418-624 631 Email: matt@skoss.org ABN: 77 540 358 153

Price $495 + Freight (GST not charged) Freight is typically $40 - $70 in Australia.

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What is also generating interest are the mini-Whiteboards I tote around with me. Using whiteboard markers kids record their data, then walk up to a whiteboard to contribute to the 'community data'. I was stunned with the reaction of the teachers. This stuff is on 6mm plywood, rather than the 20mm plywood A3-size whiteboards in some schools (...which could be classified as a weapon!).

I used them with Sultanas in Fruit Cake - a variation on the Maths300 Chocolate Chip Cookies lesson. Bringing the mini-Whiteboards out to the front was a convenient way of 'collecting the community data' as a precursor to jumping into a stem & leaf plot. Not an essential process, but nice.

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Follow this link to Task Centre Home Base Welcome Page & Index.