About

Welcome to the Intriguing Investigations blog.

The idea for intriguing investigations came to me just over ten years ago when I first stumbled onto the following video of Christmas Island Crabs migrating.   My mind was blown.   How on earth did I live on this Earth for 29 years, 56 days and 9 hours without ever seeing those millions of crabs migrating?

How come in my 12 years of schooling of and endless hours of television viewing only to discover that a place like Christmas Island existed when I was over a third of the way through my projected lifespan.   Seriously, I was annoyed.   I began thinking about why my teachers had never shown me what a million actually looked like.  To me, a million was just a number with more zeros than some other numbers.

After a while though, I began to forgive my teachers though for omitting the Christmas Island Crabs from my schooling experience.  After all, the internet and YouTube didn’t exist back then.    My teachers  had no possible way of making maths lessons reach into the most fascinating, quirky, amusing and mind blowing corners of the Earth.   But you do.      The web and Youtube is full of viral media, awe inspiring images, crazy facts and astounding figures.   Use them to your advantage, engage your learners and get out there and start making your maths investigations intriguing!

This blog contains media, ideas and inspiration to help you get started.   Some of the ideas have been used in classrooms since the first version of the Intriguing Investigations kit in 2005.  Others have been suggested and shared by amazing educators I have had the privilege to work with over the years.     A special thanks to Peter and Jen Carmichael for their enthusiasm and for sharing their ideas and experiences.

This blog has been created as part of my work through the Contemporary Learning Hub’s Infinite Ideas Online Numeracy Festival.   Check out all the great face-to-face and online PD we do with educators from across Australia and beyond at www.contemporarylearninghub.com.

Kristine Kopelke
kristine@eq.edu.au