Real life issues in the life of a fictional Subject Leader Game, set and match

What is the least number of points you could gain to win a game of tennis? 15 – 0 30 – 0 40 – 0 game So how about a set, or a women’s singles match?

What about a men’s singles match? What is the link between these two answers?

What is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose a game of tennis ? ∞ Let’s put in some restrictions: Perhaps limit the number of times the game can go to deuce? YOU decide

So: With the restrictions you have decided, what is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose a game of tennis? What is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose a women’s tennis match? What is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose a men’s tennis match at Wimbledon? What is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose a set at tennis ?

Up2d8 maths Game, set and match Teacher Notes

Game, set and match Introduction: The Key Stage 3 programme of study suggests that pupils are given opportunities to: work on problems that arise in other subjects and in contexts beyond the school This Up2d8 resource uses the context of the Wimbledon tennis tournament to answer the questions: What is the least number of points you could gain to win a game, set or match of tennis? What is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose a game, set or match of tennis? Content objectives: In order to explore mathematical situations, carry out tasks or tackle problems, pupils: identify the mathematical aspects solve simple problems involving ratio and direct proportion find and describe in words the rule for the next term or nth term of a sequence where the rule is linear pose questions and make convincing arguments to justify generalisations or solutions recognise the impact of constraints or assumptions Process objectives: These will depend on the way in which you structure the activity. It might be worth considering how you’re going to deliver the activity and highlighting the processes that this will allow on the diagram below:

Activity: Students are asked ‘What is the least number of points you could gain to win a game of tennis?’ They are then invited to extend this question to a set, a women’s singles match and a men’s single match. A second question is posed: What is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose a game, set or match of tennis? This causes some problems as the answer could be infinite, so students are invited to put in their own restrictions to pose a question which they can then answer Differentiation: You may decide to change the level of challenge for your group. To make the task easier you could consider: investigating the scoring systemscoring system limiting the task to the first question only limiting the task to the women’s singles matches suggesting some of the possible restrictions the group or class might put on the task – eg, we will not consider tie breaks, or we will only take each game back to deuce 10 times show pupils the layout for the 128 player draw (you may need to print and enlarge this)128 player draw To make the task more complex, you could consider: extending the initial question to, What is the least number of points you could gain and win the Wimbledon championship? extending the second question to, What is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose the Wimbledon championship? This resource is designed to be adapted to your requirements. You can find out more about the tournament from the Wimbledon website.Wimbledon website Outcomes: You may want to consider what the outcome of the task will be and share this with students according to their ability. This could: be the script for a ‘pep’ talk from a coach to a player (for the first question) form part of the persuasive argument for a contract with a potential sponsor (for the second question) along the lines of, ‘Even if I don’t win the championship I could still win x points along the way – will you sponsor me £y a point won? be part of an argument for or against the tennis scoring system, or proposing that men’s singles matches could be ‘best of three’ in line with women’s singles Working in groups: This activity lends itself to paired or small group work and, by encouraging students to work collaboratively, it is likely that you will allow them access to more of the key processes than if they were to work individually. You will need to think about how your class will work on this task. Will they work in pairs, threes or larger groups? If pupils are not used to working in groups in mathematics, you may wish to spend some time talking about their rules and procedures to maximise the effectiveness and engagement of pupils in group work (You may wish to look at the SNS Pedagogy and practice pack Unit 10: Guidance for Groupwork). You may wish to encourage the groups to delegate different areas of responsibility to specific group members. Assessment: You may wish to consider how you will assess the task and how you will record your assessment. This could include developing the assessment criteria with your class. You might choose to focus on the content objectives or on the process objectives. You might decide that this activity lends itself to comment only marking or to student self-assessment. If you decide that the outcome is to be a presentation or a poster, then you may find that this lends itself to peer-assessment.

Probing questions: Initially students could brainstorm issues to consider. You may wish to introduce some points into the discussion, which might include: How does the scoring system work? Is the system of deuce/advantage/game a good system? Why? Why was the tie break introduced? How many points to win a game? Is it twice as many points to win two games? Is it a proportional relationship? If you know the number of points for a three-set match, how would you work out a five-set match? How did you work out the three set match? Could you use this method to work out a five-set match, a seven-set match, etc? You will need: The PowerPoint display which you might read through with your class to set the scene at the beginning of the activity. You may also wish to give pupils access to the internet to extend their investigation. There are five slides: The first slide sets the scene. The second and third slides focus on the question: What is the least number of points you could gain to win a game, set or match of tennis? The fourth and fifth slides focus on the question: What is the maximum number of points you could gain and still lose a game, set or match of tennis? You may need the student resource sheet which shows the skeleton view of a 128-player draw to enable pupils to work out the number of matches that a winner or a loser will play.student resource sheet