Mathematics & Physics for a Changing World (Day Camp)

1) A Clear Educational Aim: Model the world · Test ideas · Explain with evidence

Across five days, students use mathematics and physics as scientists do: to describe real phenomena, build meaningful models, design experiments, analyse data, and draw honest conclusions. By grounding abstract ideas in real systems—such as climate, energy, motion, and feedback—students begin to see maths and physics not as school subjects, but as essential tools for understanding and solving realworld problems. This shift is what sparks motivation, confidence, and genuine intellectual engagement.

2) Three Integrated Strands That Develop Scientific Thinking

Learning is structured around three interwoven strands that run through every session, ensuring depth, coherence, and progression:

• Strand A: Scientific Modelling
  Students use estimation, proportional reasoning, graphing, functions, and uncertainty to build simplified models of real phenomena—learning how and why scientists approximate the world.
• Strand B: Physics of Real Systems
  Core ideas such as energy, heat, forces, motion, fluids, and materials are introduced through tangible, testable situations that students can observe, measure, and explain.
• Strand C: Practical Scientific Method
  Students learn the discipline behind good science: designing fair tests, choosing appropriate measurements, handling data responsibly, recognising error, and communicating conclusions with clarity and integrity.

3) AgeFocused Pathways That Match How Students Think

The programme recognises that scientific thinking develops with age and experience, and is therefore tailored to two distinct cohorts:

• Junior Cohort (Ages 10–12): Observe · Measure · Explain
  Students build intuition about cause and effect, practise accurate measurement and basic graphing, and learn to describe results clearly using concrete and visual models.
• Prep Cohort (Ages 13–15): Model · Quantify · Defend
  Students work with greater precision, using equations and graphs to justify models, handle uncertainty and simple error analysis, and defend conclusions using evidence and reasoning.

4) RealWorld Modules with Signature Scientific Experiences

Each module immerses students in a real scientific challenge, anchored by a signature investigation that brings theory to life:

• Climate Thinking with Maths — Measurement, Models & Prediction
  Signature task: Modelling melting icecaps through controlled experiments, timeseries data, and critical discussion of model limitations.
• Heat, Energy & Change — Why Things Warm, Cool, and Transform
  Signature lab: Insulation Challenge, where students design, test, measure, and optimise systems based on evidence.
• Motion & Forces — The Physics Behind Everyday Movement
  Signature lab: Ramp & Resistance Investigation exploring slope, mass, friction, and stopping distance.
• Systems & Feedback — Small Causes, Big Outcomes
  Signature seminar: Mapping real systems—such as energy use or transport flow—to identify variables, constraints, and feedback loops.
• Designing Experiments — The Discipline of Scientific Method
  Signature capstone: A studentdesigned investigation, from forming a question to presenting a reasoned conclusion.