Sample chapters for download

Chapters 1 & 2
Module 6

NB: Sample chapters do not have working links.

About the book

Written to comply with the VCAA’s revised Study Design for 2006–2012. It encourages students to:

• apply knowledge and skills
• model, investigate and solve problems
• use technology

It is divided into two areas of study: Data Analysis Core Material and Applications. All 6 Modules are covered:

Module 1:	Number patterns
Module 2:	Geometry and trigonometry
Module 3:	Graphs and relations
Module 4:	Business-related mathematics
Module 5:	Networks and decision mathematics
Module 6:	Matrices

Summaries are given at the end of Data Analysis Core Material and at the end of each Module. These summaries can also be printed from the CD as a handy reference for examination preparation.

Other features

• detailed worked examples
• well-graded exercises, including multiple-choice questions, review and analysis questions, selected questions from past examination papers
• clear instructions for the use of graphics calculators
• written in a logical manner so that a work plan can be easily written following the style of this book
• written at a level that is easy for students to understand

About the interactive student CD

Ideal for independent study and revision. Contains the text of the book, so that students can leave the book at school and keep the CD at home.

Click on the CD icon to access printable pages (including each Summary) as well as software, demonstrations and simulations.

Table of contents

Foreword

The course Further Mathematics Units 3 and 4 is designed to provide general preparation for employment or further study, in particular, where data analysis is important.

This text: Further Mathematics: VCE Units 3 and 4 has been written to comply with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s revised Study Design for the period 2006–2009, commencing 1 January 2006.

It follows the guidelines set out in the study design in that it encourages students to

• apply knowledge and skills
• model, investigate and solve problems
• use technology

There are two areas of study in Further Mathematics

1. Data analysis; the core (compulsory) area of study
2. Applications; module material

Three modules are to be chosen from the available six modules:

• Module 1: Number patterns
• Module 2: Geometry and trigonometry
• Module 3: Graphs and relations
• Module 4: Business-related mathematics
• Module 5: Networks and decision mathematics
• Module 6: Matrices
• (Reference: Mathematics - Victorian Certificate of Education Study Design Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2005, p.120)

Text and exercises for all six modules, including the new module Matrices, are included in this text.

I have endeavoured to write this text at a level that is easy for students to understand but that also challenges them with interesting and relevant exercises.

The text will also be useful for teachers who may be teaching the subject for the first time. It is organised so that it follows the course outline in a logical manner, covering all the topics and terms mentioned. There is text for a lesson and then an exercise to follow; this will enable a syllabus to be easily written from this text.

Much of the text is based on my class-notes and many of the exercises have been used successfully in my teaching of the subject. The exercises are graded and include some multiple-choice questions and selected questions from past Further Mathematics exams. Some of the text and questions in the exercises will extend the more capable students and can also be used as a basis for school-assessed coursework.

At the end of the core material and each of the modules there is a summary, a multiple-choice review exercise and analysis questions. Throughout the text, there are clear instructions for the use of graphics calculators and references to extra material that is contained on the CD.

Why have I written this text book?

I have been a teacher of Mathematics in Victoria since 1972 and have taught Further Mathematics to VCE students for ten years. I have a passion for the subject because I think it enables many students who are not comfortable with the more rigorous courses to succeed in a Mathematics subject. Students find the subject practical, interesting, and that it expands their understanding of Mathematics.

To this I add my experience as an assessor, a writer of Further Mathematics practice exams and as a member of the VCAA Curriculum Review Committee for Further Mathematics and General Mathematics.

Christine McRae