By Megan Thornton - 5 minute readAre you doing your first CBA in Maths and have no idea where to start? No need to panic! Stephen is a State Examiner and Maths expert here at Studyclix and he has taken the time to write a guide that includes everything you need to know about how to do well so let's get into it!
Maths CBA 1 is a Mathematical Investigation which you will complete at any stage in 2nd year. For this, you will, over a three-week period in class, work with the Problem-Solving Cycle to investigate a mathematical problem of your choice. You are free to select any problem that interests you.
Some examples include:
A bedroom makeover.
Calculating the cost of a trip around Europe.
Designing a swimming pool.
Investigating the relationship between the area and perimeter of a shape.
Finding the cost of owning a dog.
The list is endless!
You will then present your CBA in a format of your choice be it a poster, a written or typed report, a PowerPoint presentation etc. in roughly 400-600 words.
Your teacher will award you a grade descriptor for your CBA.
These are:
Exceptional
Above expectations
In line with Expectations
Yet to Meet Expectations
Every teacher across the country uses the same tool to correct the CBAs, this is called the Features of Quality. It is a good idea to familiarise yourself with it so that you can see where the top grades are going and what is needed to get these results.
Think about what interests you – if you like sports, animals, travelling, fashion, cooking, music and so on, then try to research where maths comes into these areas.
Maths links into every single aspect of life so first find the area of interest you will work in and then try to focus on where the maths is. Your teacher, family, friends and the internet are the best resources to use for this stage. Be sure to ask your teacher for feedback on your problem to make sure there is enough maths in it to carry out a good CBA.
These guidelines contain a scaffolded template which can help you work through your CBA in an organised manner. It breaks the Mathematical Investigation into 8 steps. The idea is that if you follow each of these steps and follow the prompts, then you can use this as the basis for your final report.
They are:
Chose a topic and area that interests you. The more interested you are, the more you will commit to the project. Choosing your question can be a tough task so use your resources – your teacher, your friends and family and the internet to try to come up with a mathematical problem for your CBA.
When you’re creating the final report make sure you explain everything. Justify all your steps and workings. Be sure you have a detailed conclusion answering your question. Always show your workings for all calculations. If you follow the prompts in our template, you’ll be flying it!
Ask your teacher for feedback on your progress. Check in that you are on track and ask for help if you’re stuck or unsure what to do next.
Click the attachment below to read the full list of Stephen's tips including a scaffold template for your CBA!
For more tips on how to do well in Junior cycle Maths, read our 'How to get a Distinction in Junior Cycle Maths' guide here.
You can also check out how to find our JC Maths video solutions in this blog here.
