Collections

The notion of proof lies at the very heart of maths: it's when it comes to proving things that mathematicians let lose their genius and creativity, and in the process often discover unexpected surprises or deep philosophical issues. But proofs can also be daunting. So to help you and your students along, we've brought together a range of Plus articles on proofs.

This teacher package brings together all Plus articles on graph and network theory. Graphs and networks turn up in many real-life problems, from neuroscience to telecommunications. In the UK curriculum, they make a frequent appearance in the area known as decision maths. Our articles explore a wide range of related topics, from simple algorithms to complex network topologies.

In this issue's teacher package we look at some of the maths and science behind a recent expedition to the Arctic. The aim of the Catlin Arctic Survey was to gather data on ice thickness that will help to predict when the North Pole sea ice cover will melt, an event that will have dramatic consequence for the Arctic ecosystem and the Earth's climate as a whole. Plus was commissioned by Catlin Arctic Survey Education to produce mathematics and science enrichment material for ages 14 to 19 (key stages 4 and 5). The toolkits look at climate and sea ice models, GPS and cartography, how to predict future climate trends, and how to present statistical evidence.

So basic, yet so tricky: prime numbers are the atoms among natural numbers and lie at the centre of some of the most difficult open problems in maths. This package brings together all material we have on primes, from prime number algorithms to new discoveries. And you will find out what all that's got to do with David Beckham.

This issue's teacher package brings together all Plus articles on group theory, exploring its applications and recent breakthroughs, and giving explicit definitions and examples of groups. It also has some handy links to related problems on our sister site NRICH.

Complex numbers — what are they, how do they work and what do they have to do with computer-generated movies, fractals and chaos? This teacher package brings together all Plus articles on complex numbers and gives some handy links to related problems on our sister site NRICH.

The flocking behaviour of birds, the spread of diseases and the Cuban missile crisis — all of these and much more can be modelled mathematically. In our second teacher package we bring together all Plus articles on mathematical modelling, ready for use in classroom discussions or students projects.