Mathematics Specialist
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Mathematics is the study of order, relation and pattern. From its origins in counting and measuring, it has evolved in highly sophisticated and elegant ways to become the language now used to describe much of the modern world. Statistics is concerned with collecting, analysing, modelling and interpreting data in order to investigate and understand real world phenomena and solve problems in context. Together, mathematics and statistics provide a framework for thinking and a means of communication that is powerful, logical, concise and precise.
Students should choose their Mathematics for Year 11 & 12 based on proven mathematical performance, career pathways and their interest in developing the highest possible mathematical understandings for life and employment. It is important to balance these issues.
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This course provides opportunities, beyond those presented in the Mathematics Methods ATAR course, to develop rigorous mathematical arguments and proofs, and to use mathematical models more extensively. Mathematics Specialist contains topics in functions and calculus that build on and deepen the ideas presented in the Mathematics Methods course, as well as demonstrate their application in many areas. The Mathematics Specialist course also extends understanding and knowledge of statistics and introduces the topics of vectors, complex numbers and matrices. Mathematics Specialist is the only ATAR mathematics course that should not be taken as a stand-alone course and it is recommended to be studied in conjunction with the Mathematics Methods ATAR course as preparation for entry to specialised university courses such as engineering, physical sciences and mathematics. |
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Mathematics Specialist ATAR
WACE Breadth & Depth Requirement:
List B
Prerequisite
A grade in Maths and prequalification of Numeracy standard (Band 8 or higher NAPLAN).
Unit 1
Unit 1 begins with a review of the basic algebraic concepts and techniques required for a successful introduction to the study of functions and calculus. Simple relationships between variable quantities are reviewed, and these are used to introduce the key concepts of a function and its graph. The study of probability and statistics begins in this unit with a review of the fundamentals of probability, and the introduction of the concepts of conditional probability and independence. The study of the trigonometric functions begins with a consideration of the unit circle using degrees and the trigonometry of triangles and its application. Radian measure is introduced, and the graphs of the trigonometric functions are examined and their applications in a wide range of settings are explored.
Unit 2
In Unit 2, exponential functions are introduced and their properties and graphs examined. Arithmetic and geometric sequences and their applications are introduced and their recursive definitions applied. Rates and average rates of change are introduced and this is followed by the key concept of the derivative as an ‘instantaneous rate of change’. These concepts are reinforced numerically (by calculating difference quotients), geometrically (as slopes of chords and tangents), and algebraically. This first calculus topic concludes with derivatives of polynomial functions, using simple applications of the derivative to sketch curves, calculate slopes and equations of tangents, determine instantaneous velocities, and solve optimisation problems.
