The Moeraki Boulders
Comments
This is a difficult problem best suited for good Year 11 students. There are several ways of finding a solution.
In fact the project asks for more tham one method.
The project is well worth doing with a good class. Students enjoy the challenge.
The place is great for a class trip!
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The Moeraki Boulders. Projects in maths. Number 7.
The Moeraki Boulders.
On one of the beaches in the southern part of the South Island of New Zealand there are some rather large and unusually round boulders. At low tide they sit partly buried in the sand as if some giant had just finished playing a game of marbles. The boulders are remarkably symmetrical and appear at different heights above the sand.
Maori legend tells us that some canoes were swamped out at sea here several hundreds of years ago. The boulders were the potatoes which the Maoris were carrying at the time. They were washed up onto the beach and have since solidified. Rather large potatoes!!
Are the Moeraki boulders all the same size?
When the boys measured some of them they measured the circumference at the base of each boulder and the height the boulder was above the sand.
Use the boys data to investigate whether the boulders are approximately all the same size.
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