Characteristics of Secondary School

Teaching ideas

• Teach students how to identify similarities and differences in order to compare items of information
• Use mathematics challenges to create data that can be compared between schools
  • number of students, hours in class, extracurricular activities
  • area of the school, gymnasiums, student lounges
  • number of ways three numbers can be combined to open a combination lock
  • number of teachers, subjects taught, minutes of homework per day
  • distance walked between classes
  • number of minutes available for different activities during recess
• Give students time to list the things that preoccupy them about the transition to high school
• Invite high school students to visit your class to answer questions about the new environment
• Arrange a visit to high school and have a tour with students who attended your elementary school
• Have your students create a table to compare the information they have collected with what they have experienced in elementary school
• Have students create a Venn diagram to compare the elements that are similar in the two settings
• Students could also create a video in which they explain the differences between high school and elementary school and explain what they are looking forward to most in the transition