SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics case studies
SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics · Put your knowledge to work in context.
General Mathematics is a 20-credit Stage 2 subject in the South Australian Certificate of Education, coded 2MGM20. It extends students' mathematical skills in ways that apply to practical problem solving, and its topics cover a diverse range of applications of mathematics, including personal financial management, the statistical investigation process, modelling using linear and non-linear functions, networks and matrices, and discrete models. Successful completion at Stage 2 prepares students for entry to tertiary courses requiring a non-specialised background in mathematics, so it suits students who want usable, applied mathematics rather than a specialist pathway. Assessment is split between school assessment (70%) and external assessment (30%). The SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics case studies are 5 cases and about 3,515 words.
1The Extra Repayment Trade-off
Priya takes out a home loan of 420,000 at a nominal annual interest rate of 4.8% compounding monthly, over 30 years, with monthly repayments. She is offered two strategies.
678 words, about 3 min2Survey on Screen Time
A Year 12 student, Marco, wants to estimate the mean daily screen time of students at his school (population 1,240 students). He surveys 60 students chosen by standing at the front gate between 8:00 and 8:30 am on a Monday and asking whoever walks past.
714 words, about 4 min3Modelling a Cooling Cup
A science class measures the temperature of a cup of coffee left in a room kept at 21°C. Temperature T (°C) is recorded every 5 minutes.
624 words, about 3 min4Bus Route Redesign
A regional town has five stops A, B, C, D, E. A proposed bus network is described by a matrix where entry (i, j) = 1 if there is a direct route between stops i and j (in either direction), and 0 otherwise.
710 words, about 4 min5Frog-Hop Recurrence
A frog sits on step 1 of a staircase with steps numbered 1, 2, 3, … Each minute it either hops up one step or, with probability 0.3, hops up two steps. It never moves down.
789 words, about 4 min