MADE.

MADE took over maths lessons last summer for Years 8 and 9 at Turves Green Boys Technology and Humanities College in Northfield, Birmingham. We worked with civil engineer George Webb and Bournville Architect Ian Tipton to show how maths can be used to support people caught up in a natural disaster.

The students worked out how to transport water and medical staff to 5000 people on an island off the Thai coast affected by a tsunami, seeing how maths can be used in the real world. They saw how in real-life situations we sometimes need to make assumptions and then need to adapt models when situations change, in this project in partnership with Bright Space.

We also held practical sessions in the gym, with students pacing out the space they thought a family of four would need for a temporary shelter. Ian Tipton looked at heights and shapes of tents, comparing those used at festivals like Glastonbury and those for refugees in displacement camps. Working out volumes, we found out that pyramids and cones were more ‘efficient’ than rectangles but less comfortable to live in. The students constructed scale models for a temporary encampment, with room for 5000 families, clinics and schools, and invited the British Red Cross to review their work.

Bournville Architects is part of Bournville Village Trust, a housing association in Birmingham and Telford. Bournville Architects already had a connection with Turves Green College, having designed their new sports hall.