2. About the company
The company is called Roust Træ, they make wooden constructions for building
houses. They also make timber structions - rafter for houses. Many employees
work in the company: architects, engineers and building constructors. They use
geometry and trigonometry.
3. Questions for company
How many employees?
Which type of employees work in your company?
Which education do you need to get employed?
Is it important to know math to work at your company?
How can you get this education? It might be different in the other countries.
Do you use the math you learned in public school?
Do you remember all the formulas in mind?
Do you use computers or paper and pencil?
What happens if you make a mistake?
Whose fault is it if some of the targets are wrong?
Do you use geometry in your constructions? If yes, which theory do you apply in
your work?
4. ... more questions for the company.....
How do you decide on the price you sell the rafters? By the weight? By the type of
wood? By the shape ?
Please give us different examples of prices, because I suppose that maybe a
small rafter is more expensive than another one, which is heavier.
5.
6. More questions...
How are employees selected? Is you ob tiring?? How many hours do you work
everyday?
The maths that students are taught in schools is instantly used in your job?
When you design roofs do you use geometrical tools that are similar to those we
use in schools ?
Except mathematics, do you need physics and what kind of knowledge is
required?
7. Ideas for the short movie.....
When we were at the company they asked us to solve a mathematical problem.
“ How many m2 does the roof have to be, given certain lengths and an angle”,
more details for the problem here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocTEDKwcWTs
8. Worst case scenario - write your ideas here.
Maths is essential for the construction of houses and roofs. There is no space for mistakes when it
comes to the safety of individuals. What will happen if something goes wrong?Everything is ready.
Cement, wood, bricks. Workers are waiting for a sign to start. Some workers are standing under the
wooden frame.. The cement is carefully put on the roof but suddenly the wooden roof started collapsing.
The workers under the roof couldn’t see the sunlight anymore. They were trapped under the cement and
the walls that were already builded. They screamed but nobody could helped them. They didn’t have
enough strength to pull the bricks. The works outside the house started panicking. Keep calm, said one of
them, we need to think carefully in order to save our friends. - A mathematical mistake brought in this
situation, said another, so now we have to find a mathematical solution.Let’s do this. They all sat down
understood what happened. They realized that the angles of the roof are not right so they weren’t able to
hold the weight of the cement. Now all together will find a mathematical solution in order to free the
workers.
9. Math in the company
Problem1: If a square meter costs 200 kr. How much does a
house cost if the area of the first floor is 200 m2 and the roof
has an area of 100 m2?
Problem2: If you have an isosceles triangular roof of the
house with the top angle being 40 degrees, how many
degrees are the angles of its base?
Problem3: What percentage of the garden contains grass (shaded
area)?
