How can you make mathematics interesting for low achievers who may find the subject difficult and largely irrelevant to their experiences? Is it possible to engage a child’s interest by showing how mathematics is involved in nearly every human activity? This series of five programmes has been designed to do just that.

The series is based around the theme of holidays, air travel and airports. Each 20-minute programme is presented by Gareth Jones and Sheryl Simms in an engaging and pleasant manner. The style is rather like a version of Blue Peter for adolescents, crossed with a magazine item plenty of interviews with workers in the air transport and travel industries mixed with the presenters clambering through half-built aircraft or sitting in a flight simulator.

Several of the programmes involve members of the public. Some are asked to estimate the weight of their suitcases, for example. Pupils from London schools participate in two of the programmes.

The mathematical concepts covered include weight, money, area, volume, time and directions all at a simple level. In the first programme, the component costs of a Pounds 300 package tour are illustrated by a pie chart. However, no attempt is made to demonstrate how the sectors of the chart have been calculated.

There is a good section on foreign exchange, with Gareth Jones offering a tee-shirt to passengers waiting to depart from Gatwick. He tells them that the shirt is worth Pounds 15 and offers it in the currency of the country to which they are flying. The passengers have to work out whether or not the foreign currency version is a good deal. This section and a later one filmed in Spain provides some good examples of mental arithmetic and estimation.

The second programme on area and volume contains virtually no maths, but it was fascinating to discover how the space in an Airbus is used, especially the relief crew’s removable module.

The third programme, on time, has an interesting section on air and ground traffic control. There is also a race between the presenters, accompanied by some pupils, to get from Watford to Gatwick in time to check in for a flight. One team uses rail, the others risks the roadworks and jams of the M25.

In the fourth programme, the problem which faces aircrew of deciding how much fuel to take is well illustrated. The idea of the mean weight of men, women and children is clearly shown, and all the other relevant factors are discussed.

The need for accuracy in real life is demonstrated by the story of an Air Canada plane which ran out of fuel 70km from its destination and glided in safely. The crew had used the wrong factor when converting the volume of fuel to its weight.

The final programme shows how bearings are used to determine flight paths. Many pupils will envy the two who get to test their flight plans in a simulator.

These programmes are enjoyable, but I feel that many opportunities to include mathematics, even at a simple level, have been lost. They will be useful as stimuli, but a lot of further work will be needed in the classroom.