As part of mt PGCE course I had to create an ICT resource to teach some element of the Maths Curriculum.

I decided to try and tackle the traditional Max Box Problem in which you are presented with a sheet (in this case of paper, but it could be anything) and asked to find the open box with the biggest volume. I had at the time been reading through an issue of MicroMath (20/3 Winter 2004) and came across an interesting article:

The Power of Excel by Chua Boon-Liang and Wu Yingkang

In which the authors tried to present a novel approach to the Maximum area problem for a given length of fencing. Using this as a guide I decided to design a similar approach to tackle to Max Box Problem.

I decided as I had gone to the trouble of putting it all together I may as well share the resource with other people who may find it helpful.

So here it is…

Excel File: MaxBox 2020

Essay: MaxBox Essay

To make the algebra a little easier I finally altered the essay to use squares of paper which where 20cm by 20cm.

If you find this useful or have any ideas on how I could improve this then drop me a comment!