This paper reports an inquiry into assessment items classed as 'extended pieces of work' in Applicable Mathematics, in Western Australia. The principal purpose was to identify opportunities for graphics calculator use in 'extended pieces' implemented in schools. Ownership of the technology is widespread because it is mandated for the Applicable Mathematics tertiary entrance examination, which students sit at the end of the Year 12 course. Twenty-one of the twenty-eight pieces that were collected allowed for calculator use and, frequently, choosing to use the technology would have advantaged students, for instance, in supporting conjecture. Practical applications that would not be feasible to solve without the technology were included. Regression analysis and the random number generator were utilized. Overall, availability of the technology has widened the scope of approaches in 'extended pieces of work' in potentially valuable ways. Issues are how conjectures were elicited and calls for 'black box' use of the calculator.

Integration has often been proposed as a potential cure for many of the ills associated with teaching young adolescent students, particularly in subjects that are perceived to have a high level of alienation - mathematics for example. A provocative analogy is presented by Kleiman (1991), who argues that if we taught music the way we traditionally teach mathematics, students would practice scales for years without playing a tune. Mathematics should perhaps be used in rich environments integrated with other learning areas, but the question remains whether students, especially weaker students, learn the basic mathematics concepts when teaching and learning occurs in an integrated environment. This is the story of one example of an interdisciplinary form of integration where the integrity of the various academic disciplines remained clear, while at the same time the connections between subjects were emphasised.

Th e purpo se of this stud y was to in v e s ti g ate s tudent s' learnin g and under s t a nding of the c oncept of forces in the context of a Year 9 c l ass st u d y ing an integr a ted technology unit called th e Bridge Project . D a t a con s i sted of ca ses prepared from observational fie l d notes and formal interviews with the teachers and five of the st u dent s in the c l ass. The res u lts of the ca s e study ind i cated that a ll five interv i ewed st u dents recognised pa s sive forces invo l ved in the equi li br iu m sit u ation of t h e bridge and fo ur of the five s tud ents ap p eare d to accept a force as a fea tur e of i nteract i o n between two objects . T h e resu l ts were surprising when com p ared w it h a vast body of literature that suggests that the major i ty of st u dents of this age associate forces on l y wit h movement and as a p r operty of a sing l e object . S ev era l asp e cts of the cour se that ma y ha v e contribut e d to the s tudent s' under s tanding of f o r c e s a re discussed. R ece n tl y in W ester n Austra l ia, subjec t s s u c h a s man u al a r ts , h ome econom i c s and com p ut in g have b e en s uper s eded b y t h e new l ear n ing area of Tec h nology and Enterpri s e. Th i s new l earning area , t o be i mp l emen t ed in schoo l s ove r th e next fo ur yea r s , i s d escr i be d i n th e recent l y pu bli she d Curri c ulum Fram e work (C u rric ul um Cou n c il , 1 998) a nd h as a s t a tu s eq ui va l e n t w i t h m o r e tra diti ona l l ear n i n g areas s u c h as scie n ce , m a th e m a ti cs a n d E n g li s h . T h e T ec hn o l ogy a nd E nterp r i se l ear n i n g a r ea is d ir ect l y link e d w i th th e Sc i e n ce l ear nin g a r ea i n t

The Australian mathematics education community was shocked to learn of the untimely death of Helen Mansfield in March.Her many overseas friends and colleagues, and all who have been influenced by her passion for life and the excellence of her work, will share the grief of her countrymen in this loss.Helen's death, at the prime of her life and at the start of a new career, is a loss not only to her mother Joyce and daughter Carolyn, but