Hunter students swapped their calculators for rugby balls as they learnt how maths has real-world uses outside of the classroom.
More than 80 year 7 and 8 Indigenous students from schools spanning from Newcastle down to the Central Coast grabbed their workbooks and put on their sneakers for the University of Newcastle's Aboriginal Numeracy Gala Day.
The high school students joined university students for a day of active learning at the Newcastle Permanent Centre of Excellence on Tuesday June 9.
In its fifth year, the day is a collaboration between the Newcastle Knights and the university, with NRLW players Georgie Roche, Simone Karpani and Botille Vette-Welsh joining the activities.
Students improved their numeracy skills through activities such as measuring the angles of a kick, calculating agility speed and finding out by how much running increases their heart rate.
Kurri Kurri year 8 student Jayla Hull said she loved maths and sports which made the day perfect for her.
"It's better than sitting with a piece of paper and a calculator, you get to learn on a field," she said.
"I'm finding it pretty fun."
Her friend, Layla Butler, a year 7 student at Kurri Kurri High School said it was a great way to learn and spend time with her friends.
"I do find it's just a little bit hard in some areas but today has helped," Ms Butler said.
She said she learnt that calculating the area of the field was not as hard as she thought.
"You can always find a way to make it fun," she said.
"The people we are working with are really helpful and really nice," she said.
The event was facilitated by education, exercise and sports science students from the university.
Primary education student Ned Jennings said he heard about the course from his tutors and he wanted to get involved because he had always loved sports.
"The combination of both math and physical education was something that was exciting me," he said.
As a future teacher, Mr Jennings said it was important to emphasise physical education and learning for students.
"If we can get students out and engaging in learning through hands-on activity, it will sink in much better," he said.
University of Newcastle Wollotuka Institute student recruitment officer Jack Smith said the day also helped introduce Indigenous students to the university and to future opportunities available to them.
"A lot of kids might not like that formal classroom setting of maths," he said.
"We are showing that there is a fun side to mathematics and there's a way to do it that isn't just sitting in a classroom."
