Maths news
Resource of the Week: decimal fractions
Some children have difficulty realising that the same numbers can be written in different ways, especially when dealing with decimals and decimal fractions. This page is a good test of understanding, probably most suited for year 5 children (/10 yrs old).
0.23 can be read as 23 hundredths or 2 tenths and 3 hundredths. As a fraction it would be written as 23/100.
With a number such as four and three hundredths it is important to keep the zero in the tenths so that it is written as 4.03.
Watch out for a common mistake on a question such as thirteen hundredths when children write 0.013; the one digit has been placed in the hundredths column when it should be in the tenths with the 3 digit in the hundredths.
Resource of the Week: subtraction across the thousands boundary
This Year 4 maths worksheet can reveal a great deal about how children deal with numbers. It looks at finding differences crossing the thousands boundary.
Let’s look at 3005 – 8 which is easier to do mentally than on paper.
There are several ways that this can be done.
1. Count down, one at a time, 8 from 3005, saying each number as you go. Fingers may be held up on each count down until 8 is reached.
3004, (1), 3003 (2), 3002 (3), 3001 (4), 3000 (5), 2999 (6), 2998 (7), 2997 (8)
2. A different way is to take the 8 from 3000, then add 5.
3000 – 8 = 2992
2992 + 5 = 2997
3. A third way is to take 5 off the 8 leaving 3.
Then take 3 off 3000 = 2997
It is well worth talking to children about how they do this kind of question and what strategies they employ. Much will depend on their knowledge of number.
If this question ia attempted using the standard written method for subtraction there are many children who will get confused with the adjustments that have to be made (crossing out tens and borrowing etc).
Resource of the week: change from ten pence
Using coins is a vital part of understanding number as it provides concrete examples of numbers in action. It is a really good idea to have a set of coins that can be counted out and swapped e.g. 5 one pence coins exchanged for a 5p piece etc. Why not set up a little shop at home and take turns buying and selling items? There is an amazing amount of maths involved in this, from learning how to write numbers to counting on and back and finding two or three lots of a number. If a shop is not available why not try this page?
Thanks to urbrainy.com for this money worksheet, suitable for year 1 children.
The worksheet asks for the change needed after spending various amounts. The easiest way to work out change is to start with the amount spent and count on up to 10. Eventually it is expected that children will know, off by heart’ the answers. In other words they will know, without counting that if you spend 6p you will have 4p change.
Resource of the Week: Year 6 Prime Factors
The term ‘prime factor’ is one which would make many adults shudder as they try to think back to their school days. In fact, it is a term that children would probably not met until secondary school, but is now firmly incorporated into the primary curriculum.
Here we have a maths worksheet for year 6 on how to find prime factors. Before attempting this page it is necessary for children to have a good understanding of what factors are and what prime numbers are.
One of the easiest ways of finding prime factors is to use a diagram, rather like a tree diagram with the numbers at the bottom all being the prime factors. Frequently the same number is found more than once. For example the prime factors of 36 are 3, 3, 2 and 2.
Starting with the number itself, find two numbers which multiply together to make that number. For example 36 can be made by multiplying 18 by 2. 18 and 2 are both factors of 36. Repeat this process until only prime numbers are left.
A good way of checking if all the factors have been found is to multiply them and the original number should result. e.g. 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 = 36
This page is found in our Year 6 calculating section .
Resource of the week: More than and less than signs
This week I am highlighting a worksheet on the ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ signs. Children from Year 3 onwards are now expected to recognise and understand these signs. This is very different from most adults experience, who would not have met these signs until much later. As the two signs are so similar this can be quite a tricky idea for children to remember. Hopefully, this page will help.
> means ‘is more than’
< means ‘is less than’
From year 1 children have been used to working with the terms ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ but this does not mean that they will understand and use the signs (especially as to many children it looks like the same sign flipped on its side). The way I remember it is that the arrow always points to the smaller number.
A key point in trying to become familiar with the signs is to read out loud number sentences so just as you can say that
3 +4 = 7 (three add four equals seven)
you can say that 3 + 4 > 6 (three add four is more than six).
This page can be found in our Year 3 Counting and Number category.
Resource of the Week: Year 2 block graphs
It is in year 2 that children really get to grips with simple block graphs and here is one of the superb sets of year 2 maths worksheets which URBrainy.com have allowed me to publish. There are two aspects to block graphs. Firstly, interpreting a graph and understanding what it shows. Secondly, collecting suitable data to create a block graph.
This page is suitable for 6/7 year old children and looks at the favourite sandwich fillings of a class:- always a popular subject.
The first page involves interpreting the results of the graph, whilst the second page is a template which can be printed and used by the child to show the results of their own survey. It is well worth going to URBrainy as a simple log in process allows access to all their resources for a week as well as printing up to ten sets of worksheets. If you are looking for full and detailed coverage of Key Stage 1 then I can highly recommend this.
Resource of the Week: Simple Maths Games
Whilst most of the mathsblog site is about maths worksheets we do have a small selection of fun maths games for young children.
Listen under the Reception/Year 1 Maths Games there are over 20 simple maths games which younger children children may like to play and which will certanly help with counting, ordering and addition .
Here is one example to help with counting.
Help Ted colour his white balloons. Just by clicking in the balloons the colour will change.
One click will make a balloon go Red.
Two clicks will turn the balloon Blue.
Three clicks will change the colour to Gold.
Don’t forget to press Go when you think the colours are correct!
This is great practice at counting, why not have a go?
More games can be found in our Maths Games section.
Maths Games: Adding game for Year 3 onwards
This Maths game is a great way to practise addition of small numbers. It is a game for two players and can be a good challenge for adults as well as children. Each player takes it in turn to place a counter over one of the numbers. When a counter is paced on the board the number is added to a joint total. It is a good idea to write the totals down as you go along, so that totals can be checked, or there might be a dispute! Once a counter has been placed it cannot be picked up.
The aim of the game is to make the total come to exactly 31. The player who does so is the winner.
If a player places a counter to make the total over 31 he/she loses.
This is a game of strategy and and there are times when the total can not be reached (perhaps if all the ones have been covered).
National Numeracy
Once again the poor performance in maths of many adults rears its head as the charity ‘National Numeracy’ states that almost half of British adults have the maths skills of an 11 year old, or worse. This is a new charity launched today as an organisation to champion the importance of number skills for people of all ages.
Over the last eight years the number of people with the numeracy skills of an eleven year old or worse has increased from 15 million to 17 million (49% of all 16 to 59 year olds.)
The charity also highlights the ‘badge of honour’ that people wear, proudly proclaiming that they are no good at maths, something I have talked about before on several occasions.
Chris Humphries, chairman of National Numeracy and former chief executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, said: “It is simply not acceptable for anyone to say ‘I can’t do maths’.
Lacking maths skills has serious outcomes for people as people with low numeracy skills are twice as likely to be unemployed.
Interestingly, calculators are not blamed,
“Even with calculators they can’t do these problems because they don’t have enough understanding to interpret problems or analyse them,” he said.
Here are questions from the test
1. Screws come in packets of 30. Each bracket needs four screws. What will one packet of screws be enough for?
A: 6 brackets with 3 screws left over;
B: 7 brackets with 2 screws left over;
C: 7 brackets with 3 screws left over;
D: 8 brackets exactly
2. Hasran has planned a new TV cupboard. A TV is 40cm wide and will sit in the middle of a shelf that is 900mm wide. How wide is the gap on each side of the TV?
A: 10cm; B. 25cm; C. 43cm; D. 50cm
3. Match these discounts with the following labels:
1. £300 reduced to £180
2. £240 reduced to 160
3. £350 reduced to £280
Labels:
A. Amazing 1/3 off!
B. Massive 20% off!
C. Slashed by 30%!
D. Reduced by 40p in the £
Resource of the Week: How to do written multiplication
Some of our most popular resouces are to do with written methods of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. This is just one of our worksheets that show how to use the standard or efficient method to multiply a 3-digit number by a single digit. There are other methods equally good, but it is important that children keep to one method that they become confident with. It presumes a good knowledge of tables before starting.
For example: 436 x 7.
First, do an estimate of the answer.
436 x 7 is approximately 400 x 7 which is 2800. The answer will be over 2800.
Then set the sum out in a vertical layout:
436
x 7
Start with the units.
6 x 7 is 42. Put the 2 in the units and carry the 4 tens into the tens column, under the answer line.
Then multiply the tens.
3 (tens) x 7 is 21(tens). Add the 4 (tens). to make 25(tens).
Place the 5 in the tens column and carry the 2 (hundreds) into the hundreds column.
Finally the hundreds.
4 (hundreds) x 7 is 28 (hundreds). Add the 2 (hundreds) to make 30 (hundreds).
Place the zero in the hundreds column and the 3 in the thousands column.
The answer is 3052.
A clearer layout of this is available on the worksheet explanation.
Further written multiplication worksheets can be found in the Year 5 and Year 6 Calculations sections.
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