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Scalene triangles
A lot of work is done on triangles in Primary Schools and by year 5 and 6 most children are familiar with the properties of right angled triangles, equilateral triangles and isosceles trinagles. However, fewer children know about the scalene triangle. A scalene triangle is one which has no sides the same length and no equal angles. It is worth pointing out that right angled triangles could also be scalene if all the sides are different lengths.
Thanks to MathSphere Ltd for this worksheet: and there are many more similar pages, both on their site and part of the ‘It’s All Figured Out’ CD.
Maths Board Game: Deadly red
Board games are a great way to improve logical thinking and maths concepts. This is a favourite of mine, which I call Deadly Red as the person who takes the red counter at the end loses!
Not a lot of equipment is needed, just:
12 coloured counters, one red counter and a playing board.
The rules of the game are straightforward:
This is a game for two people, but could be played by three.
Place a red counter on the middle dot and the 12 black counters on all the other dots.
The player going first takes away any number of counters – but they must all be from a straight line.
Then the second player has his/her turn.
The player who takes the red counter loses.
On the next page you will find a board which can be printed out onto card. It is a good idea to cut out and either laminate or ‘sticky back’ this board.
Alternative rules:
1.The player taking the last counter (red) is the winner.
It might appear at first that it is luck as to who wins, but with after playing a few times you might be able to work out a few strategies which will ensure you win most of the time.
Year 6 SAT questions
With SATs just a couple of weeks away now is the time of year that schools intensify their year 6 revision.. The types of question that come up are fairly predictable and follow a similar layout each year. It is well worthwhile, therefore, to let your children have a practice at the style of questions they are likely to come across on the test.
We have a good selection of SAT questions which can be printed free of charge, including pages on:
writing numbers
making mathematical statements true
completing number sentences
number problems
time problems
symmetry
Year 3 graphs
I have published a page on graphs for year 3 children today; thanks to urbrainy for this resource. The main difference with data handling from year 2 to year 3 is that the reading divisions becomes harder as they may no longer go up in ones. Hence children are having to find numbers half way between two others.
This graph looks at interpreting the data of a graph showing the most popular zoo animals. The second page shows a blank tally chart so that children can collect their own data and then create their own graph.
Resource of the Week: written addition
Written methods of calculating continue to prove to be some of the more popular pages on the site. This week I would like to highlight a Year 5 maths worksheet on written addition which is the second in a series showing children clearly how addition should be laid out and also giving them the opportunity to re-write questions from a horizontal lay out to a vertical layout. The hardest part of this is to ensure the numbers line up under each other, starting with the units on the far right. Squares can help with this in the early stages, but children should also get used to laying them out correctly without squared paper.
Rarely, if ever, will you find a SATs addition question which has been laid out already in the traditional, or standard method but it is expected that children use this method when solving a difficult addition calculation.
This pager can be found in our Year 5 Calculating section. Similar pages, with more detailed instructions, can also be found in our Four Rules section.
Year 5 division problems: calculating mentally
Here is the second page which looks at Year 5 division problems that can be answered by using mental skills. The questions cover a range of concepts involving division, including:
remainders
divisibility rule for 9
and factors.
Watch out for errors that occur in questions such as number 9, where the number of whole lengths of wire is calculated and the remainder is irrelevant.
This page, and other similar worksheets can be found in the Year 5 calculating category.
Resource of the week: sorting shapes in Year 1
One of the earliest stages of data handling is to be able to sort and a lot of practical work can be done, such as tidying up a drawer of pens, pencils, paper clips etc. Don’t underestimate this type of practical activity as it is important for children learning to group and order objects.
The next stage is to be able to record the results and here we have a simple page where the two sets of shapes can be sorted and recorded on the columns.
The outlines of the cylinders and cubes are provided and it is just a matter of counting the number of each shape and recording by colouring the correct number on the columns.
The task can be extended by providing real cubes, keeping to two or three colours and recording how many there are in columns.
This page can be found in our Handling Data section for Year 1.
Year 1 maths worksheet: subtraction
It has been a while since I published anything for year 1, so here are a couple of pages on understanding subtraction. They look very straightforward but there are a number of concepts involved here:
Firstly, understanding that the phrase, ‘How many are left’ .
Secondly, relating subtraction to ‘taking away’.
Thirdly, the answer can be found by counting up from a number.
Fourthly, the answer can be found by counting back from the larger number.
Finally, that the minus sign means subtract.
Thanks to urbrainy.com for letting me use these two pages.
Resource of the Week: Easter co-ordinates for Year 4
As we move towards Easter it is always fun to have some maths linked to the time of year.
There are several important aspects to this page. Firstly the axes are numbered rather than the spaces. This is an important step as the conventions of using co-ordinates come into play. It is important to show how co-ordinates are written:
e.g. (3, 1)
Brackets are always placed around the co-ordinates, with the numbers separated by a comma. The position (3, 1) means 3 along and 1 up, which in this case takes you to the pink rabbit (and not the rabbit holding the basket of eggs).
The grid can be used for further work: e.g.
1.ask how you can move along the lines to go from one point to another (2 along and 1 up)
2. Draw more features at the points and ask where they are positioned.
3. Ask child to draw an egg at a certain point etc.
This can be found in the Year 4 Shape category.
Thanks to urbrainy.com for allowing me to use it.
Year 3 graphs
There are two main aspects to graphical work, one is to collect and organise data and the other is to interpret the results whether shown as a graph, pictogram etc.
This page looks at interpreting a bar chart showing the number of packets of crisps sold by a corner shop over the course of a week. One of the main concepts here is that the vertical axis is labelled in twos rather than just going up in ones. This means that children must be able to read from unlabelled axes for the first time.
There are plenty of simple calculations here with questions such as, ‘How many more packets of crisps were sold on Sunday than on Friday?’ but there are also questions to make children think a little more carefully about what the bar chart is showing. These are more open ended, with no one correct answer and are good starting points for discussion.
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