Coming soon: Make 12 investigation, ratio and decimals

With the summer holidays nearly upon us  we have a rather nice number investigation for Year 3. Using exactly 5 of the cards, how many ways can 12 be made? As with all of these mini investigations children need to be encouraged to work in a well organised, ordered way rather than haphazardly.

We will also be publishing our second page on ratio and proportion, an area of maths which is less well covered than the traditional four rules but nevertheless involves key concepts.

An important part of this page is to be able to show the ratios in the simplest form. This process is similar to showing fractions in their simplest form, for example 6:4 can be simplified to 3:2 by dividing each by 2.

For year 6, a calculator/decimal page. This again looks at decimal fractions and how to manipulate them. The first set of questions involve changing decimals, using either the multiplication or division keys of the calculator, in just one step.

The second set of questions use the add or subtract keys. A good test of understanding place value.

Calculator game: 6x table

The six times table is one of the hardest to learn, but here is another in our calculator games sequence which will help reinforce the table. Remember the idea is to choose a number on the board and then work out which number multiplied by 6 will make the chosen number.

This can be found in our Year 4 resources under Knowing Number Facts.

6x table calculator game

Resource of the Week: know pairs that make 20

know-pairs-that-make-20-pg-2

Here we have a straightforward maths worksheet on knowing pairs of numbers that add up to twenty. This is suitable for year 2 children or those who are already very confident with knowing pairs of numbers that make ten.

If these facts are not known there are several ways of working the answers out, including:

1. Counting on from the smaller number.

2. Counting on from the smaller number up to 10 and then adding another 10. (If smaller number is below 10.)

3. Counting back from 20, which is trickier.

A good follow up to this page is to ask how many different ways you can make 20 by adding just two numbers.

If you are looking for resources for Key Stage 1, then urbrainy.com is well worth a visit.

Know pairs that make 20 (pg 2)

Year 5 maths worksheet: ratio and proportion

This can be quite a tricky subject for children to fully understand. If there are 6 yellow cubes and four blue cubes we can say that the ratio of yellow to blue is 6 to 4. This can be simplified to 3 to 2.

The proportion is usually written as a fraction of the whole lot, so the proportion of yellow cubes would be 6 out of 10, or when simplified, 3 out of 5. This can be written as a fraction 3/5.

In the same way, the proportion of blue cubes would be 4 out of 10 or 2 out of 5 (2/5).

A good way to check that the proportions are correct is to add the fractions which should make one.

3/5 + 2/5 = 5/5 or 1.

Ratio and proportion (1)

Year 3 maths worksheet: Counting back

This is the second page of revising counting back in whole tens from any 2-digit or 3-digit number. Some children still find this difficult, especially when it involves crossing a hundreds boundary. If children do find this hard it is well worthwhile going back to a large number square and making sure that they are confident with counting on, crossing the hundreds boundary.

Revise counting back in tens (2)

Ratio and proportion, counting back and calculator game

We sometimes take for granted that children can count without any problems. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. Next week we  publish the second page of revising counting back in whole tens from any 2-digit or 3-digit number, aimed at year 3 children. Some children still find this difficult, especially when it involves crossing a hundreds boundary and they will need as much practice as possible.

Ratio and proportion can also be quite a tricky subject for children to fully understand. If there are 6 yellow cubes and four blue cubes we can say that the ratio of yellow to blue is 6 to 4 or 6:4. This can be simplified to 3 to 2 or 3:2.

The proportion is usually written as a fraction of the whole lot, so the proportion of yellow cubes would be 6 out of 10, or when simplified, 3 out of 5. This can be written as a fraction 3/5. This is usually covered in year 5 and developed further in year 6.

The six times table is one of the hardest to learn, but we will be publishing another in our calculator games sequence which will help reinforce this table as a great revision exercise for year 4.

Maths worksheet: Divide decimals by 10 or 100

This is a good revision sheet for Year 6 to make sure that they understand the process of dividing decimals by 10 or 100. Knowledge of this is crucial for success in High School.

To divide by 10 move each digit one place to the right.

To divide by 100 move each digit two places to the right.

Sometimes a zero can be removed. For example: 360 divided by 100 is 3.60 or 3.6.

Sometimes a zero needs to be added. For example: £33 divded by 100 is £0.33.

Divide by 10 and 100

Resource of the week: Year 4 pictogram

pictogram-cars

Graphs are often perceived as a quite easy part of maths, but many children find interpreting them correctly quite tricky. This page looks at the most popular cars seen in a village. Each picture of a car represents 5 cars. Again this page should be seen more as a starter to go and collect data themselves and make their own pictograms.  Problems might arise when the data is not in whole fives or tens. This can be solved by showing part of a car eg a wheel could represent one car. This would need to be shown clearly on the pictogram.

This and other handling Data activities can be found in our Year 4 resources.

Pictogram: most popular cars

What are Dyscalculia and Dyslexia?

Dyscalculia and Dyslexia! Two tricky words to spell, but they could be part of the reason why your child has turned off maths, even at an early age.

Sometimes the problems our children have with maths seem almost inexplicable and it can be very  frustrating as an adult trying to help a child who just seems ‘not to get maths!’ The real causes of problems may be quite deep rooted and have little or nothing to do with intelligence or lack of effort, but have much more to do with processing and acquiring the skills of mathematics. URBrainy have just published the first of a short series of simple, straightforward articles on how dyslexia and dyscalculia can affect children’s progress in maths.

If you have a child who has problems with time or direction, reverses digits when writing numbers down, or can’t seem to remember simple sequences or ‘tables’ then it would be well worth taking a couple of minutes to read this first article.

Read the article: What are Dyscalculia and Dyslexia?

Calculator game: 5x table

This is another in our series of using a calculator to help learn and reinforce tables. To be successful with this game you need to know your 5x table: the calculator just confirms your correct mental arithmetic (or not!). This series of calculator activities for 2x, 3x, 5x and 10x tables are all found in the Year 3: Know number facts section.

5x table calculator game