Maths Blog - Free Maths Worksheets, Resources and Reviews

World Maths Day

March 3rd 2010 is going to be a very special day in the maths calendar. It is World Maths Day!!

In 2009 World Maths Day saw over 2 million students from 204 countries answering a staggering 452,681,681 (452 million) questions correctly – all in one day!!

This year features an exciting new format with multi-levels for all age groups. Teachers, parents and media are invited to participate for the first time.

The organisers are hoping to beat last year’s record in this year’s great mental arithmetic challenge.
Registration is free for both schools and students and registrations are already open with over one million signed up.

What’s it all about?

Students play against each other at live mental arithmetic games, in real time across the whole world. Each game lasts 60 seconds and a student can play up to 500 games (that’s over 8 hours of solid maths, but you don’t have to do that much!!)

You register to get a user name and password. When you sign in on the day the Live Mathletics game engine will search the globe for worthy opponents.

Then its GAME ON!

Each correct answer is worth one point.! Open to all ages from 5 to 18 and all ability levels.
It’s FREE and there are some great prizes.
So remember the date and keep it free for World Maths Day!

To find out more just go to:

http://www.worldmathsday.com/

Maths worksheet: Add decimals mentally (2)

This is a follow up page to an earlier worksheet on adding decimals mentally. The approach is probably the same as adding 2-digit numbers, in that most people seem to do these ‘in their head’ by adding the units first and then adding on the decimals.

So, with 4.6 + 3.5 my thinking would probably go along the lines of:

‘4 + 3 is 7, making 7.6 plus point 5 which is 8.1’.

It is not the only approach, but is usually a very effective one.

Add two decimals mentally (2)

Resource of the Week: Moving towards standard written methods of addition

Just one page is not enough for children to become confident with a method, so as often as possible I include at least a second maths worksheet in this case, on ‘moving towards standard written methods’ of 2-digit addition’.
With this method the units are added and placed below the sum, making sure the units are in line and the ten is placed in the tens column. The tens are then added and placed below. The crucial concept here is to remember that it is tens which are being added, so there will be a zero in the units column to ensure that the tens numbers are kept in line. Finally the two answers are added.
This method shows clearly what is happening and should clarify the troublesome ‘carrying’ of the tens when using the standard written method.
Moving towards standard written methods of addition (2)

Year 6 Maths Worksheet: Negative numbers magic square

Magic squares come in all sorts of formats and these are quite challenging as they involve adding negative and positive numbers and are probably most suited to Year 6 children (10/11 yrs old).

On all three squares the numbers to put into the squares are given and on the first puzzle there is a clue that each row, column and diagonal adds up to -3.

To be successful with these it is important to work out what the centre number should be and what the total of each row etc should be.

There are several different ways of solving these magic squares and just one way is shown on the answer page.

Magic square negative numbers

Times tables: 3x table pairs

Children need an awful lot of practice and ‘overlearning’ if they are ever really going to know their tables. By knowing, I mean instant response, so that they know that 3 x 6 is 18 just as quickly as if they had been asked their name!

It’s always good to find a slightly different approach and this worksheet does just that. The numbers 0 to 10 and the numbers 3 times as great are all on the sheet. All that has to be done is link each pair.

Thanks to urbrainy.com for this page. They have an excellent range of maths games and worksheets for young children and the site is well worth a visit.

3 times table number links

Coming soon: 3x table, negative numbers and adding decimals

Magic squares come in all sorts of formats and our pages next week are quite challenging as they involve adding negative and positive numbers and are probably most suited to Year 6 children (10/11 yrs old).

We also have a follow up page to an earlier worksheet on adding decimals mentally. The approach is probably the same as adding 2-digit numbers, in that most people seem to do these ‘in their head’ by adding the units first and then adding on the decimals.

Year 5 Maths Worksheets: Square numbers (3)

‘Maths is all about patterns!’ said my maths lecturer over 30 years ago and this worksheet on square numbers proves just how right he was. It uses a blank 10×10 square to show the pattern made when producing square numbers.

It is interesting to note that the second square number (4) is made by adding the first two odd numbers (1 + 3) and the third square number is made up of the first three odd numbers (1 + 3 + 5 = 9). This pattern continues (for ever!) with the fourth square number (16) made up of (1 + 3 + 5 + 7) and so on. By colouring in the number square it should be apparant to children why this is happening.

Square numbers 3

Resource of the Week: Year 6 fractions vocabulary

$vocab-y6-fractions-png$ Don’t forget that we have a great range of pages which provide information and printable resources on what is expected in each year group by the primary Framework for Maths. This list contains the key vocabulary for Fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio in year 6.
Children will have come across all these words in earlier years, but by the end of year 6 (10/11 yr old) they should have a good understanding of all of them

Fraction proper fraction improper fraction

Numerator denominator

Equivalent reduced to cancel

Half quarter eighth

Third sixth ninth twelfth

Fifth tenth twentieth

Hundredth thousandth

Proportion decimal fraction

Decimal point decimal place

percentage per cent %

When spelling, the word twelfth often causes problems. They are all shown in a larger font below if you want to cut them out and print them.

If you are unsure of any of the meanings try one of the free online maths dictionaries such as at
www.mathsphere.co.uk or www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
(Taken from Mathematical Vocabulary Book DfEE)

Year 6 vocabulary: fractions, decimals and percentages

Year 2 maths worksheet: Addition investigation

Here we have a maths investigation on addition, suitable for year 2. There are four numbers shown. The task is to choose any three numbers and add them up. Each number can be used up to 3 times, but the total sum must not include more than 3 numbers. So the sum could be 2 + 2 + 2, or 2 + 4 + 4 etc.

How many different ways are there of doing this and how many different answers are there.

These mini investigations are all about logical thinking, trying things out, working in a systematic way, recording information and checking that results have not been duplicated. They should also be fun. Most young children will not work in a systematic way, will repeat results and miss results – that is to be expected. But, over time they should begin to develop these skills. This investigation is good at encouraging working in a methodical way, starting with the smallest numbers, or starting with the largest numbers.

Thanks to urbrainy.com for this contribution.

Addition: how many ways?

Times tables: 4 times table

The normal route through learning tables is to start with the twos and tens as these are probably the tables most familiar to children. The next stage is usually to learn the fives, followed by fours. The four times table has a number of characteristics which can be pointed out to help children. Firstly, all the answers are even, so must end in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8. Secondly it is double the two times tables. Doubling is a very powerful mental arithmetic tool and some cultures incorporate it into all their multiplying. Continue reading “Times tables: 4 times table”