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Helping your child to solve problems in mathematics at home Spring 2014
Helping your child to solve problems in mathematics at home
Spring 2014
00/00/2013 Emma Blackman
Aims Reason mathematically
Problem solving and using and applying in context
Fluency with conceptual understanding
National curriculum Key messages
There is greater emphasis on- • fluency with understanding • quick accurate recall • precision • problem solving• analysis• use of mathematical vocabulary to communicate,
justify or prove• mental expectations are explicit • algebra is explicit in 6
What is problem solving?
Cognitive process directed at achieving a goal when no solution is obvious to the problem solver
Related to thinking, reasoning, decision making, critical thinking and creative thinking
What knowledge does your child need to become a
successful problem solver?O Knowledge of facts
O Knowledge of concepts
O Knowledge of procedures
O Knowledge of strategies
Problem Solving Strategies
O Guess ( and check or improve)O Act it outO DrawO Make a table or listO AlgebraO Working backwardsO Simplify the problemO Find all the possibilities
Questions to think, reason and explain
O How can we get started on this problem?
O What do you already know that could get us started on this problem?
O What pattern can you see? What reasons might there be for this pattern?
O Can you explain what is happening?O Which is the best method to use?
Why?O What could we look at next?
Activities to support your child
O Keep it to real life
O Use stories or their favourite film
O Deliver it through your child’s interest
Problem solving in stories
Rainbow Fish repeating patterns
O Create your own Rainbow fish using a selection of colours.
O Can you create a repeating pattern e.g. red scale, blue scale, yellow scale.
Aliens Love Underpants
O Have blank underpants, add a repeating pattern
O Create an alien or a rocket with 2d shapes. Can you name the shapes.
How many different ways could we make the following amounts of money?
Mama Panya’s PancakesPancakes are eaten all around the
world. They have different names in different countries. Recipe for the pancakes are:Ingredients: make six pancakesO 150gms plain flourO 500mls cold waterO 5 tablespoons of sunflower oilO ½ teaspoon saltO ½ teaspoon nutmegO ½ teaspoon red chilli flakesHow much would you need to make different quantities of pancakes? E.g. three pancakes; 12 pancakes; 15 pancakes.
O Look at the types of fruits that are grown in Kenya/ Africa. (Mango, papaya, pineapple, banana, lemons, oranges, pawpaw and guava all grow well there).
O True or false?O An orange weighs more
than a two lemons.
O I want exactly a kilo of fruit, which ones can I buy?
Dougal’s Deep Sea DiaryExplore these statements and
say whether they are True or False, giving your reasoning why they are or are not true:
There are 3600 seconds in an hour.
There are 1440 minutes in a day.
There are 8760 hours in a year.
300 minutes is longer than four hours.
O What are 40 winks?
O Calculate how many days (and as an extension – hours or even minutes) until the next school holiday.
Problem solving in films
Problem solving in sportArsenal have gained …. Points in … games. How many times have they won, drawn and lost?
At a football game a ticket cost £35.00 There are 20 home games. A) If a season ticket costs £625, how much would a football supporter save. B) How many games would a football supporter need to attend for it become more profitable to buy a season ticket?
11 people play in a game at one time. How many players will there be on the pitch at one time?
Problem solving in the kitchen
O RecipesO Time duration – placing things in the
ovenO Measuring liquids and converting
measurements
Problem solving in the bathroom
O Do I use more water in the bath or in the shower? How could I find out? What measuring equipment would I need?
O If I want to cut my water bill down by 10%. How much water would I need to save?
O If it takes 5 minutes to fill a bath with 100L, how long would it take to fill 40 L?
Finding all the different possibilities
O How many different ways (order) could the three toy cars drive across the bridge?
O How could we record that?O How could we check that we have all
the possibilities
Suzie made some cakes. She put them on plates in groups of 10. She had 8 full plates and 7 cakes left over. How many cakes did she have altogether?
Act it out
Table or List
O Each week Grandma gives me a 20p coin and a 5p coin. I save them in my piggy bank.
O How long will it take me to save up £1.00?
O How much will I save in a month? In a year?
O How much will I have saved by week 10?
O George says, “It will take me 18 weeks to save up to buy a book costing £4.75”. Is he correct?
Each of the following shapes has a value:
= 7 =17 =?
The value of the circle changes in each of the following problems.Can you discover its value in each problem, if the value of the shapes are being added together?
=25
= 48
Finding the missing values, early algebra…
Mobile Phone Pad
Looking at pattern with your times tables…
Games
