Numeracy

Edinburgh Council - Maths in a context

Edinburgh City is focusing on the provision for more able pupils in P7.

The project is being taken forward by the Boroughmuir High School and James Gillespies High School clusters and involves Preston Street, Bruntsfield, South Morningside, Sciennes, and Buckstone Primary Schools. In these schools there are a significant number of pupils working at or beyond Level E. The steering group wish to identify a ‘maths in context’ topic which can be used as a bridging unit and or extension material in P7.

For this task, pupils had to design a new leisure centre for the local area. A site measuring a hectare has been identified for the building, car park and outdoor facilities. Pupils to work together in small groups to produce scale drawings and models of the building and its interior.

The topic will provide the background for ‘rich’ questions in mathematics which will allow the more able pupils to be stretched but will also encourage discussion and a whole class approach. A successful topic would deepen the understanding of maths at Level E and may allow extension into Level F.

When the project has been evaluated, the materials will be shared with other schools and the possibility of developing other topics will be explored.

Benefits

  • An opportunity to put mathematical skills into a context
  • The background for ‘rich’ questions in mathematics which will allow the more able pupils to be stretched while also encouraging discussion and a whole class approach
  • Deepen a pupil’s understanding of maths at Level E with possible extension into Level F

Objectives

  • Complete a survey of facilities required from a leisure centre in the local area
  • Design and build to scale a 3D model of the main leisure centre building/s and the area outside
  • Produce scale drawings of the interior of the building
  • Create a detailed plan of one area using a 3D model and proportion
  • Produce pie charts of survey results and budget expenditure

Learning outcomes

  • Multiplying and dividing in applications, including metric conversions, areas, volumes, square km and square m, hectares and tonnes
  • Working with all widely used fractions and decimals to 3 dp (including for applications) eg 1/20 of 300m
  • Collecting by selecting sources of information, including experiments, surveys and sampling.
  • Multiplying and dividing in applications involving 3dp, and money to 2dp.
  • Multiplying and dividing in applications to 3dp, including currencies and proportion.
  • Using a 16 point compass rose to describe journeys and give directions including reverse directions.
  • Using scales to produce or interpret drawings of routes or journeys with ratios such as 1:100.
  • Displaying by constructing pie charts of data expressed in percentages, including with the aid, where appropriate, of a computer package.

The following PDF outlines the Edinburgh numeracy project in greater detail:

PDF icon PDF File: Maths Numeracy in a Context Presentation (755KB)