Recently I was revising y = mx + c with my Year 10s. I was using an app that demonstrated the gradient calculation for different lines. The line started with a vertical change of 2 units and a horizontal of 1 giving a gradient of 2 ÷ 1 = 2. I could then drag the […]
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Steve’s last blog post – Prime factors: Part 1 In my last blog I looked at the number ‘a googol’, which is 10100 and questioned how it would compare to the number of atoms in the universe. Once students have an understanding of standard form including multiplication it is reasonably easy to lead your students through this calculation. It […]
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My students normally arrive well versed in finding prime factors. They enjoy drawing factor trees and generally prefer to call them ‘cherry trees’. It is worth stressing to students that 1 is not a prime number. However students are often interested that this was not always the case and as recently as the 1950s some […]
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Read Recurring Decimals – part 2 I wanted to give my Year 9s a problem solving activity to bed in their learning on recurring decimals. I gave them this question: ‘I divided two two-digit integers on my calculator and it gives the answer How many different possible pairs of integers are there?’ I expected the questions as to what integers […]
Read more Read Recurring Decimals – Part 1 Once students can convert fractions to recurring decimals by division and convert straightforward recurring decimals to fractions, for example, they should try the more complex recurring decimals, such as, Exam papers tend to either ask these questions in a straightforward manner, Or a common approach is a two part question, Part (a) […]
Read more I am teaching a Year 9 top set and recurring decimals are the next topic on the scheme of work. Before I look at the harder skill of changing a recurring decimal into a fraction I check that they can change a fraction to a decimal so I write on the board When I ask […]
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