1. Can you win the competition?
- This task is good for a very wide range of ability levels. Students who already understand squaring and/or order of operations will be able to find a lot more ways.
- You could divide the class into groups and run a competition to see which group can find the most ways for each set of numbers.
- The answers given in the back of the book don’t include those ways that have squaring. Here are some of them.
2. How many people and dogs?
This task requires students to be systematic. A table might be helpful.
Students should know points 1 and 2 from the “Students should already know” button at the top of the page.
Teacher notes
- Students must have a good grasp of chapters 4 and 5. Use the check up to ensure they do.
- It is important that students are moving towards knowing their multiplication and division facts to 10 x 10 and only using strategies on more difficult calculations. Book 3B will concentrate on harder calculations and assume this knowledge.
- Students need to see and work with a range of strategies and not just stick with the one they are familiar with, which may not be the most efficient. Sharing and explaining strategies will help students see other possible strategies that are more efficient.
- Sometimes there is more than one efficient way to do a calculation and students need to know that sometimes it comes down to personal preference.
- Encourage students to record their thinking in a variety of ways and move towards recording without diagrams.
- Having copies of pre-drawn number lines is useful. Click on the following Printable Master links to download a pdf.
Empty number lines 0-10
Empty number lines 0-20
Empty number lines 0-50
Empty number lines 0-60
Empty number lines - hundredths
Empty number lines - tenths 0-2
Empty number lines - tenths 0-5 - When solving word problems, students should be encouraged to look for words that indicate whether a multiplication or division calculation is required. Students could create a chart or poster to show which words are used for each.
