Consider the following questions. Willie is putting some snacks on plates. He has 72 satay sticks and 48 chicken wings. He wants both kinds of food on each plate for each guest. He wants to distribute the food evenly and have none left over. What is the greatest number of guests he can serve? Nurul has 3 ropes. Their lengths are 150 m and 175 m respectively. She wants to cut up the 3 ropes such that the resulting pieces are all of equal length and there is no rope left over.

Trying to nurture an interest in numbers in your children? Why not introduce them to an alternative number system! The number system that we commonly use is known as the decimal system. The prefix dec- comes from the Greek word deka, which means ten. This is why the decimal system is also known as the base 10 system. The illustration below is a visual representation of the base 10 system. There are other number systems, however. The binary system is one of them, which we will

All you have to do is deposit one penny in a savings account in your own era, and when you arrive at the End of Time, the operation of compound interest means that the fabulous cost of your meal has been paid for. This, many claim, is not merely impossible but clearly insane, which is why the advertising executives of the star system of Bastablon came up with this slogan: "If you've done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the

Minah has a triangular piece of paper ABC with BA = BC. ADC and BEC are straight lines. She folded it along the line DE as shown below. (a) Find angle X (b) Find angle Y Video solution: #Mathsinreallife #MathsHeuristics

In an earlier blog entry, we discussed the role of trigger activities in the learning of new topics in maths. If you missed that discussion, click here to catch up. The following activities are extracted from the Mad Maths section of the topic of Circles (Primary 6 Mathematics Joyous Learning curriculum) To introduce the topic of Circles to students, show them an animated video clip on the history of the number π. How well do you know the special mathematical constant π? Test

Do you encounter the challenge of keeping the little ones meaningfully occupied on the coach or the train during vacations? Fret no more. Your little ones can now put that iPad to better use than watching YouTube videos. In the last article, we discussed roping in your children for pre-vacation planning and budgeting (if you haven’t read it, click here to catch up). Most free-and-easy travellers are already used to the routine of setting aside various budgets for food, admiss

Friday's PSLE Mathematics paper (29 Sep) featured a question that wasn't difficult — but not easy to solve either. According to accounts from several students, this was the problem sum in the paper (note that this might not be the exact phrasing of the question). Jess wants 200 ribbons of length 110 cm for a party. However, the ribbons were sold at 25 m per tape. How many tapes will Jess need? It looks like an easy question that can be solved in two steps: multiply 200 by 110

It’s nearing the end of the year. Are you planning to book or have you already booked a vacation with your family? As the free and easy mode of travel gains popularity among young families, the currency exchange rate between Singapore and the country you're travelling to becomes more important in vacation planning. This is because unlike group package tourists who pay for food, admission tickets, transportation and accommodation upfront to the tour agency, free-and-easy trave

In earlier articles, we discussed the role of trigger activities in sparking students’ interest in doing maths. If you haven’t read those, catch up here . Below is another trigger activity, extracted from a Joyous Learning worksheet on the topic of Time. Have a go and see how many you get correct! Q1 Joseph Schooling won a gold medal in the men’s 100 m butterfly at the 2016 Olympics. What was his timing in this event? (a) 52.15 s (b) 51.76 s (c) 50.83 s (d) 50.39 s Q2 The lon

The following Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) appeared in the 2015 PSLE Mathematics paper. Which of the following is likely to be the total mass of 8 one-dollar coins? 6 g 60 g 600 g 6000 g Questions such as this are not meant to promote a feverish trend of students measuring and memorising random data in their everyday life. Instead, they are designed to force students apply textbook knowledge in the context of their everyday lives. Through such questions, the gram is promote

Certain questions require you to arrange fractions in increasing or decreasing order. How do you usually decide the order? Do you use the “common denominator” method? What if you are asked to arrange the fractions below in increasing order? 2/7, 2/11, 3/13 It is possible but rather tedious to use the “common denominator” method, isn’t it? For such questions, why not try using the “common numerator” method instead? Below are the same fractions converted into their equival

#Mathsinreallife #MathsHeuristics

#Mathsinreallife #MathsHeuristics

#Mathsinreallife #MathsHeuristics

Inductive Reasoning Optimum scaffolding allows students to arrive at mathematical rules and formulae themselves. Not only does this help them remember the rules better, it also makes Maths fun and rewarding! This point is aptly illustrated through Extract G (part 1), taken from a Joyous Learning Primary Six worksheet on Geometry. Extract G (part 1) Polygons The Oxford English Dictionary defines “polygon” as “a plane figure with at least three straight sides and angles, and ty

Now, some readers might be thinking, and rightfully so, that synergy is an overused, or even misused, word. Hence, it is prudent to look up its meaning before discussion begins in this section. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines synergy as “The interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects”. The “agents” in this article refer to the different branches or

Authentic contexts are contexts taken from real life. Maths problems situated in authentic contexts help students relate better to what they are learning. Besides this, doing Maths in authentic contexts trains students to continue using their mathematical skills in everyday situations, beyond exams. Compare Extracts C and D, from a Joyous Learning Primary 5 topic Numbers to 10 million. Extract C In 2015, Mr Chan’s company earned $2,732,000 in January, $2,106,000 in February,

These lessons were featured in a Primary 6 Algebra Joyous Learning Worksheet. Extract B (part 1) Mathemagician Go through the following steps mentally: a. Think of a number. b. Multiply this number by 2. c. Add 16 to the result in (b). d. Divide the result in (c) by 2. e. Subtract the number in (a) from the result in (d). What is your answer? Think of another number and go through the steps. Did you get the same answer? While it is int

Have you watched Arrival? If not, here’s the synopsis. 12 alien vessels appear unannounced and hover over 12 different locations on Earth. Experts from different countries make contact with the extra-terrestrials, trying to decide if they are friend or foe. The only problem is that the aliens communicate using arcane circular symbols, unintelligible to Earthlings. The breakthrough comes with the discovery of the encrypted repeating decimal of 0.08̅3̅ (i.e. 0.08333…) in the sy

In ancient Egypt, fractions were usually given in unit-fraction form. Unit fractions are fractions with one as the numerator. Examples of unit fractions are 1/2, 1/3, 1/12, 1/145. Conversely, 2/3, 5/2, 4/7, etc., are not unit fractions. Hence, in ancient Egypt, 2/3 would have been expressed this way: 1/2 + 1/6 Go on! Try adding the above two unit fractions and see if they total up to 2/3. Today, Egyptian fractions are mainly used in recreational maths; doing maths for fun