Here is a very straightforward page of division questions which is ideal for practising the short method of division. The 9x table has been written out to help so that children can concentrate on the method is their knowledge of tables is a little shaky.
When giving this work it is important to stress that all the working out should be shown and that remainders for each stage are clearly written down.
When answers are given with remainders it is not always easy to use a calculator to check as the calculator will continue into decimal fractions. However, there are some interesting patterns when dividing by 9 which are well worth investigating.
These worksheets can be found in the Year 5 category, in Division and fractions.
We continue to roll out our programme of mental arithmetic questions for years 4, 5 and 6 with the latest two sets of questions.
The Year 4 questions are rather a mixed bag, including questions on rounding, odd and even and addition. There are also two questions using the term ‘product. Remember a product can be found by multiplication rather than addition.
The Year 5 questions also include finding products as well as doubling and halving numbers. There are also questions on factors and multiples, two terms with which children in Year 5 should be familiar.
Finally, for Year 6 it is all about measurement. Included in these are a couple of tricky questions comparing measurements using the Metric and Imperial systems. Children will come across both systems in their daily lives in shops and supermarkets and it is important that they have some idea of how to compare the two.
Don’t forget these are aimed at being read out loud to children and they don’t necessarily need the answer sheet to work on; this is just one option that may be used if desired.
Sailing first appeared in the 1900 Olympics, missed the 1904 games, but has been an ever present since 1908. It is therefore one of the oldest Olympic sports and one which Great Britain has done exceedingly well.
In the early Olympics sailing was often in larger boats, with up to 10 or 12 crew. Since then the boats have got smaller, often with only one crew member.
Women have always played a part in the Olympic sailing, in the early years competing with and against the men in the same races. In 1988 separate events for women were introduced.
This year the even will take place in Weymouth and Portland.
The worksheet looks at the total number of medals won by the top 8 most successful countries. The chart needs completing as some of the medal tallies are missing. They can all be worked out by addition and subtraction. Questions follow on this data.
Here is a nice little challenge for year 2 children which will help both with adding three small numbers and working in a well organised, methodical way.
The challenge is to find as many different ways that a total of 12 can be made with three dice. It should be decided at the start that the order of the three dice does not matter ie 6 and 5 and 1 is the same as 1 and 5 and 6. Try to use three similar dice .
There are surprisingly few answers to this challenge so it is ideal for asking questions such as:
‘How do you know you have all the possible answers?
Encourage recording results in a logical way, perhaps starting with all the possible combinations with a 6 in, then 5 etc.
An important aspect of Using and Applying Maths is concerned with children choosing and using the most appropriate number operations to answer questions and solve problems.
2. Open and closed questions
Solving problems and investigating continue in three year. Some of these problems are ‘closed’, in other words they only have one, or a few possible answers. Others are ‘open’ and can have many possible answers.
3. Working in a systematic way
A key feature of this work is that children should become more systematic in their approach, checking as they go and looking for answers which are the same. They should be able to talk about their work, especially about how they are tackling the investigation, what the rules are and any findings they have.
4. Solving problems
In year 3 children are expected to use any of the four operations to solve ‘story’ problems.
It’s often a good idea to try and link the work done in maths to other areas of the curriculum, and, indeed to events in the calendar. This week we have produced four sets of maths worksheets, all with the theme of Valentine’s Day; so there are plenty of hearts fluttering!
The first set looks at simple addition and is probably best suited to year 3 children. There are eight number sentences to complete, followed by some word problems. The second set follows a similar format, but concentrates on subtraction.
For older children we have a Valentine special on making a total of 100 and, hardest of all, is a set of number sequences which includes negative numbers. Not only does the sequence have to be continued but the rule for the sequence stated.
One of the things that some children find very difficult is to successfully use the standard written method of subtraction. This set of worksheets takes a different slant on the subject. The subtraction is set out in the standard way and the answer is given. All that is missing are two of the digits. To find these children need a good understanding of the ‘decomposition’ method.
Once they have found the missing digits they can check if it is correct by adding the answer to the bottom line of the question. This should give the number on the top line.
This is a good way to test to see if written subtraction is understood, but should not be given to children until they have had plenty of practice with the standard method. The worksheets can be found in our Year 5 Subtraction category.
We have just published our most recent set of mental arithmetic pages for children in Years 4, 5 and 6.
The Year 4 questions cover a wide variety of topics, including quotients, doubling and money. The term quotient is one that is not heard very often, but it is part of the expected vocabulary for Year 4. It is a tricky word with a simple meaning. A quotient is the result of division. So, for example, the quotient when dividing 1o by 5 is 2.
Also, look out for questions where the answer of a division has to be rounded up to make sense. For example;
‘I have 56 cakes. How many boxes will I need for them if a box holds 10 cakes?’
Obviously it is not possible to have 5 whole boxes and 6/10 of a box so the answer is 6.
The year 5 questions concentrate on the four rules: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. If children are struggling with these it could do them a lot of good to try the calculations activities on the site, where they can have unlimited practice.
It’s all about money for the Year 6 mental arithmetic, and they are by no means easy. Secveral of the questions involve multiplying and dividing amounts of money by 10 or 100.
The name Modern pentathlon comes from the Greek ‘penta’ which means 5. (Hence a pentagon has 5 sides). The original Greek pentathlon consisted on a race, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discuss, but Baron Pierre de Coubertin created a new set of events to reflect the soldiers duties in the 19th century. He stated that a cavalry soldier should be able to:
1. ride an unfamiliar horse
2. fight with a pistol
3. fight with a sword
4. swim
5. run.
Hence the new event was introduced, consisting of shooting, fencing, swimming, equestrian and running.
This worksheet looks at the Women’s results in Beijing, where Heather Fell did really well to win a medal. The total scores need to be added and the top 5 put in order.
Here is a set of pages which at first glance may appear very easy, but in fact can be quite tricky. A 3-digit addition sum has been set out using the standard written method and the answer is also given. But, there are two digits missing and the task is to find the missing digits.
This is harder than it looks because on each sum there is an adjustment where tens or hundreds are ‘carried forward’.
These pages should only be given to children who have had plenty of practice using the standard, or efficient, method of written addition. if children complete them correctly it will show that they have a good understanding of the process.
This set of worksheets can be found in the Year 5 Addition category.
