Real maths – How many cars do I need to wash to buy a Nintendo DS?

Real maths … because everything costs something! When you want a Nintendo DS, how long will it take if you earn £5 per hour?

Although the video is a quite straightforward, and contains a Lol cameo, there is a serious side to the question.

It was founded on the thought that most of the word questions in maths books are a little ‘abstract.’ My children are far more interested in actually going swimming, than the volume of the pool – I’m sure most of yours are too.

The thinking is to produce videos of ‘real maths for real kids.’ Please do subscribe for regular updates, if you feel this might be useful. I’ll be adding many more videos during the next few months – bought a new camera, so ready to go!

This particular video deals with ‘division’ or ‘how many lots’ and the calculation is presented as either a ‘bus stop’ division or a fraction manipulation. It’s interesting that many students don’t really see the connection between these calculations. I recently asked a class the difference between fractions, division, percentages, ratio, proportion – by using the various symbols. The most common answer was that they are all different.

They’re not.

I’ve commented that ‘fraction manipulation represents around 1/3rd (yes, really!) of a typical GCSE paper‘ and would still stand by that. The point is that all of these functions can be presented as fractions, and it’s really useful to become familiar with manipulating them.

Good arithmetic skills comes from having confidence in your method and using it in most calculations. I’m not really sure about showing children many different methods and then giving them the choice of which one to use. It just seems to lack direction – much better to gain confidence in one type of calculation, use often, and see the applications in maths questions.

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Watch the video on YouTube

Real math – how much does a Nintendo cost?