Investigation or project

A worksheet, outline or task sheet that involves independent research

World Cup investigation, web sites, and teaching ideas for literacy and numeracy something for literacy and numeracy students at all levels with updated links and investigation questions. First submitted for the 2006 WC – updated in 2010.

Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
General literacy / English
Maths
General numeracy / maths
ESOL
General ESOL
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
Context
Sport and fitness

A set of resources for E3/L1 literacy and ESOL. Includes a shared text for reading comprehension, punctuation exercise and a web quest.

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
English
AL Rt/L1.1 Understand continuous texts
SLlr/L1.2
Ws/E3.3
Ws/L1.3
Rt/E3.9
Rt/E3.7
Rt/E3.5
Rt/E3.8
Context
History, culture, museums, libraries

A seasonal maths investigation that involves a trip to the supermarket, scaling a recipe, rounding, estimating and much more!

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Maths
HD1/E3.4
HD1/L1.2
HD1/E3.1
HD1/L1.1
AN MSS1/E3.1 Add & subtract money using decimal notation
MSS1/E3.2
AN N1/L1.7
Context
Catering Food Nutrition

A fun investigation for Level 1 and 2 (with ideas for Entry level).

Note: You will need at least one set of dolls per pair of students.

Level
Level 1
Level 2
Maths
AN N1/L1.7
AN N1/L2.3
MSS1/L2.7
HD1/L1.2
HD1/L2.2
MSS1/L1.4
MSS1/L2.3

Tutor notes, student hand-out (L1/2) about objective v subjective (persuasive) descriptions, reading activity on fact and opinion (in Estate Agent ads) with fill-in sheet, and lots of writing ideas. An ideal companion to our Estate Agents writing frame and the other popular resources in our Chomwell Green series. Originally used for a class writing project (using adjectives) in Jan 2002.

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Rt/E3.2
Rt/L1.2
Rt/L2.2 Identify the purpose of a text and infer meaning which is not explicit
Adult Lit Ws/E2.2 Use Adjectives
AL Wt/E3.1 Plan & draft writing
Wt/E3.4
Adult Lit Wt/L1.1 Plan and draft writing
Adult Lit Wt/L1.4 Use language suitable for purpose and audience
Adult Lit Wt/L1.5 Use format and structure for different purposes
Wt/L1.6
Wt/L2.1

A practical investigation that can be enjoyed in mixed level classes.  There's something for all learners from Entry Level 1 to Level 2.

Editor's note. One of my favourite resources that somehow got lost when the site was redeveloped in 2011.  Now fully updated to reflect the new 2018 Functional Skills content that come into effect September 2019. Pages 7-8 show detailed FS mapping to content descriptors and problem solving skills.

Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
Maths
FM E1.3 Add numbers which total up to 20, & subtract numbers from numbers up to 20
FM E1.13 Read & draw simple charts & diagrams inc. a tally chart, block diagram/graph
FM E2.25 Take information from one format and represent the information in another format including use of bar charts
FM E3.23 Organise & represent information in appropriate ways inc. tables, diagrams, simple line graphs & bar charts
FM L1.8 Read, write, order & compare common fractions & mixed numbers
FM L2.27 Express probabilities as fractions, decimals & percentages
Context
Sport and fitness

One of our most endearing and popular resources. This excellent investigation for mixed ability groups has inspired many other Skillsworkshop contributors to create related Smartie resources (see below for just a small selection). Covers almost all data handling curriculum elements from Entry 1 to Level 1 along with other elements from N1 (whole numbers) and Measure. Topics covered include counting, estimating, addition, sorting, tallies, bar charts, mean, range and more.

Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Maths
Place value and counting
Averages and range
Collect organise represent
Extract and interpret information
Estimate
Add subtract multiply divide
Solve whole number problems