Since the demise of the Excellence Gateway (EG) on September 30 2023, there is no official Government backed website where the old Skills for Life core curricula are available. The EG has (partially) migrated to the Education & Training Foundation (ETF) at https://www.et-foundation.co.uk/ but there is no sign of these classic documents.
This is a data handling activity aimed at L1/2 learners that involves calculating the mean and range, constructing a bar chart and then making sense of what the results mean in a functional context.
More observant learners may rename this activity ‘Sophie’s choice’!
In this activity, learners have to calculate how much paint is required for a specified job, find prices from different sources and work out total prices. This can then be compared. The resource is in two versions – one with formulae for the required calculations and one without – different pages from each version can be mixed and match to meet different learners’ needs.
The activity requires internet access – however price lists could be substituted for this if this is not available in your context.
I wanted to create a resource to enable my students to practise calculating with time.
Most of the students work in Wiltshire, but live in Yorkshire, so I thought it would be fun if they explored different travel methods to Yorkshire to see which was the fastest. The travel distances and times were from the Internet and I created this resource differentiated for Levels 1 and 2.
Editor’s note
Clever differentiation. Although both sets of questions are the same, the Level 2 learner has more complex information to choose from.
Level
Level 2
Level 1
Maths
AN MSS1/L2.2 Calculate, measure and record time
AN MSS1/L1.2 Read & measure time and use timetables
This is an adaptation of Murder at the Grange, which my students have always enjoyed.
I wanted to extend the work on calculating with time, so learners have to use and extend timetables and calculate multi-stage journey times. I also thought it would be good to have some female characters!
Level
Level 2
Level 1
Entry Level 3
Entry Level 2
Maths
AN MSS1/L2.2 Calculate, measure and record time
AN MSS1/L1.3 Calculate with and convert between units of time
AN MSS1/L1.2 Read & measure time and use timetables
I put this together to explore number calculations and word problems with a mixed group of adult learners, looking at estimating, ways of checking your calculations and ways of reversing calculations.
Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Maths
N1/L2.5
AN MSS1/L1.1 Add, subtract, multiply & divide sums of money and record
N1/L1.10
MSS1/E3.2
N1/E3.9
AN MSS1/E3.1 Add & subtract money using decimal notation
The classic example of a tally is keeping track of how many cars of each colour go past in the street, but that is rather awkward to do in practice.
Use this presentation to save having to leave the comfort of the classroom! It is a PowerPoint slideshow of cars of various colours, to be projected onto the board. Tell learners to keep a tally of how many cars of each colour appear. Where a car has more than one colour, they should put it under the predominant colour.
E1 learners could focus on simply counting (for instance) all the red cars.
Covers geometric drawings, area, perimeter, money, metric measures, tallies, line graphs and much more.
Fully mapped to the Functional Maths criteria and process skills. With answer sheet.
Editor’s note
Wonderful open ended project. Ideal for E3-L2 mixed ability groups.
