Adult Numeracy, Functional Maths, and GCSE Resources

A Functional Maths resource using area, multiplication, division and money. I have used Wickes catalogues with my students as they are small and easy to use, but combining the task with internet research to find the best price would be a really good way of doing this lesson.
Fully mapped to L1-2 Functional Maths criteria.

A scaffolded investigation created for my Level 1 numeracy group but ideal for, and fully mapped to, L1-2 Functional maths.
Part 1 involves reading a description of a room and drawing simple scale diagrams (a grid is provided) before pricing up a carpet from a discount company.
Part 2 is more complex: calculate the length of skirting board, wallpaper, paint, dado rail and door framing required.

I adapted this from Helen Lloyd’s Planning a school party (see below). I used her idea to develop a task that my students could manage on their own while I was doing a first aid course. This version includes an extra task about providing a Santa and gifts, and I also included some simple fraction questions.

I used Helen’s supermarket list for prices of party food etc. As we have no ITC facilities, I downloaded and printed info from www.partydelights.co.uk for pocket money toys.

Here is another Level 1-2 variant on the classic ‘Smarties’ investigation which incorporates the use of a PC and Excel. I stopped using Smarties and Skittles because of the health and hygiene issues.

A great project that covers many Functional maths and Functional English criteria. You win the lottery, buy a mobile phone shop and have to furnish it from catalogues and/or Internet sites.

Learn about budgeting, displaying data, working with areas and floor plans, bank statements, rounding, estimating, and much more. Everything must be written up as a comprehensive report with a clear conclusion (a great guidance page on report writing is included in the resource).

I worked with a plumbing tutor at Wiltshire College to write the attached task for a group of apprentice plumbers. The group enjoyed working on this. I was inspired to produce this after reading and using the Air Conditioner task contributed by Leia Fee (see below).

Introduce the topic using the Smart Notebook activity.
8 identical pages, each with a blank number line, a movable arrow to show the position of the number to be rounded and a sentence at the bottom to state what is happening.
Learners can fill in the ends of the number line to see what values are relevant to the question i.e. rounding 23 to the nearest 10 would be either 20 or 30 as an answer. Then they can move the arrow to the position needed, 23, then see which value the number is closest to.

[img_assist|nid=4809|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=100|height=76]Useful set of two resources.
1) A Smart notebook file that introduces the topic, provides practice questions and finishes with a room decorating project and a self-assessment check.
Please note you must have the Smart notebook software installed on your computer in order to open, view and use this resource http://smarttech.com/
2) PowerPoint scale diagram multiple choice quiz (5 questions) makes a good final activity or use later for revision.

A clearly set out investigation into TV film age ratings. This makes an ideal investigation for mixed ability groups as it is cleverly differentiated for E3-L2 (E2 students could also participate with support).
All you need is a recent weekly TV guide.
Covers tallies, dual and single bar charts, pictograms, extracting and comparing information and designing a questionnaire. Fully mapped, and ideal for, Functional Maths.

Open task where learners must plan a good value party for 68 children and present their budget to the headmaster. Ideal for revision of money, decimals, budgeting, estimating and presenting information.