NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Mathematics
Lifeskills Mathematics
Advice and Guidance for
Practitioners
[NATIONAL 4]
This advice and guidance has been produced to support the profession with the delivery of
courses which are either new or which have aspects of significant change within the new
national qualifications (NQ) framework.
The advice and guidance provides suggestions on approaches to learning and teaching.
Practitioners are encouraged to draw on the materials for their own part of their continuing
professional development in introducing new national qualifications in ways that match the
needs of learners.
Practitioners should also refer to the course and unit specifications and support notes which
have been issued by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/34714.html
Acknowledgement
© Crown copyright 2012. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in
any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence,
visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or e-mail:
psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain
permission from the copyright holders concerned.
Any enquiries regarding this document/publication should be sent to us at
enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk.
This document is also available from our website at www.educationscotland.gov.uk.
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Contents
Introduction
4
Appendix: Further resources for learning and teaching
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Lifeskills Mathematics aims to motivate and challenge learners by enabling
them to apply real-life situations involving mathematics and to form a plan of
action based on logic.
This advice and guidance offers practitioners suggested approaches to
delivering Lifeskills Mathematics at National 4. It includes approaches to
learning and teaching that practitioners may wish to consider when planning
contexts for learning.
Effective learning and teaching will draw on a variety of approaches to enrich
the experience of learners.
In particular, approaches that provide opportunities for the integration of
financial, statistical and numerical skills within real-life situations will help to
motivate and challenge learners.
This advice and guidance offers practitioners suggestions on approaches to
teaching and learning in Maths and Lifeskills Mathematics at National 4.
Opportunities for the integration of financial, statistical and numerical skills
within relevant real-life situations and contexts should be developed with
learners. This advice and guidance highlights a variety of teaching approaches
that may be appropriate to learners.
National 4 Lifeskills Mathematics provides progression for learners from the
broad, general education.
There are many ways in which this learning journey can develop, and you will
know best how to plan learning and teaching that meets the needs of your
learners. By planning opportunities for skills development in context you may
find that the learners’ interests, strengths, prior learning and locality, as well as
local, national and global events, lend themselves to progressing the learning in
different ways from the suggestions within this advice and guidance. Ideas for
learning and teaching can be adapted to allow development and application of
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INTRODUCTION
skills for learning, life and work, or to incorporate ICT and take account of a
range of learners’ needs.
Glow provides an opportunity for learners to work together across geographical
areas.
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INTRODUCTION
Area of mathematics
Learning and teaching approaches
Resources and exemplification
Financial skills and
links to numeracy skills
Prior learning
Links to broad general education MNU 3-09a,
MNU 3-09b, MNU 4-09a, MNU 4-09b, MNU
4-09c
Experience from learners’ own lives.
Cheers for credit unions! This resource is available on the
Education Scotland website and can be used for all ages and
abilities.
Tackling Debt This resource is available on the Education Scotland
website and can be used for all ages and abilities.
Small Change This resource is available on the Education Scotland
website and is designed to help young teenagers understand the
fact that small changes can make a big difference to people’s
attitudes and behaviours towards money.
Spending Sense Adapted from the PFEG Spending Sense resource.
This is available on the Financial Education Glow Group.
Adding up to a lifetime This resource takes learners through the
following areas: funding for their post-school education, career
changes during their working life, the impact of re lationships and
families during life, better health leading to a longer and more
active retirement.
Skilled to go http://www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/partnershipworking/partnership-working-info/consumereducation/resources/sthome/publicscottisheducationresources
This is a variety of different resources linked to finance as well as
aspects of literacy, health and wellbeing, social studies and
technology. The toolkit is made up of three modules, focusing on:
 buying and selling
 technology
 utilities.
• Budgeting
• Income and
expenditure
• Using foreign
currencies
• Finding the best deal
• Saving and borrowing
• Carrying out
calculations involving
percentages
• Explaining decisions
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Contexts
Lessons could be put in contexts that are
relevant to the age and stage of the learner ,
and where possible the learner could be given
the opportunity to choose and personalise a
context. There should be sufficient
opportunities for a breadth of contexts where
learners have to apply these skills. Contexts
could include planning an event, saving to buy
or do something, investigating the cost of
living or planning for the future.
Use case studies where learners are given the
information and have to analyse it and make
decisions based on the information.
Although learners may have experienced
similar contexts before, the degree of
calculations and skills needs to demonstrate
the sophistication required at this level:
 Work with straightforward contexts and
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INTRODUCTION





routine tasks.
Work with non-routine tasks with
appropriate guidance.
Produce and respond to simple but detailed
communication in familiar contexts.
Contribute to setting goals and timelines.
Identify strengths and weaknesses.
Contribute to review of learners’ work and
offer suggestions for improvements.
Examples of the skills that the toolkit aims to develop include the
ability to:
 research relevant information to help make consumer choices
 consider personal needs and preferences before making a
consumer decision
 analyse the features of consumer goods and services to identify
their pros and cons
 compare consumer goods or services to make the best choi ce for
individual circumstances
 identify sources of help to deal with consumer problems or
handle consumer problems effectively.
Co-operative learning in numeracy Education Scotland Resource
showing how to use co-operative learning techniques in the context
of money.
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INTRODUCTION
Area of mathematics
Learning and teaching approaches
Resources and exemplification
• Budgeting
• Income and
expenditure
• Finding the best deal
• Saving and
borrowing
• Carrying out
calculations
involving percentages
• Explaining decisions
• Investigate borrowing and savings interest
rates.
• Discuss the range of products available.
• Debate the very high rates for certain
products, for example pay-day loans.
Learners are to be encouraged to question:
‘What would happen if…
• you cannot pay the monthly repayments?
• you increase monthly payments?’
Types of calculations at this level
• Guided questions about comparing different rates. Percentage
calculations for annual interest and possible extension into
monthly interest rates.
• Compound interest calculations based on annual interest rates.
• Limit the number of products for comparison to three, with two
pieces of information on each.
Learners could investigate saving or
borrowing for a particular product. Part of that
would be determining the best deal for that
product as well as the best deal for saving or
borrowing money.
Learners could use real comparison websites when researching
different projects, for example:
• http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/index.html
• http://www.moneyexpert.com/
• http://www.moneysupermarket.com.
Money Saving Expert
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/Teenagers -cash-class
This resource has a range of activities designed to make learners
more ‘money-savvy’. The three sections are ‘Being savvy with
money’, ‘Being savvy about debt’ and ‘Being a savvy shopper’.
The pack includes opportunities for discussion, links to other
subject areas and a final challenge to work through.
RBS Money Sense
http://rbsmoneysense.co.uk/schools/ This is an interactive resource
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INTRODUCTION
covering many of the topics in thisarea of Maths. Practitioners can
use and adapt these resources to help deliver appropriate activities.
• Budgeting
• Income and
expenditure
• Finding the best deal
• Using foreign
currencies
Learners could budget for a trip away,
investigating a variety of different types of
holidays and destinations. This could link to
finding the best deal and converting
currencies. It could also include taking out a
loan or saving for the trip. If there was the
possibility of actually taking the trip this
would make it a relevant and motivating
project. If learners were working in a group,
each person could research different aspects of
the trip, eg travel, activities, currency, saving,
accommodation. As a class they could
evaluate which group’s location had the best
value for money, so demonstrating a variety of
desirable lifeskills.
Financial Learning Online
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/financiallearningonline/ Information
and resources to support the development of financial capability.
This site features guidance, resources and examples for
practitioners involved in supporting learners aged 16 and above to
become more financially capable.
Types of calculations at this level
• Converting between two currencies only.
• Taking into account deductions for commission.
Limit the number of products to compare to three , with two pieces
of information on each.
Information could be taken from the internet, holiday brochures
and travel agents.
Teachers TV – Jet Setters Project: Planning a holiday
http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/GCSE-Maths-The-JetSetters-Project-6084580/
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INTRODUCTION
• Income and
expenditure
• Carrying out
calculations
involving percentages
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Learners could research and choose three
different jobs that they might consider in the
future and investigate the wages or salaries
and deductions they could receive for each.
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Types of calculations at this level
• Hourly rate, annual salaries, weekly wages, overtime rates
(double and time and a half), percentage pay increase, bonuses
and commission.
• Basic deductions – national insurance and income tax. Extension
could be to investigate the rates of income tax and different
types of deductions.
• Using the minimum wage, calculate how much a worker could
earn in a normal (37-hour) working week. Now suppose the
worker gets overtime at time and a quarter.
• How much more can an employee earn if they do 5 hours
overtime? What about 7 hours overtime? What if they work a
Sunday at time and a half or a bank holiday at double time? Use
different hourly rates or different base hours to extend this
activity. You could also set up a spreadsheet to explore these
‘what if’ questions with interested learners.
INTRODUCTION
Area of mathematics
Learning and teaching approaches
Resources and exemplification
Statistical skills and
links to numeracy
skills
Prior learning
MNU 3-20a, MTH 3-20b, MNU 4-20a, MTH 420b, MTH 3-21a and MTH 4-21b
Experience from learners’ own lives.
Collections of lesson plans and data sets that practitioners and
learners can use and analyse in their own way:
 stats4schools http://stem.org.uk/cxud
 Relevant and Engaging Statistics http://stem.org.uk/cxub
• Evaluate risk and use
probability
• Extract and interpret
data
• Display data
• Compare data sets
• Make and explain
decisions
• Analyse correlations
Contexts
Lessons could be put in contexts that are
relevant to the age and stage of the learner and
where possible the learner could be given the
opportunity to choose and personalise a
context. There should be sufficient
opportunities for a breadth of contexts where
learners have to apply these skills. Contexts
could include sport, health and wellbeing,
finance, social studies and education.
Use case studies where learners are given the
information and have to analyse it and make
decisions based on it.
Although learners may have experienced
similar contexts before, the level of
calculations and skills need to demonstrate the
sophistication required:
 Work with straightforward contexts and
routine tasks.
 Work with non-routine tasks with
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INTRODUCTION
• Compare data sets
• Make and explain
decisions
appropriate guidance.
 Produce and respond to simple but detailed
communication in familiar contexts.
 Contribute to setting goals and timelines.
 Identify strengths and weaknesses.
 Contribute to review of their work and
offer suggestions for improvements.
Learners could discuss the concept of average
and understand the different types of average,
as well as calculating them.
Types of calculations at this level
Learners will be guided on what statistical skills to use and will
look at one piece of information.
Understanding mean, median and mode
This activity is from the Improving Learning in Mathematics
Standards Unit (S4)
(http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/resource/su_mat_5822/print/
S4.pdf). It aims to help learners to:
 understand the terms mean, median, mode and range
 explore the relationships between these measures and their
relationship to the shape of a distribution.
Learning and teaching approaches used include:
• working in groups
• developing understanding of multiple representations .
Averages mystery
https://www.ncetm.org.uk/files/7993830/Mean+median+mode+ra
nge+mystery.pdf
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INTRODUCTION
This task provides a useful way to revise averages and involves
learners in thinking, reasoning and justifying skills.
• Display data
• Make and explain
decisions


Draw graphs to display data from a range
of sources (use of technology should be
encouraged where appropriate).
Discuss how some data can be misleading.
Learners should be encouraged to ask
questions such as ‘What would the graph/chart
look like if…
 one of the pieces of data is removed?
 more data are added?’
• Evaluate risk and use
probability
• Make and explain
decisions
• Extract and interpret
data
• Analyse correlations
Discuss and debate the idea of risk:
 how people perceive risk
 how it is calculated, especially in the
context of different insurances.
Teachers TV – Exploring mean, median and mode outside the
classroom
http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Mean-Median-and-Mode6082922/.
Bowland Assessments
http://www.bowland.org.uk/assessment/tasks.htm
Tuck shop – Learners are asked to draw graphs to represent data
and to critique an erroneous interpretation of the data.
There are number of ready-made lessons using TI Nspire
available at:
www.nspiringlearning.org.uk
http://resource.nspiringlearning.org.uk/classroomresources/index.
jsp?search=&topic=11&cat=3
http://resource.nspiringlearning.org.uk/classroomresources/index.
jsp?search=&topic=11&cat=2
Use of Excel spreadsheets should also be encouraged.
Practitioners and/or learners could use commercial resources to
investigate, discuss and compare the different insurance rates for
different groups of people.
Learners should be encouraged to ask
questions:
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INTRODUCTION



14
Why does it cost more to insure a building
rather than the contents?
Where does the information come from to
decide on different insurance rates?
Is there a connection between...
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INTRODUCTION
Area of mathematics
Learning and teaching approaches
Measure and geometry
skills and links to
numeracy skills
• Real-life
measurement
• Calculating related
measures
• Using millimetres
• Understanding
tolerance
• Scale drawings
• Container packing
and first-fit
algorithm
• Planning a
navigation course
• Pythagoras
• Gradients
• Perimeter, area and
volume
• Time management
Prior learning
MNU 4-10a, MNU 3-11a, MTH3-11b, MNU 411a, MNU 4-11b, MTH 4-11c, MTH 3-16a,
MTH 4-16a, MTH 4-16b, MTH 3-17b, MTH 317c
Experience from learners’ own lives.
Resources and exemplification
Contexts
The concept of measure is sometimes difficult
for learners to grasp. The focus in this course
is to get learners to use and apply their skills
in a relevant real-life context. Practitioners
should endeavour to let learners choose the
context in which to work. There is the
opportunity for cross-curricular working with
home economics, technical subjects, PE or
science, where using a range of measuring
instruments is part of the curriculum, or for
using measuring skills at home or work if
appropriate. There should be sufficient
opportunities for a breadth of contexts where
learners have to apply these skills. If centres
have a Duke of Edinburgh group or an
orienteering club then the navigation aspects
of the course could be put into those contexts.
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INTRODUCTION
• Real-life
measurement
• Calculating related
measures
• Using millimetres
16
There can also be links to both financial and
statistical skills. For example, statistical
analysis of measurements, the effect of
accuracy on cost of materials and links to time
management, pay rates and to using foreign
currencies.
Although learners may have experienced
similar contexts before, the level of
calculations and skills involved need to
demonstrate the sophistication required:
 Work with straightforward contexts and
routine tasks.
 Work with non-routine tasks with
appropriate guidance.
 Produce and respond to simple but detailed
communication in familiar contexts.
 Contribute to setting goals and timelines.
 Identify strengths and weaknesses.
 Contribute to review of work and offer
suggestions for improvements.
• Talk about how to use measures in
everyday life.
• Make connections with other mathematics
topics, especially decimal fractions.
• Encourage learners to use their measure
skills at home or at work.
• Show measures in a variety of
LIFESKILLS MATHEMATICS (NAT 4, MATHEMATICS)
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Types of calculations at this level
Formulae or relationships will be given to make calculations.
Good questioning ideas:
Checking for learner understanding - in the following examples,
encourage learners to estimate and to measure accurately with
appropriate equipment or to use whatever ad hoc means of
INTRODUCTION
•
•
•
• Container packing
and first-fit
algorithm
representations, especially in real-life
contexts.
Measure for a purpose.
Use lots of practical measuring leading on
to discussion on tolerance.
Encourage learners to estimate measures
and to see the value of estimation.
measuring are available to them. For example:
 How long is this room?
 If 250 g is the answer, what is the question? Now make
another question with the same answer.
 Which is the odd one out: 500 ml, 500 g, 500 mm, 500 cm?
 Which bottle holds more than 250 ml but less than 1.5 l?
(Learners choose from a selection of bottles of different
capacities.)
 Why is 750 mm the same as three quarters of a metre?
Container packing is an important concept to
consider in a number of real-life contexts, such
as car ferries, loading a removal lorry,
commercial shipping, goods packing and
delivering.
These contexts give the opportunity to discuss
the modelling function of mathematics. These
activities also give the learners a chance to
discuss the implications of a first-fit algorithm
when loading ferries, packing containers etc.
Encourage the learners to ask:
• Does it make good use of space?
• Is it time efficient?
• What other ways could be used?
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INTRODUCTION
Ferry packing example
A first-fit algorithm could be used in any context that requires
packing of known quantities and sizes of items, eg packing
musical instruments, shipping boxes of vegetables, furniture
removal etc. Practitioners could create a case study similar to the
ferry packing example based on contexts that are relevant to their
learners.
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INTRODUCTION
• Planning a
navigation course
• Scale drawings
• Real-life
measurement
• Calculating related
measures
• Using millimetres
• Scale drawings
• Real-life
measurement
• Calculating related
measure
• Gradients
Orienteering or a Duke of Edinburgh Award
are both relevant and engaging contexts for
navigation.
Investigating how navigation is used in
shipping and flights.
Types of calculations at this level
Scales given are expressed as a ratio or a scaled line.
Learners could investigate the environment
around them to check different structures or
rooms and their accessibility for wheelchairs.
• Perimeter, area and
volume
Learners will develop an understanding of
perimeter, area and volume as well as being
able to calculate them correctly.
Learners should be encouraged to question:
• What is the maximum area with a fixed
perimeter?
• What happens if you change one of the
Types of calculations at this level
• Using gradient calculations to measure ramps.
• Taking accurate measurements.
This set of activities asks learners to explore the ways in which
their classroom and school can be made wheelchair accessible. If
all the activities are attempted, the topic will be an extended one.
Please note users of this website need to register for a free
account. After registering on the website, on the home page click
on ‘resources’ and then click on the 8 th link called ‘health and
social care’ and then open the ‘accessible spaces’ link.
http://www.cre8atemaths.org.uk
Types of calculations at this level
• Perimeter and area of composite shapes.
• Volume of prisms including cuboid and cylinder.
Interactive quiz
An interactive quiz looking at Ordnance Survey maps.
http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/homeworkhelp.ht
ml
Improving learning in mathematics resources
http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/default.aspx#math_learni
ng
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INTRODUCTION
•
dimensions?
What happens to the volume if you change
the area of the base?
These resources encourage group work and developing
mathematical reasoning and vocabulary.
Understanding perimeter and area
http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/resource/su_mat_5822/print/S
S2.pdf
This is an activity to help learners to understand the difference
between perimeter and area, and give learners practice in:
• calculating the area of rectangular shapes
• calculating the perimeters of rectangular shapes .
Learners can use spreadsheets to enhance this activity.
Representing 3D objects
An activity to help learners to:
• interpret 2D shapes of 3D objects
• analyse 3D objects using plans, elevations and isometric
drawings
• develop their reasoning ability in spatial contexts.
There is a software package that can be used to enhance the
activity.
http://www.fi.uu.nl/toepassingen/00339/toepassing_wisweb.en.ht
ml
http://www.fi.uu.nl/toepassingen/02015/toepassing_wisweb.en.ht
ml
http://www.fi.uu.nl/toepassingen/00249/toepassing_wisweb.en.ht
ml
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INTRODUCTION
• Understanding
tolerance
Learners should be able to carry out
calculations involving tolerance but more
importantly understand the importance of it.
Tolerance is a measurement that allows us to
define an acceptable margin of error.
Why is it important?
How does the effect of accuracy affect the cost
of a project?
What would happen to the outcome if this
measurement changed?
For example, when measuring a room for a
new carpet, make allowances for tolerance
levels. On carpet samples, measurements are
given with a tolerance of ±2%. What does this
mean?
Types of calculations at this level
Accuracy at this level will be up to two decimal places.
Here are some examples which practitioners may wish to consider
as starter statements for discussions with learners:
A factory packing fruit and vegetables to be supplied to
supermarkets is allowed a tolerance with their weights, eg a bag
of potatoes labelled 500 g doesn’t always weigh exactly 500 g.
A part for an aircraft engine is manufactured to be exactly 500
mm long.
The national speed limit for a motor way is 70 mph. I drive past a
speed camera at 72 mph and I get a speeding ticket.
A nurse measuring out medicine for a patient can allow for a high
tolerance.
A joiner fits a door into a door frame with a width of 1.2 m. He
cuts the wood for the door using the dimensions 1.98 m by 1.18
m. The door fits into the frame.
‘Formulator Tarsia’ (previously known as Jigsaw) is used to
design jigsaws, dominoes, sort cards, loop cards etc. It can be
used in many areas and is useful for promoting discussion around
different topics. For example you could make a jigsaw based
around the idea of matching tolerance levels to minimum and
maximum measurements.
http://www.mmlsoft.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=v
iew&id=11&Itemid=12.
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INTRODUCTION
Below are examples of combining elements from across the course. A case study or project approach could be used to cover
many of the areas in this course. A case study will enable learners to apply their learning in challenging and unfamiliar
situations, including the application of their learning from different areas of mathematics.
Area of mathematics
Learning and teaching approaches
Resources and exemplification
Financial, statistical
and numerical skills
• Income and
expenditure
• Extract and interpret
data
• Display data
Financial, statistical
and numerical skills
• Budgeting
• Income and
expenditure
• Finding the best deal
• Saving and
borrowing
• Carrying out
calculations
involving
percentages
• Explaining decisions
• Extract and interpret
data
Learners could investigate where the
government gets its money from and display
the information on how this is divided among
different areas such as education, health and
social services. This is an ideal area to link
with social studies.
Given the format to display the data.
Guided to or given tables with the relevant information .
Use of technology to support presentation of data.
Learners could investigate a budget for living
on their own for a year. This could include
rent, electricity, gas, water, telephone, TV
licence, general living expenses and a budget
for a weekly shop. This could be extended into
looking at inflation and how this budget would
increase or decrease in 3 years’ time.
Practitioners and/or learners could use
standard information about average prices in
their area for each of these items.
Learners are guided to where to find the relevant data.
Learners are given the information and asked to calculate the
price after 3 years given the current consumer price index.
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Extracting and interpreting data and then disp laying it in a
suitable format.
Learners could use real comparison websites when researching
different projects, for example:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/index.html
http://www.moneyexpert.com/
http://www.moneysupermarket.com
The consumer price index is at:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/key-figures/index.html
INTRODUCTION
Financial, geometrical,
measurement and
numerical skills
• Real-life
measurement
• Calculating related
measures
• Using millimetres
• Understanding
tolerance
• Scale drawings
• Perimeter, area and
volume
• Time management
• Budgeting
• Income and
expenditure
• Finding the best deal
• Saving and
borrowing
• Carrying out
calculations
involving
percentages
• Explaining decisions
A project or case study approach could be used
to cover many of the areas in this section, for
example:
• planning your own bedroom – using scale
drawing, budgets and time management
• building a house – from scale drawings to
time management of people working on site.
Link this to work in the technical department
and if possible bringing in industry
professionals from the building trade – from
architects to joiners.
Given fixed dimensions or costs when calculating area or
amounts needed.
Given the scale for scale drawing.
My bedroom investigation
This is a complete set of lesson plans that can be used for
learners to work individually or in groups. It also provides
differentiation depending on ability.
http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/My-Bedroom-6019967/
Design a bedroom
This activity covers area, scale drawing and working with a
budget. Learners need to complete a scale drawing of their
bedroom and a detailed budget sheet.
http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Design-a-Bedroom6018770/
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INTRODUCTION
Financial, measure
and numerical skills
• Time management
• Explaining decisions
• Budgeting
Time-management activities could include
planning a meal or calculating time intervals
across time zones for travel, phone call s or
video communication to friends or family
abroad.
Statistical, geometry,
measure and
numerical skills.
• Extract and interpret
data
• Pythagoras
• Real-life
measurement
• Calculating related
measures
• Understanding
tolerance
• Scale drawings
• Perimeter, area and
volume
• Explaining decisions
Using a project or case study approach to these
skills is a great opportunity to combine and
integrate skills from across the course.
The STEM Central Solar maths learning
journey learning intentions include:
• use mathematical research techniques to
solve a problem
• gain insights into how modelling is used in
mathematics
• understand and use shape properties in this
modelling process
• use data to make informed decisions and
judgements
• structure a report to present results and
make recommendations based on these.
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Types of calculations at this level
Tasks should be basic and may include times across midnight.
STEM Central resource – Using an electric car
This is a time and cost learning journey.
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/stemcentral/contexts/transport/learn
ingjourneys/timeandcost/index.asp
STEM Central resource – Solar maths learning journey
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/stemcentral/contexts/energysavingh
ouse/learningjourneys/solarmaths/index.asp
APPENDIX
Appendix: Further resources for learning and
teaching
Learners often ask ‘When am I ever going to need this?’
Lifeskills Mathematics should be a course in which it is obvious to learners
where the skills they are developing can be used in real-life situations, both at
work and in personal lives.
The following resources have been developed by a group of teachers and
professionals to give examples of how maths is used in different occupations.
Suggested use for practitioners
 As a source of discussion in planning learning and teaching..
 To demonstrate to learners how the mathematics studied can be useful in the
world of work.
Workplace Mathematics
This is available from the NCETM website at:
https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/13955.
This video collection contains six examples of how mathematics is used in
various occupations. Each piece of footage lasts around 10 minutes. The jobs
covered are pharmacist, builder, bar tender, fashion designer, architect and
hairdresser. The source files of the videos are also available to download.
Maths in Work
Maths in Work is also available from the NCETM website:
https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/11329.
Maths in Work has been designed to offer glimpse s of the real world of work
via video clips to help learners appreciate not only the relevance of mathematics
but its importance in everyday life. The clips feature the people who are
actually doing jobs and explain some of the maths processes that they ar e
involved with on a daily basis. There is a brief synopsis of each clip , which
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APPENDIX
identifies the maths topics covered, and all clips end with the simple question
‘What mathematics would be involved in the work you have just watched? ’ The
practitioner is free to approach the viewing in whatever way seems appropriate
to the circumstances.
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