ACARA CRASH 15: Digital Insertion

Continuing to try to rid ourselves of ACARA irritants, the following are the “calculator” elaborations from Year 1 – Year 6 Number and Algebra (sic):

YEAR 1

using the constant function on a calculator to add ten to single digit numbers, recording the numbers to make, show and explore the patterns in a 0 – 100 chart

with the use of a calculator, exploring skip-counting sequences that start from different numbers, discussing patterns

modeling skip counting sequences using the constant function on a calculator, while saying, reading and recording the numbers as they go

YEAR 2

interpreting an everyday situation, for example, shopping or a story and deciding whether to use addition or subtraction to solve the problem; justifying the choice of operation and an appropriate number sentence to input into a calculator to solve it, for example ‘I used subtraction to solve this problem as I knew the total and one of the parts, so I needed to subtract to find the missing part’

 

YEAR 3

using the constant function on a calculator to explore the effect of adding or subtracting ones, tens, hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands to/from numbers that include nines or zeros in different places, for example, 49 999 add 1 or add 100, 500 000 subtract 10 or 100

choosing to represent a situation with an open subtraction number sentence and using the inverse relationship to solve the problem with addition on a calculator, for example, ‘I had some money and then spent $375, now I have $158 left. How much did I have to start with?  – $375 = $158, could be solved by $375 + $158 =

exploring and explaining the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction, using this to find unknown values on a calculator, for example, solving 27 + = 63 using subtraction,  = 63 – 27

 

YEAR 4

using a calculator to explore the effect of multiplying or dividing numbers by tens, hundreds and thousands, recording sequences in a place value chart and explaining patterns noticed

using a calculator or other computational tool to explore the effect of multiplying numbers by multiples of ten, recording results in a table or spread sheet and explaining the patterns noticed, for example, multiplying 5 x 10, 5 x 20, 5 x 30, 5 x 40, 5 x 50, 5 x 60, 5 x 70, 5 x 80, 5 x 90, 5 x 100 and recognising the pattern of 5 x the first digit

choosing between a mental calculation or a calculator to solve addition or subtraction problems, using a calculator when the numbers are difficult or unfriendly and a mental calculation when the numbers can be connected to a familiar mental calculation strategy; reflecting on their answer in relation to the context to ensure it makes sense

interpreting everyday situations involving money, such as a budget for a large event, as requiring either addition or subtraction and solving using a calculator; recording the number sentence used on the calculator and justify the choice of operation in relation to the situation

creating a basic flowchart that represents an algorithm that will generate a sequence of numbers using multiplication by a constant term, including decisions, input/output and processing symbols; using a calculator to model the processing function, follow the algorithm and record the sequence of numbers generated, describing any emerging patterns

 

YEAR 5

interpreting an everyday situation to determine which operation can be used to solve it using a calculator; recording the number sentence input into a calculator and justify their choice of operation in relation to the situation

choosing between a mental calculation, the use of a calculator or spreadsheet (or similar) to solve a wide range of problems, for example, using a calculator or spreadsheets when the numbers are difficult, justifying their choice of operation and calculation method; reflecting on their answer in relation to the context to ensure it makes sense

using the constant function on a calculator to create and record a decimal pattern, for example, ‘If 0.4 m of material is required to make one cushion, how much is needed to make two, three, four or more?’; explaining the pattern and using it to say how much material is needed for six or more cushions

using a calculator or other computational tool and the relationship between factors and multiples to explore numbers, making and investigating conjectures

 

YEAR 6

representing a situation with a mathematical expression, for example, numbers and symbols such as 1 4 x 24, that involve finding a familiar fraction or percentage of a quantity; using mental strategies or a calculator and explaining the result in terms of the situation in question

deciding to use a calculator in situations that explore additive (addition and subtraction) properties of decimals beyond thousandths, for example, 1.0 – 0.0035 or 2.3456 + 1.4999

deciding to use a calculator in situations that explore multiplication and division of natural numbers being multiplied or divided by a decimal including beyond hundredths

calculating using efficient strategies such as mental calculations, spread sheets or similar, calculators or a variety of informal jottings; explaining the results in terms of the situation

using a calculator or spreadsheet to explore number patterns that result from multiplying or dividing, for example, 1 ÷ 9, 2 ÷ 9, 3 ÷ 9…, 210 x 11, 211 x 211, 212 x 11…, 111 x 11, 222 x 11, 333 x 11…, 100 ÷ 99, 101 ÷ 99, 102 ÷ 99…

 

2 Replies to “ACARA CRASH 15: Digital Insertion”

  1. All this emphasis on calculators.

    One of my students said yesterday – and I don’t lead my students on these issues – “Is this really maths? Where are times tables? Where are x’s and y’s? Why don’t they bring back the good old days?” Amen.

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