Maths.scot

#WorldPoetryDay2025
Mathematical Limerick by Leigh Mercer

A dozen, a gross and a score
Plus three times the square root of four
Divided by seven
Plus five times eleven
Is nine squared and not a bit more.

Correct. The student multiplied each digit of 43 by 6, and I think they were then minded to do the same for the addition. Not an error I’ve ever seen before.

So the student got 258, thought they were adding 4, got 702 and didn’t notice that it was much too large. I’ll be honest: I was stumped!

What did this pupil do wrong?
How to fix their misunderstanding?

The question was a worded problem (non-calculator) which they correctly understood required them to calculate 43×6+4.

The student’s answer was 702.

Hint: They did the multiplication correctly.

#mathstoday

Website update:
Clelland Maths video solutions to the 16 worked examples for the National 5 Maths 'Change of Subject' have now been added to the written solutions on www.maths.scot/nat5/change-...

Website update:
Clelland Maths video solutions to the worked examples for the Advanced Higher Maths 'Number Theory' topic have now been added to the written solutions on www.maths.scot/advanced-hig...

Website update:
Clelland Maths video solutions to the 18 worked examples for the Higher Maths Differentiation topic have now been added to the written solutions on www.maths.scot/higher/diffe...

Website update:
Clelland Maths video solutions to the 11 worked examples for the National 5 Maths 'Simultaneous Equations' topic have now been added to the written solutions on www.maths.scot/nat5/simulta...

Website update:
Clelland Maths video solutions to the 14 worked examples for the Advanced Higher Maths 'Methods of Proof' topic have now been added to the written solutions on www.maths.scot/advanced-hig...

What is *Mathematics* about?

I'm looking for pithy, engaging, relatable, positive, short (1 or 2 words) about what makes mathematics mathematics? How can you spot it in the wild?

I'm thinking "patterns", "relationships", "shapes", "changes",...

What else?

The art of simplifying the seemingly complex.

How to cheer students up on their first day back of the new year:

“None of us had been born in 1936 and we’ll all be dead by 2116.”

Broken Stem - Reform Scotland The Commission on School Reform, the independent group of education experts set up by the think tank Reform Scotland, today releases “very worrying” Freedom

New report from the Commission on School Reform highlights worrying FOI data based on the number of pupils in the S4 cohort, rather than the number which sit the exams. While 75% of S4 pupils passed Nat 5 English in 2024, only 40% passed Nat 5 Maths

www.reformscotland.com/publication/...

Neither.

At least, in the emulator, the round keys won't rotate in their sockets to give an irregular, lopsided look. I think that triggers me even more than the illogicality of SHIFT-7 for π or how clunky FORMAT is compared to the old S⇔D.

Well predicted. This student had not, in fact, connected “eleven over four” with “eleven quarters”. It later turned out that he thought 2¾ means 2×¾, so obtaining 11/4 was undoubtedly by rote.

What’s going on here?

Student could convert 2¾ into an improper fraction, but then had no idea how many quarters are in 2¾.

Revealed: How not a single maths department in Moray’s schools is fully staffed The lack of specialist teachers is having a 'huge impact' on pupils' attainment.

Revealed: How not a single maths department in Moray’s schools is fully staffed

N5 Maths: factorising a difference of two squares.

In the SQA specification, the given format is p²𝑥² − a².

2016 P2 Q4: 3𝑥² − 48
2017 P2 Q9: 4𝑥² − 25
2019 P2 Q13: 4p² − 9
2021 P2 Q3: 3a² − 75
2022 P2 Q12: b² − 9
2023 P2 Q12: 𝑥² − 16

So would 9 − x² or 𝑥² − y² be unfair? Thoughts?

#ScottishMaths

More #ScottishMaths teachers to follow:

@juliemorgan.bsky.social
@audproctor77.bsky.social
@kevinghall.bsky.social

Thanks for this. Please add me.

Word Crunching I  wrote  a poem  on a page  but then each line grew  to the word sum of the previous two  until I began to worry about all these words coming with such frequency  because as you can see, it can be easy to run out of space when a poem gets all Fibonacci sequency  Brian Bilston

Today’s poem celebrates Fibonacci Day. It’s called ‘Word Crunching’.

#ScottishMaths

The @bsky.app community is growing! Who to follow:

@mistercorzi.bsky.social
@mrwilsoncompsci.bsky.social
@segarrogers.bsky.social
@brynspiration.bsky.social
@garyl.bsky.social
@mrallanmaths.bsky.social
@khuntermaths.bsky.social
@missdicksonmaths.bsky.social
@maths-geek.bsky.social

That aside, it's immaculate!

I have created a #ScottishMaths feed to help us follow relevant posts. The tag is intended for use by primary and secondary teachers of mathematics in Scotland.

“And the homework for tomorrow is…”

Social media in schools: the pros and cons in a changing landscape With many schools reassessing their use of social media platforms, Nuzhat Uthmani weighs up the benefits and the potential challenges of having an online presence

With many schools now reassessing their use of social media, @nuthmani.bsky.social weighs up the advantages and potential challenges of having an online presence

Hello Bluesky!

#maths #math #mathschat #scotland #education #ukmathschat #teachers #mathsresources