Session 1: Working with numbers
Introduction
It is very difficult to cope in everyday life without a basic understanding of numbers.
Calculators can be very useful, for example helping you to check your working out, or converting fractions to decimals.
To complete the activities in this course you will need some notepaper, a pen for taking notes and working out calculations and a calculator.
Session 1 includes many examples of numeracy from everyday life, with lots of learning activities related to them that involve whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios and proportion.
By the end of this session you will be able to:
- work with whole numbers
- use rounding
- understand fractions, decimals and percentages, and the equivalencies between them
- use ratios and proportion
- understand word formulas and function machines.
Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Whether you’re out shopping, busy at work or even at home, numbers are everywhere.
It’s impossible to avoid them. From knowing what size clothes to shop for to working out how much money you have to spend, it’s hard to imagine a world without numbers.
A basic understanding of maths and numbers is important for so many decisions we make in our everyday lives. And whatever it is you’re shopping for, you will have to deal with fractions as well as percentages, which can be really useful when working out whether a special offer is, in fact, a bargain. If you’re mixing cement, the idea of ratio and proportion is really important, in just the same way as if you’re working out the correct quantities of ingredients you need for baking.
In everyday life, numbers don’t have to be a challenge. They can be useful in all sorts of ways.