Practice numeracy tasks for everyday life

Use the resources in this section to help you practise the learning outcomes for this module. We have offered some suggestions after each one below:

Read and input numerical data on household objects and printed/digital media

Select food items from the kitchen and read the nutritional information on labels.

  • Use addition to calculate the total calories of two or more items.
  • Use division, fractions, multiplication and subtraction to calculate portion sizes of food when shared or partially consumed.
  • Use multiplication and division to calculate the percentage of fat or salt in a food product.
  • Choose and use operations to solve everyday problems.

Read your gas and/or electricity meter and review your bill or account information.

  • Identify the place value of numbers in your reading.
  • Use subtraction to work out how much energy you have used since your last reading.
  • Use multiplication to calculate the cost of energy usage based on the tariff.
  • Calculate the percentage of tax payable (20% VAT in the UK) to the cost of energy used.

Read news and interpret numerical data in articles and blog posts.

  • Look for statements like “1 in 10 people living in Inverness say they don’t like bananas” or "1500 Highland residents lose power after storm”. Try converting data from one form to another, e.g. fractions into percentages, percentages into actual numbers. You may need to find supporting information from Wikipedia or elsewhere to discover estimated population numbers for a city or region.
  • Examine league tables and other sports articles. What can the numbers tell you about the performance of a team or sportsperson? Can you create statements with fractions or percentages using numerical data e.g. “Team A have won 45% of the matches played this season” or “Two thirds of this year’s medal winners are under the age of 25”?
Choose and use operations to solve everyday problems
  • Choose a recipe to prepare a meal and calculate the quantities and costs of ingredients using addition and multiplication.
  • Divide meals into portions and work out the fraction or percentage of the meal per portion e.g. slice of pizza or cake.
  • Plan a gathering or party and use different operations to work out the quantities and costs of food and drink to buy.
  • Use different operations to plan personal health and fitness goals, e.g. the average number of daily steps needed to walk each day to achieve a weekly target.
Measure spaces and resources in home improvement and hobby projects
  • Measure the surface area of the floor, walls or ceiling of a room in your home.
  • Look at paint and wallpaper products in a DIY store or website and use the information provided to work out how much you would need to decorate your space.
  • Plan a garden plot. Calculate the area of the plot, then use information on seed packets and compost bags (in a garden centre or online) to calculate planting quantities.
  • Use numeracy to help you with a creative project e.g. calculate the slabs and sand needed to build a patio, or the fabric required to make a patchwork quilt.
Use essential numeracy skills to support and connect with family and friends

Work through maths homework with young relatives.

  • Work out together what they need to do.
  • Look at what information is given and what they need to find out.
  • Share tips and tricks from the resources in this section.
  • Try to connect the topics covered to examples in real life.

Play pretend “shop” with children in your family.

  • Add real money to a cardboard cash register and real purse or wallet.
  • Assign prices to objects from around the house to sell in the shop.
  • Practise working out change as the cashier or customer.
  • Make the activity more challenging by applying discounts of 10% or having a 50% off sale.

Look out for opportunities to practise and use numeracy in your family’s healthcare.

  • Practise taking your own temperature using a thermometer, measuring your weight on scales, and track changes over a period of time.
  • Calculate doses of medicine or supplements (if needed) and plan a routine for taking tablets (check accuracy with appropriate healthcare professional).
  • Compare measurements recorded in a child’s personal health record (the “red book” in the UK) to child development growth charts. The numerical information available to you will depend on your personal circumstances.

When you have practised numeracy skills from each of these areas, you can try taking the quiz in the Activity Zone. This will help you find out if you’re ready to take on the challenges in the Mathemap activity.

Last modified: Saturday, 28 September 2024, 5:27 PM