Standard IV Arithmetic

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30405, 2 April 1964, Page 11

Standard IV Arithmetic

The report of the Mathematical Association of Christchurch which stated that primary school teachers were not trained to teach mathematics and that these teachers did not teach the subject of arithmetic in such a way that it could lead the pupil towards the study of mathematics in our secondary schools was, I think, just a a bit too sweeping to allow it to go unchallenged. Without arguing the point, I should like to place before your interested readers some of the pudding eaten by the Standard 4 level in my school. All of them don’t eat it and some take quite a while to digest it, but I think it is good nourishment, and if it isn’t leading to a study of mathematics, I have been barking up the wrong tree for a few years. Some of it is just simple computation (and that is very desirable in primary schools) but some is—well, your readers will be the best judges especially if they read it in relation to the fact that the children concerned have to be taught in classes of 40 with a very wide range of intellectual ability. 1. What is the 7 worth in each of the following numbers? 527, 725, 2700,10375, 6.7, 46.7, 7400.

2. How many hundreds can be made from these numbers? 1070, 2137, 75.6, a thousand, ten thousand. 3. Write these numbers in figures: three hundreds and seven ones; 5 tens and three thousands; six tens and no ones; 2 hundreds and no tens and four ones.

4. What is the difference between these pairs of numbers? 163,173; 369,370; 42135,42125; 3142,3122; 1000,990.

5. Look at this sum: 328+ 257=585. Without working out, from this sum do these sums below: 428+257: 585 328; 328-T-277; 318+257.

6. How many tens can be got from these numbers? 327; 42.5; 7081; 11111; 4060. 7. Look at this sum: 47=34 and 2 remainder. Without working out, from this sum do these below: 47X34; 1595 47; 1647=47; 1598=47; 47X35. 8. Put these rows of numbers in order of size, smallest first: 11, 1, 1.01, 1.11, 11.1, 12 nines, ten tens, ten elevens. 9. Add 35 to each of these numbers: 52, 65, 185, 536, 79. 10. How much money is each one of these? 23d, 40d, 455, 31s, 17 florins, 17 halfcrowns.

11. What three coins make these amounts of money? 2/8, 2/0, 2/6, 4/0, 3d, 10/0.

from a number the answer is 394 (use X for the number). Twice a number with ten added makes 80 (use X for the number). 17. What is X worth in each of these? 2X=l4; 12+X=17; X—s=lo; 10X+3=53; 17-2 X =l3; jX=lO; JX=2.

18. Write these times in figures: Half past ten; a quarter to nine; seven fifteen; ten past eight; five to nine; a quarter past eleven. 19. How long is it from: Ten past six to five to eight? 10.50 a.m. to 12.5 p.m.; 11.59 pun. to 12.1 a.m. 20. Do these sums in your head: Tom got up at a quarter past eight; dressing takes four minutes, washing three