Investigations!

There is a long history of investigation in mathematics with evidence that the Ancient Egyptians explored numbers and found patterns and connections in their work. From the time of ancient civilizations mathematics has been used to make sense of the world and the universe in which we live.

Throughout the year we will be working through different investigations using and applying our maths skills and knowledge. Investigations require us to work systematically, think logically and to search for patterns as well as making conjectures, testing these and trying to make generalizations.

See our investigations develop through the year - you can also try them at home!


Investigation 1: Three in a Bag.


This investigation explores totals and complements to 30 with plenty of mental arithmetic. It's an opportunity to develop patterns and work in a methodical, structured way. Here are our questions:

1. Can all totals between 3 and 30 be made with only threee numbers between 1 and 10?

2. Using only 3 numbers between 1 and 10, how many ways can any number between 3 and 30 be made?

3. Can you find all the totals that can be made with consecutive numbers (e.g. 3 + 4 + 5  = 12) ?

4. Can you find totals that can be made using three numbers that are the same - is there a pattern in these totals?

In school we'll use the numicon shapes to help us as they are multi sensory and help us to see the organized system in numbers. Here's what they look like:

Of course you could try this at home without the shapes.