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Jul 142015
 

Amey Streets Ahead photo from http://www.amey.co.uk/media/press-releases/2012/april/amey-announced-preferred-bidder-for-2-billion-sheffield-highways-contract/ (with permission)In this exercise you will need to read the information from an Amey press release about the massive Streets Ahead contract. You will then use your skills to answer the questions. You can download a worksheet or use the interactive version here.

May 062014
 

Here is a great phone app that will help you with your arithmetic so you don’t need to be afraid when you are faced with that non-calculator exam. It’s called Maths Tricks and shows you lots of short cuts to performing calculations and gives you endless practice to improve your speed and accuracy. Best of all it’s free!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dexterltd.maths.tricks_lite

You can find it on Google Play. I am recommending this because it is good, not because I have any connection to the app.

 

 

 

Sep 292013
 

Image from the Lisa Simpson Bookclub

Simon Singh has written a book about maths in the Simpsons. Read all about it here on the Guardian website.

Have a read of the article and find out about Fermat’s Last Theorem,  Perfect Numbers, Narcissistic numbers, Mersenne Primes, Googols and Googolplexs and lots more! You may not need to know this stuff to pass your maths exam, but hopefully you’ll see that maths can be both fascinating and fun!

Aug 132013
 

This activity is about a wind turbine in Norfolk. Watch the video first, then try to answer the questions. You will need a calculator.

You can either do the activity on-line, or download and print the worksheet.

May 112013
 

In May 2013 global levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed the milestone of 400 parts per million. This exercise will challenge your maths and help you understand why this is so important.

 

Apr 172013
 

Watch the video on Income Inequality then see if you can answer the questions.

Jan 052013
 

Many people on a low income are not able to open a bank account. If they need to borrow money they can be offered loans with massive rates of interest. This exercise looks at how to calculate interest rates and compares different ways of borrowing money.

The video mentions two businesses in particular. Wonga.com and Quick Quid both charge interest rates in excess of 2000%. Do you know of higher rates of interest? Please comment below to name and shame the loan sharks!

The same exercise is here in worksheet format.

 

 

Oct 052012
 

How many nurses could be employed with the money given in bonuses to RBS bankers? You can work it out here!

Oct 052012
 

Watch the video and see if you can answer the questions.

Read more about these controversial lyrics in the Guardian

Jul 252012
 

Here is an excellent video that shows how statistics have shaped our world. How they have been used to show smoking causes causes lung cancer, to translate languages and even to understand our feelings.

The Joy of Stats

According to Vimeo

“Documentary which takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power they have to change our understanding of the world, presented by superstar boffin Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend.”

Mar 262012
 

 

This is the first in a series of Functional Skills resources about climate change and what the Government could do about it.

A million Climate Jobs