We had CPD after school yesterday which ended at 4.30pm so I decided to go for a swim. I swam for about 2/3 lengths thinking of nothing and relaxing when my mind started thinking of school/ lesson ideas / blog posts once again. (Yes I know – I need to get a life…)
So anyway, Maths came to mind and I began to think of everyday activities where children could use their Maths skills. The swimming pool for example could cover the areas of length, multiplication, money, time etc. Often, we teach some of these topics in isolation with a few ‘real life’ questions thrown in at the end so these ideas might help to incorporate real life problems into the Maths lessons. It is also a great way to revise topics you may have covered already.
Time;
- I left school at 4.30pm and arrived at the pool at 4.55pm. How long did it take to get there?
- I had to go to a meeting at 6.30pm. How much time could I spend in the swimming pool if it would take me 15 minutes to drive to the meeting?
- I got into the pool at 5pm. I swam for 45 minutes. Show me in digital time when I finished swimming.
- If I can swim 8 lengths in 5 minutes. How much time would I need to swim 40 lengths?
Length
- 1 length of the pool is 25m. How many lengths would I need to do to finish 100m?
- How many lengths would I have to do to complete 1km?
- I swam 48 lengths. Write this in metres. Write it in km and metres.
- I want to swim a total of 5.5km this week. How many more km do I need to swim?
Money
- It costs 8 euro for an adult to go for a swim. If a child costs 3 euro less. How much will I have to pay for 2 adults and 2 children?
- There is a family pass for 20 euro. How much money will I save if I buy that?
- When I was swimming there were 13 adults and 19 children. How much money did the pool make?
I did this today as a mental maths starter. However it could easily be used as a problem solving lesson!
