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Number Concepts Review for Students

The document focuses on reviewing fundamental number concepts essential for students in the Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics course. It emphasizes the importance of numeracy in daily life, the advantages of the decimal base 10 system, and provides examples and issues to consider when teaching topics like multiples, factors, and directed numbers. Additionally, it encourages exploration of different counting systems and their historical significance.

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Eman Shalaby
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11 views2 pages

Number Concepts Review for Students

The document focuses on reviewing fundamental number concepts essential for students in the Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics course. It emphasizes the importance of numeracy in daily life, the advantages of the decimal base 10 system, and provides examples and issues to consider when teaching topics like multiples, factors, and directed numbers. Additionally, it encourages exploration of different counting systems and their historical significance.

Uploaded by

Eman Shalaby
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics

1 Reviewing number concepts


Overview
This first chapter is about reviewing number concepts because these ideas are fundamental to
nearly everything that follows. Developing a ‘feel’ for the relationships between numbers will stand
the students in good stead for any level of maths that they go on to study. You can work through
this chapter in one go if you want to but it is definitely worth coming back to the ideas included
here on a regular basis as you progress through the course.

Getting started
Have a class discussion about why we need to be numerate in today’s world. It is interesting to ask
students to think of daily activities which do not involve a sense of number (quantity). They might say
things like ‘poetry’ or ‘music’ but those involve number too – from counting lines and syllables to make a
rhythm to working in octaves and fractions of notes to write music.
Look at the photograph of the replica of the Ishango bone at the beginning of chapter 1 of the
Coursebook. Given that the real bone is only 10 cm long, ask the students to estimate the height of this
statue. Have them explain how they worked out their answers to the class, or to each other.
Make sure the students understand that the decimal base 10 system we use today has many advantages
over older counting and number systems which were not decimal (e.g. Babylonian, Egyptian, Roman,
Mayan). The four main strengths of the base 10 system are:
1 Any number can be represented using just the ten digits (0 to 9); it does not use tallies or lots of
different symbols for numbers.
2 It is decimal and powers of ten make it easy to work with.
3 Numbers can be expanded using place value and this makes operations easier to see and
understand.
4 It has a zero (0) which acts like a quantity (nothing or nought) but which is also used as a place-
holder to write larger numbers and decimal fractions.
Professor Brian Butterworth, in his book The Mathematical Brain, estimates that he processes about 1000
numbers per hour – that’s about six million numbers a year – without doing anything special!
Butterworth does not have special powers, nor is he a mathematician. The numbers he processes are all
found in daily life: 51 numbers on the first page of a newspaper (prices, dates, amounts); numbers on
the radio (stations, frequencies, news, hit parades); sporting results; time; labels on food; instructions
for cooking; money; addresses; car registration plates; bar codes; page numbers in a book, and many,
many more examples. What is more, these numbers are different: some are whole numbers, some are
fractions, some are decimals, some are in order, and some are random. His point is simple – we depend
on numbers every day, and we need to understand number systems and how to use them.

Examples by chapter
The following worked examples are available as PowerPoint slides with step-by-step solutions to
introduce concepts and demonstrate working:
• Multiples and factors
• Order of operations 1
• Order of operations 2
Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics

Issues to think about


Multiples and factors – these are easily muddled up, particularly in the context of Lowest Common
Multiple and Highest Common Factor, where the LCM is larger than the numbers involved and the HCF
is smaller.
Finding prime factors – less able (and often more able) students prefer the factor tree method as they
can split up each number in any way they choose, rather than working through the prime numbers
sequentially. Students may get bogged down using the prescribed methods to find HCFs and LCMs; it is
okay for them to use more intuitive methods.
Directed numbers – examples that help students visualise the relationships between positive and
negative numbers are good: thermometers, heights above and below sea level (fish underwater, seagulls
in the air), profit and loss, etc.
BODMAS/BIDMAS – they will always remember this unexciting sounding acronym so it is well worth
using!
Rounding – a good discussion point is why we sometimes choose to round numbers. It is not difficult to
find examples of rounded numbers in newspapers, etc. where numbers are quoted to a far greater degree
of accuracy than is reasonable. Also it is important that this topic is understood ahead of estimation in
chapter 5.

Number in real life contexts


Number is one of the easiest topics to relate to real life as we rely on numbers to carry out our daily
living. However, it may be interesting to look at the relative size of numbers, and to explore what people
mean when they use quantities or number terms in different contexts. For example:
• What is a large/small country?
• What does it mean when a resource is ‘scarce’?
• How much is a million? A billion?
• What does it mean when a war costs $100 billion? What does it mean when a country has a debt of
over one trillion euros?

Extending the topic


More able students may be interested in exploring counting using different bases. The best known
‘other’ system is the binary system (base 2), which uses only the digits 0 and 1 and is used extensively in
computing and control systems. However, you might like to ask students to explore the base 5 counting
system; ask them to think about, and show, how our counting system would be different if it was based
on using one hand for counting (five fingers) rather than two hands (ten fingers).
Alternatively, you could ask students to research counting systems from earlier in our history, and to
show how they represented numbers. The book Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Cultures
by Claudia Zaslavsky is a useful resource for doing this but an internet search will provide a large
number of examples.

Common questions

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Engaging students in exploring different number bases broadens their understanding of numerical systems, helping them to see the flexibility and cultural variations in number representation. It can enhance computational thinking and problem-solving skills, as students learn to interpret and convert between systems. Additionally, exploring bases like binary, crucial in computing, can provide practical insights into digital technology and electronics .

Cultural perspectives on numbers differ significantly, with many cultures historically using varied systems such as the Roman numeral system or the Babylonian base 60 system. These differences teach students about diversity in mathematical thought and application across civilizations. By studying these systems, students learn about the evolution of mathematics and its adaptation to cultural needs, fostering respect for mathematical diversity and innovation .

Understanding directed numbers is essential in contexts such as financial markets, where profit and loss are represented using positive and negative values, or in science, where thermometers use directed numbers to measure temperature variations. This understanding is critical as it helps accurately interpret these values, leading to informed decision-making in everyday activities such as budgeting or environmental planning .

The decimal system influences daily activities by structuring processes in ways that might not seem explicitly numerical. Activities like poetry and music rely on numerical patterns—poetry through metrics and syllable count, and music through time signatures and note values. Similarly, everyday tasks like cooking, scheduling, and finances heavily depend on numerical comprehension, which the decimal system simplifies and standardizes for ease of use .

Zero's significance in the decimal system extends beyond acting as a placeholder and representing 'nothing.' It is crucial for performing arithmetic operations, allowing for the formulation of algorithms, and enabling complex mathematical concepts like calculus to be applied. Zero also represents a transitional concept—between positive and negative numbers—and underpins the fundamental properties of functions and equations in mathematics .

Exploration of historical number systems enriches understanding by highlighting the ingenuity and adaptability of mathematical thought across cultures and time periods. It showcases how mathematical methods evolved to meet cultural and practical needs, thus broadening the perspective on problem-solving and innovation. Books like "Africa Counts" offer insights into patterns and calculations used historically, connecting the past to contemporary mathematics education .

Students may find the factor tree method more intuitive for finding prime factors because it allows them to visually decompose a number into its basic components at their own pace, without strictly adhering to a linear sequence of prime numbers. This flexibility can make the process more accessible and less daunting, especially for less confident students, as it aligns with their natural understanding of breaking down problems .

Understanding the relationships between numbers is fundamental because it helps students develop a 'feel' for numbers which is essential for advancing in mathematics. It allows for better comprehension of number systems, facilitates easier visualization of number-related operations, and is crucial for real-life applications, as numbers are omnipresent in various daily contexts such as measurements, finances, and ratios .

The decimal base 10 system offers several advantages: it represents any number using just ten digits (0-9), which simplifies calculations as opposed to systems with tallies or various symbols; the decimal structure aids in working with powers of ten; numbers can be expanded using place value which makes operations visually simpler and intuitive; and it incorporates zero both as a number and as a placeholder, allowing for a more versatile and scalable system .

Knowledge of multiples and factors aids in real-world problem-solving by facilitating effective allocation of resources and understanding cyclical patterns, such as scheduling or grouping. It also assists in solving problems related to electrical circuits, optimizing product packaging, and organizing data storage systems efficiently. Calculating the Lowest Common Multiple (LCM) or Highest Common Factor (HCF) is particularly useful in these contexts to minimize waste and enhance usability .

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