Mathematics @ ENPS

Year Six Multiplicative Thinking 

Connection to the Mathematics Curriculum 2.0: By the end of Year Six, students multiply and divide decimals by multiples of powers of 10 without a calculator, applying knowledge of place value and proficiency with multiplication facts, using estimation and rounding to check the reasonableness of answers.

The Year Six students are currently learning about the big idea of Multiplicative Thinking. Last week they have been making generalisations about what occurs when decimals are multiplied by powers of 10. They were presented with the question: Without typing 43.81 into your calculator how can you make your calculator show the number?

Some key ideas they learnt were:

• That the digits stay the same but the place value of the digits will grow when multiplying and decrease when dividing.

• Estimating the answer can assist with its accuracy.

• Just following the rule of moving the decimal point can lead to incorrect answers.

• When multiplying by powers of 10 the integer is the number of places in the answer.

At Home: Salute Card Game!

This game focuses on finding the product of two factors (multiplicative thinking) and is great for revising multiplication facts (times tables).

Materials

A deck of cards. 

Rules

• Work in groups of three. 

• Two people face each other and then draw a card from the deck. 

• Each person places their card facing outwards without looking at it on their forehead. They car see their partner’s card, but not their on. 

• The third person multiplies the two cards together and tells the other two the product. 

• Each of the other two race to solve what number is on their forehead.

• The players swap roles and continue playing. 

If you have any photos of your family playing Salute please email them to Fran for a feature in our school newsletter: Fran.Milic@education.vic.gov.au 

The Year Six Team

Melissa Paola, Rhys McIntosh, Annie Ioannou, Zarah Draper and Josh D’Souza