Teacher/Tutor - Numeracy

There are additional websites in these topics in the Student/Learner section of the Science & Numeracy Special Collection.

Number and Number Sense
Number sense is a content skill that encompasses many areas. This skill needs to be explored using whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, ratio, money, and estimation. Being able to handle numbers comfortably and competently is important to adults as parents, workers, and community members. Estimation, mental math, computation, and calculators are all tools that develop number and number sense.

Problem Solving: Reasoning and Decision Making
Problem solving, reasoning, and decision making are three very interconnected processes that adults engage in continuously. Problem solving is a process that includes seeking to understand the problem, then figuring out what information and math skills are important to use and solve the problem. While problem solving is embedded in mathematics, there are specific skills and strategies that help greatly.

Data Analysis, Probability and Statistics, and Graphing
Reading charts and graphs, interpreting data, and making decisions based on information are key skills to being a successful worker and informed citizen. Being an informed citizen includes understanding statistics and probability as well. Adults cannot made reasonable decisions unless they understand from where the statistics come.

Geometry: Spatial Sense and Measurement
Measurement, a foundation skill for geometry, is an essential life skill. It is not an end in itself, but a tool used in many contexts: home, work, and community. Awareness of acceptable tolerances, margins and upper and lower limits, is critical to measurement competence. Today, much is computerized but the results are only as good as the information inputted. Visualization and concrete models help reasoning in this area.

Algebra: Patterns and Functions
Algebra includes more than formal methods of equation solving, age problems and lots of X’s and Y’s. Conceptual understanding, algebra as a means of representation, and algebraic methods are all problem solving tools. Algebraic reasoning allows us to think about and express patterns, relations, and functions which ultimately give us access to technology.