The document summarizes key points from a seminar for parents and tutors on helping students with Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) mathematics. It discusses the format and content of the PSLE math papers, including the introduction of calculators for Paper 2. It also reports on parents being upset over the perceived difficulty of this year's PSLE math paper due to more complex questions involving more steps and values as a result of allowing calculator use.

1. A Seminar for Parents & Tutors Helping Students with PSLE Mathematics 6 February 2010 SINGAPOTE TEACHERS’ UNION Yeap Ban Har National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University Singapore [email_address]

6. The rationale of teaching mathematics is that it is “a good vehicle for the development and improvement of a person’s intellectual competence ”.

11. 12.20 4 3 12 0.20 3.05 0.20 0 12.20 12 0.20 Number Bond Method Long Division Method

13. 1100 1330

17. Basic Skills Item

24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56

25. Table 1 consists of numbers from 1 to 56. Kay and Lin are given a plastic frame that covers exactly 9 squares of Table 1 with the centre square darkened. (a) Kay puts the frame on 9 squares as shown in the figure below. What is the average of the 8 numbers that can be seen in the frame? 3 4 5 11 13 19 20 21

26. Table 1 consists of numbers from 1 to 56. Kay and Lin are given a plastic frame that covers exactly 9 squares of Table 1 with the centre square darkened. (a) Kay puts the frame on 9 squares as shown in the figure below. What is the average of the 8 numbers that can be seen in the frame? Alternate Method 4 x 24 = 96 96 ÷ 8 = 12 3+4+5+11+13+19+20 = 96 96 ÷ 8 = 12 3 4 5 11 13 19 20 21

27. (b) Lin puts the frame on some other 9 squares. The sum of the 8 numbers that can be seen in the frame is 272. What is the largest number that can be seen in the frame? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 34

28. Challenging Items: Visualization

29. Challenging Items: Visualization 40 x 30 x 60 = 72 000 72 000 ÷ 5 x 2 = 14 400 x 2 = 28 800 28 800 ÷ 1200 = 24 The height is 24 cm

30. Challenging Items: Visualization 40 x 30 x 60 ÷ 5 x 2 ÷ (40 x 30) = 24 The height is 24 cm. 40 x 30 x 60 ÷ 5 x 3 ÷ (40 x 45) = 24 The height is Tank B is 24 cm. It is the same for Tank A.

34. It is so basic, students doing Foundation Mathematics are expected to have the ability …

35. The rationale of teaching mathematics is that it is “a good vehicle for the development and improvement of a person’s intellectual competence ”.

36. With visualization, one does not need to know a formula to calculate the area of a trapezium. 9 cm 2 6 cm 2

37. Parents Up In Arms Over PSLE Mathematics Paper TODAY’S 10 OCT 2009 SINGAPORE: The first thing her son did when he came out from the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) maths paper on Thursday this week was to gesture as if he was "slitting his throat". "One look at his face and I thought 'oh no'. I could see that he felt he was condemned," said Mrs Karen Sng. "When he was telling me about how he couldn't answer some of the questions, he got very emotional and started crying. He said his hopes of getting (an) A* are dashed." Not for the first time, parents are up in arms over the PSLE Mathematics paper, which some have described as "unbelievably tough" this year. As recently as two years ago, the PSLE Mathematics paper had also caused a similar uproar. The reason for Thursday's tough paper, opined the seven parents whom MediaCorp spoke to, was because Primary 6 students were allowed to use calculators while solving Paper 2 for the first time. … Said Mrs Vivian Weng: "I think the setters feel it'll be faster for them to compute with a calculator. So the problems they set are much more complex; there are more values, more steps. But it's unfair because this is the first time they can do so and they do not know what to expect!" … "The introduction of the use of calculators does not have any bearing on the difficulty of paper. The use of calculators has been introduced into the primary maths curriculum so as to enhance the teaching and learning of maths by expanding the repertoire of learning activities, to achieve a better balance between the time and effort spent developing problem solving skills and computation skills. Calculators can also help to reduce computational errors." … Another common gripe: There was not enough time for them to complete the paper. A private tutor, who declined to be named, told MediaCorp she concurred with parents' opinions. "This year's paper demanded more from students. It required them to read and understand more complex questions, and go through more steps, so time constraints would have been a concern," the 28-year-old said.

39. chocolates Jim Ken sweets 12 18 12 3 parts  12 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 18 = 66 1 part  22 12 12 12 12 Half of the sweets Jim bought = 22 + 12 = 34 So Jim bought 68 sweets.`

42. Emphasis on Visualization is not new. John had 1.5 m of copper wire. He cut some of the wire to bend into the shape shown in the figure below. In the figure, there are 6 equilateral triangles and the length of XY is 19 cm. How much of the copper wire was left?

43. Emphasis on Visualization is not new. John had 1.5 m of copper wire. He cut some of the wire to bend into the shape shown in the figure below. In the figure, there are 6 equilateral triangles and the length of XY is 19 cm. How much of the copper wire was left?

44. Emphasis on Visualization is not new. John had 1.5 m of copper wire. He cut some of the wire to bend into the shape shown in the figure below. In the figure, there are 6 equilateral triangles and the length of XY is 19 cm. How much of the copper wire was left?

45. Emphasis on Visualization is not new. John had 1.5 m of copper wire. He cut some of the wire to bend into the shape shown in the figure below. In the figure, there are 6 equilateral triangles and the length of XY is 19 cm. How much of the copper wire was left?

46. Emphasis on Visualization is not new. John had 1.5 m of copper wire. He cut some of the wire to bend into the shape shown in the figure below. In the figure, there are 6 equilateral triangles and the length of XY is 19 cm. How much of the copper wire was left? 19 cm x 5 = 95 cm 150 cm – 95 cm = 55 cm 55 cm was left.

48. 180 o – 2 x 21 o – 2 x 28 o = …

51. 11 kg 29 kg

52. 11 kg 29 kg

53. 11 kg 18 kg 11 kg

54. 18 kg 9 kg

55. 9 kg 27 kg

58. 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 $6 $6 – 10 x 20 cents = $4 $4 ÷ 5 = 80 cents She saved 80 cents on Monday.

65. 34 88 54

66. 34 54 – 34 = 20 34 – 20 = 14 3 x 7 = 21 girls wear goggles

75.   

76.    

77.            