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reSolve: Multiplication - The Tiler

Teacher guide reSolve: Multiplication - The Tiler

TLF ID M025301

This task explores arrays through the context of a tiling a courtyard. Students are given the total cost of tiling a courtyard and use this to calculate the price for individual tiles. They then explore the cost of different tiling designs to determine if one is cheaper than another. Each lesson is outlined in detail including curriculum links, vocabulary, materials needed, sample answers, discussion points and student resources. This sequence is part of the reSolve: Maths by Inquiry program.

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Educational details

Educational value
  • This resource is extremely valuable for the year 4 mathematics content description about multiplication facts and related division facts. Students explore combinations of tiles used to pave a given area and calculate the total cost for given combinations using their knowledge of multiplication, division and addition facts.
  • The resource is also valuable for the year 4 mathematics content description about efficient mental and written strategies and appropriate digital technologies for multiplication and for division. Students use a range of strategies for investigating the problem, including breaking a complex problem into smaller problems, working with per-unit pricing and using partially abstracted arrays.
  • The resource is also of value for supporting the year 4 mathematics content description about solving word problems by using number sentences involving multiplication or division. Given the context of different tiling scenarios, student are challenged to break down a word problem into number sentences in order to efficiently solve the problem.
  • The resource is of value for supporting the Numeracy general capability. The lesson provides multiple opportunities for students to identify, describe and create everyday patterns and use these patterns to model multiplication and addition to help them solve simple problems.
  • This resource is also of pedagogical value as it supports teachers in building an inquiry-focused learning environment with authentic application of mathematical skills and understandings. The unit aims to develop content knowledge as well as assisting students to understand the process of inquiry.
Year level

4

Topics Number operations Problem solving Division Multiplication Mental arithmetic Multiplication tables Commutativity Distributivity Associativity Written calculations Mathematical expressions
Learning area
  • Mathematics

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Australian Government Department of Education and Training
  • Organization: Australian Government Department of Education and Training
  • Publisher
  • Name: Australian Academy of Science
  • Organization: Australian Academy of Science
  • Description: Publisher
  • URL: https://www.science.org.au/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Online
Rights
  • © Australian Government Department of Education and Training 2017. Unless otherwise indicated, this material may be used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.