Category Archives: Numeracy

George Osborne – What a turnip

By A Maths Teacher | Published: 03/07/2014

George Osborne – The Chancellor -probably the second most powerful politician in the country. And a prize turnip, too. He was asked, by a seven year old boy: What’s seven times eight Our intrepid leader refused to answer, replying: I’ve made it a rule in life not to answer a whole load of maths questions […]

Also posted in Maths Fail | Comments closed

The Nations Numeracy …

By A Maths Teacher | Published: 29/05/2014

… a lament. May half term. And its raining. But never mind, I’m sat enjoying a leisurely breakfast of toast & marmite, and listening to Radio 5 – Live, a simple pleasure, but one that I enjoy in my hols. Today’s discussion and phone in is about smoking, and whether the cost of a packet […]

Also posted in Maths Fail | Tagged | Comments closed

A Marathon Problem

By A Maths Teacher | Published: 12/04/2014

  I once half ran half of a half marathon, and got half way.   So if a half marathon is 13.1 miles how far did I run? And if I took half an hour, how fast did I run? Best of luck to any of you running in tomorrow’s London Marathon. Perhaps you can […]

Also posted in Puzzles | Comments closed

A little bit of toast

By A Maths Teacher | Published: 23/03/2014

Toast – for me a Sunday morning treat. But, alas, this morning our trusty toasty gave up the ghost and was only browning one side of each slice. So a quick trip to Tesco, and a new toaster purchased – a family essential with an 11 yr old who seems to live on the stuff. […]

Posted in Numeracy | Tagged , | Comments closed

Pythagoras Day

By Maths Teacher | Published: 04/12/2013

Thursday 5th December 2013 – 5 12 13 – is a Pythagoras Day. A Pythagorean triple is a set of 3 integers (whole numbers) a, b & c such that: a2 + b2 = c2 Pythagorean triples can be used to create right angled triangles, like the one above.  You can’t just use any three […]

Also posted in dates | Tagged | Comments closed