How Do I Support My Child’s Learning At Home?

Middle Years Examples

Grade 6 Mathematics

In grade 6, students are exploring and building upon past learning about many topics in mathematics including very large and very small numbers; factors and multiples of numbers; multiplication and division of decimals; whole-numbered percents; integers; improper fractions and mixed numbers; ratios, patterns and relationships in tables of values and graphs; expressions and equations involving variables; measuring, drawing, and classifying angles; perimeter, area of rectangles, and volume of boxes; congruence of triangles and other 2-D shapes; plotting points on a graph (first quadrant only); transformations, line graphs, data collection and interpretation; sample space; and experimental and theoretical probability. Parents and families can…

• Ask questions about the size of very small or very large numbers heard on TV or radio, seen in magazines or news papers, or found on the internet. For example, parents might ask their student how two different DNA test results compare to each other. (e.g., one in a million versus one in a billion). Families can also consider questions that will have very large or very small solutions, such as how many seconds has it been since you were born?
• Ask their student to give examples of where negative numbers could be used to describe a situation. 
• Ask their student to determine ratios being used in household activities. For example, what is the ratio of sugar to flour in a recipe, or what is the ratio of plant fertilizer to water?
• Ask their student to determine the cost of a certain number of items. For example, if the cost of a box of Kleenex with tax is $1.34, how much will the 5 boxes that we are buying cost?
• Ask their student to identify different types of angles in their home or when on a trip outside of the home (acute: measures less than 90°, obtuse: measures greater than 90° but less than 180°, right: measures exactly 90°, reflexive measures greater than 180°). They could also ask their student to estimate the size of different angles found in the home or outside of the home and to explain how the estimate was determined.
• Ask their student to compare the volume of different boxes within the home and talk about how the dimensions of the boxes could be changed while keeping the same volume. 1Ask their student to identify patterns in and outside of the home where transformations exist and to explain what types of transformations are being shown (slides or translations, flips or reflections, turns or rotations).
• Ask their student questions that data can be collected for. For example, what types of soup do we eat in our family, and which is the most common?
• Ask their student to answer probability questions which can be answered by an experiment. For example, what is the probability that a particular friend will text you three times on Wednesday night?
• When playing games that involve drawing a card, spinning a spinner, or rolling a die, ask their student what the sample space (all the possible outcomes of a single turn) is or what the probability of a particular outcome happening is.

Grade 7 Mathematics

In grade 7, students are exploring and building upon past learning about many topics in mathematics including divisibility strategies; zero and division; order of operations with decimals; relating fractions, decimals, and whole numbers; percents between 0 and 100; addition and subtraction of fractions; addition and subtraction of integers; patterns, graphs, and linear relations; evaluating expressions; solving and verifying equations; circumference of circles; areas of triangles, parallelograms, and circles; perpendicular and parallel lines; plotting points in all four quadrants; mean, median, mode, and range; circle graphs; and experimental and theoretical probability of independent events. Parents and families can…

• Ask their student to do estimations and calculations related to home purchases involving decimals (For example, have their student check the family grocery bill).
• Ask their student to describe situations using percents. For example, what percent of your time after school and before going to bed do you spend talking with your family?
• Ask their student questions related to temperature differences such as the difference between the coldest and hottest temperatures of the day or the difference between the coldest temperatures on two days a week/month apart.
• Ask their student to find the mean (average) for a situation, such as of the shoe sizes in the family home and compare their shoe size to the mean.
• Ask their student to determine the mode (most common amount) for a situation, such as of the time spent watching TV by all the family members over a week.
• Ask their student to determine the range (difference between highest and lowest value) for a situation, such as of the amount of money they have over a week or month.
• Ask their student to calculate areas, such as of different parts of the family home or yard, or of a scarf.
• Ask their student to identify parallel and perpendicular lines inside and outside of the family home. 
• Ask their student to interpret what circle graphs, seen on TV or within magazines or newspapers, tell about the situation.
• Ask their student to create a circle graph to represent the colours of shirts that they wear in one week.
• Play games that involve the rolling of two dice and ask their student to give the theoretical probability of each roll, as well as collecting data throughout a game or series of games to determine an experimental probability of each roll.

Grade 8 Mathematics

In grade 8, students are exploring and building upon past learning about many topics in mathematics including square roots; percents larger than 100; rates and ratios; multiplying and dividing fractions; multiplying and dividing integers; linear relations; solving linear equations; Pythagorean Theorem; surface area and volume of 3-D objects; tessellations; analysis of data displays; and probability of independent events beyond 36 outcomes. Parents and families can…

• Discuss what percents greater than 100 that occur on TV, on the radio, on the internet, in magazines, or in newspapers mean.
• Ask their student to determine and/or explain various rates and ratios used at home.
• Ask their student to estimate the surface area or volume of 3-D objects around home.
• Ask their student to identify and describe tessellations (repeating geometric patterns with no gaps or overlap, such many wallpaper designs) around the home.
• Ask their student to critique data displays seen on TV, on the internet, in magazines, or in newspapers to determine possible sources of bias in the data and/or representation.
• Ask their student to determine the diagonal length of square 2-D shapes found around the home. 
• Ask their student to identify quantities around the home that are perfect whole number squares (e.g., 9 granola bars in a box because 9 is 32 ).
• Determine probabilities related to the drawing of 1 card from a deck of cards, or 2 cards, 1 from each of two decks of cards.

Grade 9 Mathematics

In grade 9, students are exploring and building upon past learning about many topics in mathematics including powers; rational numbers; square roots of positive rational numbers; linear relations including interpolation and extrapolation; linear equations involving rational numbers; linear inequalities; polynomials; circle properties; surface area of composite 3-D objects; similarity of 2-D shapes; line and rotation symmetry; factors affecting data collection; and role of probability in society. Parents and families can…

• Ask their student to identify and describe situations inside and outside the home that involve inequalities.
• Ask their student to interpolate (estimate or determine the coordinates of points on a given graph) and extrapolate (estimate or determine the coordinates of points that lie beyond the given graph) using line graphs see on TV, on the internet, in magazines, or in newspapers, and to explain what that point tells about the relationship shown.
• Ask their student to explain properties related to circles using examples from around the home.
• Ask their student to determine surface areas around the home.
• Ask their student to identify and recreate line and rotation symmetry found on 3-D objects around the home.
• Talk with their student about what factors may have affected the data collected that lead to a reported statistic or conclusion heard on TV, or radio, or seen on the internet, in magazines, or in newspapers. For example, the families could discuss who they think might have been called in a poll regarding an upcoming election.
• Involve their student in discussions about decisions being based on probabilities, or in which probabilities might be considered in the making of decisions. For example, how does the probability of precipitation impact family decisions for different activities on any given day?