Grade 6
Mathematics Curriculum
Year 6 Level Description
The proficiency strands understanding, fluency, problem-solving, and reasoning are an integral part of mathematics content across the three content strands: number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. The proficiencies reinforce the significance of working mathematically within the content and describe how the content is explored or developed. They provide the language to build in the developmental aspects of the learning of mathematics. The achievement standards reflect the content and encompass the proficiencies.
At this year level:
- understanding includes describing properties of different sets of numbers, using fractions and decimals to describe probabilities, representing fractions and decimals in various ways and describing connections between them, and making reasonable estimations.
- fluency includes representing integers on a number line, calculating simple percentages, using brackets appropriately, converting between fractions and decimals, using operations with fractions, decimals, and percentages, measuring using metric units, and interpreting timetables.
- problem-solving includes formulating and solving authentic problems using fractions, decimals, percentages, and measurements, interpreting secondary data displays, and finding the size of unknown angles.
- reasoning includes explaining mental strategies for performing calculations, describing results for continuing number sequences, explaining the transformation of one shape into another, and explaining why the actual results of chance experiments may differ from expected results.
Number and Algebra
Identify and describe properties of prime, composite, square and triangular numbers (ACMNA122)
- understanding that some numbers have special properties and that these properties can be used to solve problems.
- representing composite numbers as a product of their prime factors and using this form to simplify calculations by cancelling common primes.
- understanding that if a number is divisible by a composite number then it is also divisible by the prime factors of that number (for example 216 is divisible by 8 because the number represented by the last three digits is divisible by 8, and hence 216 is also divisible by 2 and 4)
Select and apply efficient mental and written strategies and appropriate digital technologies to solve problems involving all four operations with whole numbers (ACMNA123)
- applying strategies already developed for solving problems involving small numbers to those involving large numbers.
- applying a range of strategies to solve realistic problems and commenting on the efficiency of different strategies.
Investigate everyday situations that use integers. Locate and represent these numbers on a number line (ACMNA124)
- understanding that integers are ...-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3,.....
- solving everyday additive problems using a number line
- investigating everyday situations that use integers, such as temperatures.
- using number lines to position and order integers around zero
Compare fractions with related denominators and locate and represent them on a number line (ACMNA125)
- demonstrating equivalence between fractions using drawings and models
Solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions with the same or related denominators (ACMNA126)
- understanding the processes for adding and subtracting fractions with related denominators and fractions as an operator, in preparation for calculating with all fractions.
- solving realistic additive (addition and subtraction) problems involving fractions to develop an understanding of equivalent fractions and the use of fractions as operators.
- modeling and solving additive problems involving fractions by using methods such as jumps on a number line, or by making diagrams of fractions as parts of shapes.
Find a simple fraction of a quantity where a result is a whole number, with and without digital technologies (ACMNA127)
- recognizing that finding one-third of a quantity is the same as dividing by 3
Add and subtract decimals, with and without digital technologies, and use estimation and rounding to check the reasonableness of answers (ACMNA128)
- extending whole-number strategies to explore and develop meaningful written strategies for addition and subtraction of decimal numbers to thousandths.
- exploring and practising efficient methods for solving problems requiring operations on decimals, gaining fluency with calculating with decimals, and with recognizing appropriate operations.
Multiply decimals by whole numbers and perform divisions by non-zero whole numbers where the results are terminating decimals, with and without digital technologies (ACMNA129)
- interpreting the results of calculations to provide an answer appropriate to the context.
Multiply and divide decimals by powers of 10 (ACMNA130)
- multiplying and dividing decimals by multiples of powers of 10
Make connections between equivalent fractions, decimals, and percentages (ACMNA131)
- connecting fractions, decimals, and percentages as different representations of the same number moving fluently between representations and choosing the appropriate one for the problem being solved.
Investigate and calculate percentage discounts of 10%, 25%, and 50% on sale items, with and without digital technologies (ACMNA132)
- using authentic information to calculate prices on sale goods.
Continue and create sequences involving whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. Describe the rule used to create the sequence (ACMNA133)
- identifying and generalizing number patterns
- investigating additive and multiplicative patterns such as the number of tiles in a geometric pattern, or the number of dots or other shapes in successive repeats of a strip or border pattern looking for patterns in the way the numbers increase/decrease.
Explore the use of brackets and order of operations to write number sentences (ACMNA134)
- appreciating the need for rules to complete multiple operations within the same number of sentence.
Measurement & Geometry
Connect decimal representations to the metric system (ACMMG135)
- recognizing the equivalence of measurements such as 1.25 meters and 125 centimeters
Convert between common metric units of length, mass, and capacity (ACMMG136)
- identifying and using the correct operations when converting units including millimeters, centimeters, meters, kilometers, milligrams, grams, kilograms, tonnes, milliliters, liters, kilolitres, and megalitres
- recognizing the significance of the prefixes in units of measurement
Solve problems involving the comparison of lengths and areas using appropriate units (ACMMG137)
- recognizing and investigating familiar objects using concrete materials and digital technologies
Connect volume and capacity and their units of measurement (ACMMG138)
- recognizing that 1ml is equivalent to 1cm3
Interpret and use timetables (ACMMG139)
- planning a trip involving one or more modes of public transport
- developing a timetable of daily activities
Construct simple prisms and pyramids (ACMMG140)
- considering the history and significance of pyramids from a range of cultural perspectives including those structures found in China, Korea and Indonesia.
- constructing prisms and pyramids from nets, and skeletal models.
Investigate combinations of translations, reflections, and rotations, with and without the use of digital technologies (ACMMG142)
- designing a school or brand logo using transformation of one or more shapes.
- understanding that translations, rotations, and reflections can change the position and orientation but not shape or size.
Introduce the Cartesian coordinate system using all four quadrants (ACMMG143)
- understanding that the Cartesian plane provides a graphical or visual way of describing the location.
Investigate, with and without digital technologies, angles on a straight line, angles at a point, and vertically opposite angles. Use results to find unknown angles (ACMMG141)
- identifying the size of a right angle as 90° and defining acute, obtuse, straight, and reflex angles
- measuring, estimating, and comparing angles in degrees and classifying angles according to their sizes
- investigating the use of rotation and symmetry in the diagrammatic representations of kinship relationships of Central and Western Desert people
- recognizing and using the two alternate conventions for naming angles
STATISTICS & PROBABILITY
Describe probabilities using fractions, decimals, and percentages (ACMSP144)
- investigating games of chance popular in different cultures and evaluating the relative benefits to the organizers and participants (for example Pachinko)
Conduct chance experiments with both small and large numbers of trials using appropriate digital technologies (ACMSP145)
- conducting repeated trials of chance experiments, identifying the variation between trials, and realizing that the results tend to the prediction with larger numbers of trials.
Compare observed frequencies across experiments with expected frequencies (ACMSP146)
- predicting likely outcomes from a run of chance events and distinguishing these from surprising results.
Interpret and compare a range of data displays, including side-by-side column graphs for two categorical variables (ACMSP147)
- comparing different student-generated diagrams, tables, and graphs, describing their similarities and differences, and commenting on the usefulness of each representation for interpreting the data.
- understanding that data can be represented in different ways, sometimes with one symbol representing more than one piece of data, and that it is important to read all information about a representation before making judgments.
Interpret secondary data presented in digital media and elsewhere (ACMSP148)
- investigating data representations in the media and discussing what they illustrate and the messages the people who created them might want to convey.
- identifying potentially misleading data representations in the media, such as graphs with broken axes or non-linear scales, graphics not drawn to scale, data not related to the population about which the claims are made, and pie charts in which the whole pie does not represent the entire population about which the claims are made.
ACHIEVEMENT STANDARD
By the end of Year 6, students recognize the properties of prime, composite, square, and triangular numbers. They describe the use of integers in everyday contexts. They solve problems involving all four operations with whole numbers. Students connect fractions, decimals, and percentages as different representations of the same number. They solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of related fractions. Students make connections between the powers of 10 and the multiplication and division of decimals. They describe rules used in sequences involving whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. Students connect decimal representations to the metric system and choose appropriate units of measurement to perform a calculation. They make connections between capacity and volume. They solve problems involving length and area. They interpret timetables. Students describe combinations of transformations. They solve problems using the properties of angles. Students compare observed and expected frequencies. They interpret and compare a variety of data displays including those displays for two categorical variables. They interpret secondary data displayed in the media.
Students locate fractions and integers on a number line. They calculate a simple fraction of a quantity. They add, subtract and multiply decimals and divide decimals where the result is rational. Students calculate common percentage discounts on sale items. They write correct number sentences using brackets and order of operations. Students locate an ordered pair in any one of the four quadrants on the Cartesian plane. They construct simple prisms and pyramids. Students describe probabilities using simple fractions, decimals, and percentages.