Maths Common Mistakes 1

Topic: Money

Pupils tend to convert $ to cents wrongly. REMEMBER that $1 = 100 cents and not 1000.

So $1 = 100 cents
and $10 = 10 x 100 = 1000 cents

Topic: Length, Mass and Volume

Before you start, you need to memorize by hard of the conversion of length, mass and volume.

1m = 100cm
1km = 1000m

1kg = 1000g

1 litre = 1000ml

You can use this simple test to test if you have gotten the correct units of measurement for each topic
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/measures/index.htm

Pupils tend to convert wrongly and thus, the whole question will be wrong. Keep practising on your conversion of units if you are unsure. Practise makes perfect.

One important skill that you need to have is to be able to read off a weighing scale. I find that about half the class still have difficulty reading off the scale.



This weighing scale reads up to 600g. To find out the value of one small marking, we will first count the number of markings from 0 to 100g, starting with the marking AFTER 0 right up to 100g.

This circled in red in the following picture.


From 0 to 100g, the value of all the markings are 100g. There are a total of 10 markings. Thus, one marking is 100g ÷ 10 = 10g. One marking stands for 10g.

The scale reads 470g.

The same skill also applies for reading a measuring cylinder!