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NUMERACY

BUDDIES

QUESTION PACK

2020

Helping children realise their potential

through full participation in education.

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About Ardoch

Ardoch is an education charity focused on improving educational outcomes for children and young

people in disadvantaged communities. Our vision is to ensure that every child’s potential is realised

through full participation in education.

Multiple studies in Australia have demonstrated an unacceptable link between the socio-economic

status of students and their educational outcomes. One in three children in Australia’s most

disadvantaged communities start school developmentally vulnerable and they continue to fall behind as

they progress through school. We want to change this and we know we cannot do it alone.

Partnership is important to Ardoch. We partner with schools and early years services to deliver tailored

education support programs that aim to increase engagement in education, build aspirations, enhance

learning outcomes and increase the confidence of children and young people living in disadvantaged

communities. We mobilise community and workplace volunteers to support schools and early childhood

services. We also advocate for and seek to influence policy change to reduce inequity in education.

All of Ardoch’s programs focus on crossing the school gates, engaging students with opportunities to

learn from volunteers who bring a range of life experiences into the school and from targeted

excursions outside the school postcode.

We deliver programs that support literacy, science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and

which help to broaden the horizons of children and young people.

In 2018, Ardoch Youth Foundation was able to facilitate 1,718 volunteers in

to work with over 15,388 children at 105 school and early years sites.

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NUMERACY BUDDIES

Ardoch recognises the importance of STEM learning to the future of children in Australia. To ensure that children

in disadvantaged communities are prepared for STEM related jobs of the future, Ardoch has developed a suite of

programs that foster STEM skills in fun, engaging and relevant ways.

Numeracy Buddies

This program, which began in 2016, matches students (Little Buddies) with workplace volunteers (Big Buddies)

so that they can solve maths problems together through an online blog. It helps children improve their maths

skills by helping them verbalise key concepts, and by making maths an interactive and fun activity. It also builds

the aspirations of the students by introducing them to working role models, which they may lack in their usual

environment. The program runs over two terms and includes one visit at the Big Buddies’ workplace.

Numeracy Buddies provides an opportunity for workplaces to support the education of children in disadvantaged

communities. The program, together with Ardoch’s Literacy Buddies® Program was awarded the Innovation

Award at the 2016 Volunteering Victoria State Awards.

In 2018, Ardoch delivered 11 Numeracy Buddies programs to 11 schools in Victoria benefitting 219 students.

Outcomes included:

• Confidence: Development of school-study-work pathways and aspirations

• Academic: Numeracy skills, social and life skills

• Social: Strong relationships between Big and Little Buddies

• Engagement: Positive working role models for children

Victorian Curriculum Learning Outcomes:

• Use equivalent number sentences involving multiplication and division to find unknown quantities

(VCMNA193)

• Students solve simple problems involving the four operations using a range of strategies including

digital technology. They estimate to check the reasonableness of answers and approximate answers by

rounding

• Use efficient mental and written strategies and apply appropriate digital technologies to solve problems

(VCMNA185)

• Construct and use open and closed questions for different purposes (VCCCTQ010)

One teacher commented, “This program has connected the children with the real world. Consequently they know

that they can dream big and achieve because all problems can be solved.”

A workplace volunteer observed, “Getting to know my little buddy and working together to solve maths problems

not only help my little buddy to progress but also assisted with my own coaching skills.”

A student exclaimed, "…on the permission note it said we can see our big buddies at the end. YAY!!"

QUESTION BANK

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Teachers, please choose questions from the following question bank to set for your students to work on together

with their Big Buddy. You will find worded problems related to the Mathematics curriculum, covering: number and

place value, patterns and algebra, shape, time, fractions and decimals, money, units of measurement, location

and transformation, geometric reasoning, chance and data representation and interpretation.

Number and Algebra

1) Old Clarrie has three dogs. The oldest is Bob, next

comes Rex and Fido is the youngest. Fido is 10 years

younger than Bob, and none of the dogs are the same

age.

When Clarrie adds their ages together they come to 28

years. When Clarrie multiplies their age together, he gets

a number.

What is the smallest number this could be?

Answer:________________

2) Riverside Primary School has 235 staff and students. The whole school is going on an excursion,

by bus. Each bus can fit 50 people. What is the least number of buses they need for the whole

school excursion?

(A) 2 (B) 3 (C) 5 (D) 6 (E) 7

3) Helen is adding some numbers and gets the total 157. Then she realises that she has written one

of the numbers as 73 rather than 37. What should the total be?

(A) 110 (B) 121 (C) 124 (D) 131 (E) 751

4) In the year 3017, the Australian Mint recycled its coins to makenew coins. Each 50c coin was cut

into six trian gles, six squares, and one hexagon. The triangles were each worth 3c and the

Number and place value

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squares worth 4c.

How much would the value of the hexagon be to make a total still worth 50c?

5) In the year 3017, the Australian Mint recycled its coins to

makenew coins. Each 50c coin was cut into six trian gles, six

squares, and one hexagon. The triangles were each worth 3c and

the squares worth 4c.

How much would the value of the hexagon be to make a total still worth

50c?

(A) 3c (B) 8c (C) 18c

(D) 20c (E) 43c

1) In the year 3017, the Australian Mint recycled its coins to

makenew coins. Each 50c coin was cut into six trian gles, six

squares, and one hexagon. The triangles were each worth 3c

and the squares worth 4c.

2) Zara was riding her bike.

She came to a T-intersection in the road where she saw

this sign.

The road to Smithton passes through Marytown. How many kilometres is it from Marytown to Smithton?

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(A) 8 (B) 13 (C) 38 (D) 43 (E) 51

3) Jeremy is building a toothpick skyscraper.

Look at the picture (to the left) of the first floor. How many toothpicks will it take to build 12 stories? How many marshmallows will it take to build 12 stories?

Answer: ___________________

4) Use the cards Ace through to nine of a suit. Imagine somone has a secret 3-digit number. Use these

clues to find the number and the cards. There are 3 correct answers.

• The hundreds digit is half the ones digit. • The sum of the tens digit and the ones digit is nine.

Answer: ___________________ 5) Use the cards Ace through Nine of a suit. Imagine somone has a secret 5-digit number. Use these

clues to find the number and the cards.

• The ten thousands digit is three times the hundreds digit.

• The sum of the hundreds digit and the thousands digit is the ones digit.

• The thousands digit is two times the hundreds digit.

• The sum of all five digits is 31.

Answer: ___________________

6) Gavin wrote more postcards than Anna but fewer postcards than Gabby. Who wrote the most

postcards?

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Answer: ___________________

7) The silver skipping rope is longer than the purple skipping rope but shorter than the yellow skipping

rope. Which skipping rope is shorter, the yellow skipping rope or the purple skipping rope?

Answer: ___________________

8) 8 of the students in Sam’s class like to drink orange juice and 7 like to drink lemonade. 6 students

like to drink both orange juice and lemonade. How many students like to drink orange juice or

lemonade or both?

Hint: Copy and complete the Venn diagram below to help you solve the problem.

Answer: ________ students

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9) At the supermarket Ashan noticed that her favourite biscuits were on special, with one-third extra for

free in the packet.

If this special packet contained 24 biscuits, how many biscuits would be in the normal packet?

(A) 12 (B) 16 (C) 18 (D) 20 (E) 32

10) Fred gave half of his apples to Beth, and then half of what is left to Sally, leaving him with just one

apple. How many did he have to start with?

(A) 12 (B) 8 (C) 6 (D) 4 (E) 2

11) Five dice were rolled, and the results were as shown.

What fraction of the dice showed a two on top?

Fractions and decimals

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(A) 3/4 (B) 1/2 (C) 2/3

(D) 2/5 (E) 3/5

12) Rudy made 12 tarts and put almonds on three-fourths of them. How many tarts have almonds?

Answer: ___________________

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13) What fractions would you use to express the probabilities of each outcome when a dart is thrown?

REMEMBER: Probability is the likelihood a given outcome will occur. It is expressed as a fraction.

What is the probability that the next dart thrown hits a number that...

a)…has a 1 in the tens digit? b) …is a multiple of 4?

c) …has a pattern? d)…has a pattern?

e)…is less than 34?

f)…has a 2 in the tens digit?

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14) Ciara buys a cake ($25), 25 cupcakes ($0.75/ea) and 42 cookies ($0.50/ea) for her birthday party.

How much did Ciara spend for all these dessserts?

Answer: ___________________

15) Mr. Hansen buys a cupcake for each student in his class for the class party. Each cupcake costs

$1.25. However, there is a discount where for each batch of 10 cupcakes purchased, each cupcake

is $1. He buys 34 cupcakes. How much did Mr. Hansen pay for all 34 cupcakes?

Answer: ___________________

16) Max went to the local farmer’s market to buy some fresh produce. He bought bananas for 30 percent

off of $3.00. He also bought half a dozen apples for 40 percent off of $2.00. How much did he spend?

Answer: ___________________

17) Michelle went to the corner deli. She bought her sister a hot dog for $3.25, her brother a hamburger

for $4.20, and a vegetable stir fry for herself for $5.50. She also bought three large lemonades for

$1.50 each, but the lemonade was 50 percent off. How much did she spend?

Answer: ___________________

Money and financial mathematics

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18)

Solve the money math problems.

a) Nicholas wants to buy one dinner item and one dessert item for dinner. How many different possible meals are there?

________________________________________________________________________________________

b) Jody has $6.75. If she wants to buy one dinner item and one dessert item, what can she afford? Which dinner item and dessert item can buy for exactly $6.75?

________________________________________________________________________________________

c) Abby has a crisp new $20 on her. She just bought 4 tacos for herself and a paneer burrito for Nicholas.Does she have enough left over for an ice cream sandwich? What can she buy with the money left over?

FOOD TRUCK FESTIVAL!

Taco

$3$3 Burrito

$5

$

Cupcake

$2

Ice-cream

sandwich $4

Cup

$2.50

Cone

$3

Paneer

burrito

$4.75

Bahn

mi $5

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19) Julie has 5 steps up to her classroom, where 5 is the floor of the

classroom.

Each day she tries to think of a different way of climbing these

steps. She does not have to touch each step, but the biggest

distance she can reach is 3 steps.

How many different ways are there of going up the steps?

Answer:________________

20) It’s the day before Valentine’s Day and Shelley needs to get Valentine cards for all her classmates.

The desks in the classroom are arranged in 5 rows, with 7 desks in each row.

If there are 3 desks that are empty, how many students are in the class (including Shelley)? How

many cards will Shelley need to buy?

Answer: ___________________

21) Tara sent 48 e-mails on Friday, 57 e-mails on Saturday, 66 e-mails on Sunday, 75 e-mails on

Monday, and 84 e-mails on Tuesday. If this pattern continues, how many e-mails will Tara send on

Wednesday?

Answer: ___________________

22) Jodie is dividing cherries among some bowls. She put 19 cherries in the first bowl, 22 cherries in the

second bowl, 26 cherries in the third bowl, 31 cherries in the fourth bowl, and 37 cherries in the fifth

bowl. If this pattern continues, how many cherries will Jodie put in the sixth bowl?

Answer: ___________________

Patterns and algebra

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Measurement and Geometry

23) Roza and her sister watched an action movie that was 2 hours and 35 minutes long. After the movie,

they played soccer in the backyard for 2 hours and 45 minutes. When they came in from playing

soccer, it was 2.35 P.M. What time did Roza and her sister start watching the movie?

11.50 A.M. 2.30 P.M. 1.35 P.M. 9.15 A.M.

24) Carmen and her friends decided to have a water fight on a hot summer day. They filled a bunch of

water balloons and started the fight at 11.35 A.M. The water balloon fight lasted for 35 minutes.

When all the water balloons were gone, they sprayed water at each other with hoses for 45 minutes,

until Carmen’s dad showed up with ice cream. What time was it when the water fight ended?

12.25 P.M. 12.55 P.M. 12.40 P.M. 11.35 A.M.

25) Ying’s math class starts at 10.30 A.M. and lasts for 30 minutes. After math class, Ying has recess

for 30 minutes. What time does Ying’s recess end?

11.45 A.M. 11.15 A.M. 10.30 A.M. 11.30 A.M.

26) Mai finished painting her porch at 4.25 P.M. The instructions said she should wait at least 15 hours

to paint the trim. What is the earliest time when she could start painting them?

Answer: ________________

Using units of measurement: TIME

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27) John took 1 hour and 35 minutes to drive from Town A to Town B. Jason left from Town A at the

same time but arrived in Town B 38 minutes later. How long did it take Jason to drive from Town A

to Town B?

Answer:________________

28) On Monday a painter spent 6 hours 20 minutes to paint a building. On Tuesday the painter spent 4

hours 45 minutes to finish painting the building . How long did the painter spend to paint the building?

Answer:________________

29) Zhipu has an unusual construction set consisting of square tiles which only

connect together if they are joined with half a side touching. That is, the

corner of one connects with the midpoint of the other, as in the diagram.

In how many ways can he connect three tiles? (Two arrangements are not

different if they can be rotated or reflected to look the same).

Answer:________________

Location and transformation

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Statistics and Probability

30) Work out the probability of each of the following possibilities when you spin the wheel below.

31) In the word “BANANA”, what is the letter that would most likely be picked at random?

Answer: ___________________

Chance

a) What is the probability that the arrow will point to "soccer ball"?

b) What is the probability that the arrow will point to "no prize"?

c) What is the probability that the arrow will point to "free spin"?

d) What is the probability that the arrow will point to "prize"?

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1. 468

2. (C) 5

3. (B) 121

4. (B) 8c

5. (A) 8

6. 480 & 192

7. 172, 254, 418

8. 96349

9. Gabby

10. Purple

11. 9

12. (C) 18

13. (D) 4

14. (E) 3/5

15. 9

16. a) 1/6 b) 1/6 c) 2/6 d) 1/6 e) 4/6 f) 2/6

17. $ 64.75

18. $ 35

19. $3.30

20. $15.20

21. a) 16 b) Paneer Burrito & a Cupcake c) No. All other desserts

22. 13

23. 31

24. 93

25. 44

26. 9.15 am

27. 12.55 pm

28. 11.30 am

29. 7.25 am

30. 2 hrs 13 mins

31. 11 hrs 5 mins

32. 3 combinations of tiles

33. a) 1/4 b) 1/8 c) 3/8 d) 1/4

34. A

Answers

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