Max Maths, Year 6, Learn together, Factors and multiples (1)

In an engaging lesson from Max Maths for Year 6 students, the concept of factors and multiples is explored through a collaborative activity. Tya and Jade begin by listing the factors of 12 and 18 respectively. Factors are numbers that divide into another number without leaving a remainder, and they are fundamental to understanding the building blocks of numbers. For 12, the factors identified are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12, while for 18, they are 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 18. Upon comparing their lists, Tya and Jade discover that both numbers share some factors, which are known as common factors.

Highlighting the common factors between the two sets, the students circle the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 6, which appear in both lists. This exercise helps students to visually identify the shared factors and understand the concept of commonality in mathematics. The highest common factor between 12 and 18 is determined to be 6, which is the largest number that divides into both 12 and 18 without a remainder. It is noted that there are four common factors in total for the numbers 12 and 18. This activity not only reinforces the understanding of factors but also introduces the students to the idea of finding the greatest common divisor, an important skill in various mathematical applications.