Decimal - Division to solve problems - Presentation

In a series of engaging mathematical activities, students are tasked with applying their division skills to solve real-world problems involving decimals. The lesson starts with a request for students to write an explanation on how to solve a given problem using visual aids like place value counters or a part-whole model. They then move on to practical scenarios such as Rosa needing to divide £5,234 equally among her 14 grandchildren, and calculating how many snacks each of the 82 passengers on a plane would receive from a total of 412 snacks. These exercises not only test the students' fluency in division but also their ability to apply reasoning to find the answers, which are £373.85 per grandchild and 5.02 snacks per person respectively.

Further activities challenge the students to compare deals from two different shops offering present wrapping services, requiring them to calculate the cost per present and then for a batch of 12 presents to determine which shop offers the better value. In another scenario, students work out the individual cost of a carrot and a bag of organic carrots based on their combined price. The lesson also includes reasoning exercises where students must use given digits to complete division sentences and discuss different ways of expressing division results, such as with remainders or as decimals. Independent work reinforces the learned methods, encouraging the use of bar models to represent division problems and fostering critical thinking through comparison and explanation of different solutions.