Max Maths, Year 5, Learn together, Subtraction of more than 2 numbers

In the 'Max Maths' curriculum for Year 5, students are introduced to the concept of subtracting more than two numbers in a sequence. This important arithmetic skill is presented in a relatable scenario involving a group of children and their marbles. In the given example, students are asked to calculate the remaining number of marbles after two children, Toby and Jade, take some away. Toby takes 7 marbles from the initial 15, and then Jade takes away another 4 marbles.

To solve this, students are encouraged to form a 'subtraction sentence' which helps them visualise and compute the problem step by step. The subtraction sentence for this scenario is written as: Marbles remaining = 15 − 7 − 4. The first step is to subtract 7 from 15, which leaves 8 marbles. Then, by subtracting the further 4 marbles that Jade took, the students find that there are 4 marbles remaining. The exercise also prompts students to think about the order of subtraction, asking if the result would be the same if 4 was subtracted before 7. This approach helps reinforce understanding of the subtraction process and the associative property of arithmetic.