Max Maths, Year 5, Learn together, Proportion

In the Max Maths Year 5 curriculum, the concept of proportion is introduced to students through relatable examples. Proportion is a way of expressing a part of a whole, and one common method to describe it is by using fractions. For instance, if we consider a bag containing 20 chocolates, where 8 are plain and 12 are strawberry flavoured, we can express the proportion of plain chocolates as 8 out of 20. This means that 8/20 of the chocolates in the bag are plain. Similarly, the strawberry-flavoured chocolates represent a proportion of 12 out of 20, or in fractional terms, 12/20 of the chocolates have a strawberry flavour.

Another practical example used to illustrate proportion is found in a pencil case containing a total of 12 pencils, of which 8 are yellow and 4 are red. The proportion of red pencils in the pencil case is 8 out of 12, which can be written as 8/12. Conversely, the yellow pencils make up a proportion of 4 out of 12, or 4/12 when expressed as a fraction. Through these examples, children learn to understand and articulate the concept of proportion in everyday contexts, using fractions to represent the relationship between different parts and the whole.