Max Maths, Year 5, Try it, Doubling and halving decimal numbers

The 'Max Maths' Year 5 material presents a series of exercises aimed at helping students understand how to double and halve decimal numbers using place-value charts. In the first activity, students are tasked with halving and doubling decimals, starting with simpler numbers and progressing to more complex ones. For instance, to find half of 0.68, the place-value chart is used to break down the number into 0 ones, 6 tenths, and 8 hundredths. By halving each place value, students can see that half of 0.68 is 0.34. Similarly, doubling 2.6 involves multiplying the ones and tenths by two, leading to the result of 5.2.

The second activity reinforces the concept by having students double and halve decimal numbers without the visual aid of a place-value chart. They are encouraged to apply their understanding of halving and doubling whole numbers to decimals. For example, doubling 5.6 involves doubling the whole number 56 to get 112, and then applying the same principle to the decimal to get 11.2. Halving 0.24 is akin to halving the whole number 24 to get 12, which translates to 0.12 when applied to the decimal. These exercises help students grasp the relationship between whole numbers and decimals in the context of doubling and halving, enhancing their numerical fluency and understanding of place value.