Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
 
Adult ESOL Core CurriculumRead Write Plus

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Whole numbers N1/L1.9

Skills, knowledge and understanding Example

Adults should be taught to:

9 . estimate answers to calculations

Estimate to check that answers are reasonable.

  know how to make approximate calculations
  understand that a knowledge of context enables 'guessing' at answers (e.g. it should be about . . .), or judging if answers are sensible (e.g. that's far too big; it doesn't make sense to have an answer less than 1, etc.)

Sample activities

  • Use rounding and number bonds to 10, to estimate totals, e.g. from shopping lists, bills, bank statements, etc. with the total blocked out.
  • Approximate calculations: investigate the answers using different approximations. How accurate do you need to be?
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