Numeracy Key Stage 2 Teaching Ideas

Numeracy Key Stage 2 Teaching Ideas

By Diana Cobden, former Maths Adviser, Dorset LEA

Numeracy links with Smugglers - ‘How Smugglers Operate’

Key Learning Objectives:

• To use the measurements and money derived from historical data to calculate the current day equivalents.
• Solve problems relating to measurement.

FUNDING / BIG BUSINESS ***LINK**

• Until 1971 people paid for their goods using pounds, shillings and pence, or £ s d. There were 12 pence in a shilling and twenty shillings in a pound. When our money was decimalised a shilling became 5 pence (1s = 5p).

• In the middle of the 18th century tea could be bought for 2 shillings (2s) per pound and sold for 6s.

• What are these prices in decimal money?

• What percentage profit did the smugglers make?

• What would 1kg of tea have cost in (a) old money and (b) decimal money?

• If 4 gallons of brandy could be bought for 16s and sold for 25s, how much profit was made? Convert the prices in to decimal money. Is the percentage profit still the same?

• Find out the cost of 1 kg of tea in a local shop. Give the price in old money.

By what percentage has the price increased since the 18th century? Give your answer in decimal money.

SAILORS PURCHASE GOODS AND DELIVER ****LINK**

Bringing contraband across the Channel:

• The main ports from which Dorset smugglers sailed with their contraband were:

Roscoff

The Channel Islands (Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey and Sark)

Cherbourg

Dieppe

Boulogne

• Use an atlas (or a navigational chart) to find the distances between landing places in Dorset and ports across the Channel.

• A lugger could sail from Cherbourg to Portland in 8 hours.

What is the distance between the two ports?

Work out the sailing speed of the lugger in km per hour.

• Use the information about the sailing speed of a lugger to calculate the time it would take the boat to sail between other ports in Dorset and across the Channel, e.g. the time it would take to sail from Roscoff to Portland.

• A lugger could bring up to 12 tons of tea into the country on a trip across the Channel. ( A ton equals 2240 pounds.)

What is this weight in (a) pounds and (b) kilograms?

A packet of tea holds 250 grams.

How many packets could be filled from 12 tons of tea?

Find the volume of a 1kg packet of tea, using 4 x 250g packets.

What would be the volume needed for (a) 100 kg, (b) 1000 kg, (c) 1 ton?

Explain how you could work this out.

THE CONTRABAND IS LANDED, HIDDEN AND DISTRIBUTED ***LINK**

Landing and distributing the cargo

• A tub man had to carry 2 barrels each containing about 4 gallons of contraband spirits.

How many litres of spirits did he carry?

Find the weight of one litre of water and use this to calculate the weight of the contraband spirits.

The weight of one barrel is approximately 4 pounds. What is the weight in kilograms?

Give the total weight, in kilograms, of the load carried by one tub man, including the weight of the barrels.

• A tub man might carry the barrels of contraband a distance of 8 – 10 miles.

Calculate the distance in kilometres.

• Use an Ordnance Survey map to find some good landing places for the contraband. Use the scale of the map to find villages that are the equivalent of 8 to 10 miles walk away from the chosen landing place.

• What was the scale on the map used? Explain how the distances were calculated.

• Compare modern maps with ones that were printed during the 1800s. Find ways in which the maps are the same and what is different.

• The King’s men seized 300 gallons of brandy and geneva.

How many litres is this?

Today spirits are sold in bottles holding 1 litre or 70 centilitres.

How many litre bottles could be filled from 300 gallons?

How many 70 cl. bottles could be filled?

They also seized 2 300 pounds of tea. What is the weight in kilograms?

• The excise-men seized 16 hundredweight (cwt) of tea near Blandford.

What is this weight in (a) pounds and (b) kilograms?

CUSTOMERS

(These activities also refer to ‘Hiding Places on Land’)

• Some of the places where contraband could have been hidden on land until it could be safely moved are:

Bexington, near Abbotsbury

Lulworth Cove

Chapman’s Pool

Stanton St Gabriel

Chesil Beach

• Use the Archive map ‘Some of the routes and hiding places used by the smugglers’ **LINK** to plan journeys the smugglers might have made to distribute the contraband to their customers. For example, contraband is taken from Lulworth Cove to Blandford; the distributors take the goods through West, then East Lulworth, Bere Regis and on to Blandford. Find out the approximate distance in miles.

• In the classroom use maps with different scales to plan a route and calculate the distances in kilometres.

• A good average walking speed is 6 km per hour. Draw and use conversion graphs to calculate the time that might be taken to cover some of the distances.

• Research the distance that could be travelled by a horse and cart in one hour and use the information to calculate the journey times.

Numeracy links with Smugglers – Dorchester Gaol Register **LINK**

• Sort the data by geographical area to find out where most of the smugglers came from.

Use an Ordnance Survey map to find out if most smugglers came from near the coast or whether they came from further inland.

Can you suggest a reason why more smugglers came from that area?

• What can you find out about John Fuzzard?

• By searching the database find out how many women were caught smuggling.

What work did they do?

What else can you find out about them?

• Search the database to find all the smugglers who came from Portland.

Put the data into date order and draw a frequency graph.

In which year did most smugglers appear before the court?

Can you find a reason why so many smugglers were caught in that year?

• Using the Portland smugglers only draw a frequency graph, with grouped data, of the ages of the smugglers.

Use the graph and the data to find the following:

In which age group were most smugglers?

What was their mean average age?

Which age was the mode?

Can you suggest a reason why there were more smugglers of one age than another?

• Use the data for Weymouth. Find out the main occupation of the smugglers.

Draw a pie chart of the occupations. Which occupation did the highest percentage of smugglers follow?

How many of the smugglers were sent to prison?

What was the average length of the sentences?

• Find the smugglers who came from Devon. Which area in Devon did most smugglers come from?

• Which was the most common occupation?

What percentage of smugglers followed an occupation connected with the sea?

• How many smugglers were fined £100?

Find what the earnings were for a seaman in 1800. How long would he have to work to pay the fine?

• How many of the smugglers were twine spinners? Find out what a twine spinner did.