Jack's cows

Jack's cows

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about reading maths information from a comic strip.
Comic strip of a farmer, dog and cows
Questions
 
a)
What is the farmer asking you to do?
  
 
b)
What information does he give you to work this out?
 
 
c)
What information does he give you that you don't need for working out the answer?  
 
 

The farmer wants to know how many cows there will be in the yard.
 
d)
How would you work out the answer?
 
 
e)
 
Now try to work out the answer. You can use a pencil, calculator, or a piece of paper.
 
f)
What is the answer?
 
 
 
 
 
Task administration: 
Equipment:
Comic strip card; calculator; recording sheet for student answers.
This NEMP task was trialled on a one-to-one basis.
 
Questions/instructions:
Place comic strip in front of student.
Here is a maths problem about a farmer and his farm animals.
It is written as a comic strip.
Follow the words as I read it to you.
Read comic strip to student.
 
 
After question d)
Give student pencil, calculator, and piece of paper.
Levels:
2, 4
Curriculum info: 
Maths, Number and Algebra, Number Strategies
Keywords: 
nemp, addition
Description of task: 
For this NEMP task students work out how many cows will be in a cattle yard from a story written in comic form.
Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Additive thinking, set 5
Additive thinking, sets 7-8
within the Mathematics Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
   

Y4 (10/2001)

Y8 (09/2001)

a)

Find total number of cows (add up all the cows).
Find how many cows will be in the yard.

24%
45%

37%
46%

b)

The number of cows in each place.

37%

57%

c)

The number of dogs, deer, and sheep in various places:

  • all three (i.e., dogs, deer, and sheep)
  • two of three (e.g., dogs and deer)
  • one of three (e.g., dogs)
  • "other animals"
 

 

23%
20%
14%
3%

 

41%
32%
9%
3%

d)

Add up the three numbers of cows.

26%

59%

e)

Adding numbers:

  • using the calculator
  • using the pencil
  • paper mentally
 

 

68%
23%
7%

 

55%
38%
6%

f)

196

48%

73%