Whenever possible I try and make Friday maths a bit different – puzzles, codes, games just something that is a bit more relaxed. During the week I was searching for some Algebra pages and I spotted this set on the TechitPrimary website – Ancient Algebra – I immediately thought it looked like a fun Friday maths activity. We have often done coded pages (in lots of different formats and both my kids enjoy that sort of thing) so I downloaded and printed it out. Now I must admit when I went through it I thought it would be perfect for my nine year old even though it says it is a Year 6 activity – the reason being he has recently done Roman Numerals and actually asked for more pages where you have to figure out what the number value of different symbols is. Which is what a lot of this is – looking at the Aztec Symbols or Egyptian symbols and converting them into our traditional numbers. So I thought it would be perfect for him. But as soon as his older sister saw it and realized there was a history angle (ancient civilizations) she asked if she could also try it.
The set starts with a page showing what the different Aztec and Ancient Egyptian symbols were and what they mean in our number language.
Then there are 4 different worksheets – 2 pages on the Aztec symbols and 2 pages on the Ancient Egyptian symbols.
And they have also included the answers (although I must confess there are 2 answers that we disagree with – I am one of those moms that actually enjoys it when my kids find “errors” and point them out. I like the fact that they question the answers given and are not afraid to point out when they disagree and explain why they disagree).
I must admit it was a great Friday maths activity. Both my kids enjoyed it.
For those of you who may not be aware you can create a Free account with the TeachitPrimary website that allows you to download all the PDF’s on their site – this is the account that we have and we have used it for years. They have lots of great content on their site and they also have sister sites for the Secondary Years (I have links in this post – Teachit Secondary Subject Sites).
And no this is not an AD in any shape or form. I just thought this was an interesting maths activity.
ofamily learning together 