1. So what happened in the election ?

2. I’m a bit confused by those figures. Harvey got 47.4% of what? Let me explain

3. Would this be easier to understand on a graph or diagram?

4. It’s in the News! Election Teacher Notes

5. Election Introduction: A General Election took place on 6 May 2010. The last General Election took place in 2005 and will not be remembered by some of our students. Elections are a rich source of live data for pupils to work with. This It’s in the News! Resource focuses on the statistics produced at election time and gives students the opportunity to consolidate their understanding of percentages in context. The importance statement for mathematics states that: Mathematical thinking is important for all members of a modern society as a habit of mind for its use in the workplace, business and finance; and for personal decision-making. Mathematics is fundamental to national prosperity in providing tools for understanding science, engineering, technology and economics. It is essential in public decision-making and for participation in the knowledge economy. This resource allows pupils to engage with the mathematical thinking necessary to understand the democratic process. Content objectives: This context provides the opportunity for teachers and students to explore a number of objectives. Some that may be addressed are: evaluate one number as a percentage of another calculate percentage parts of quantities identify the mathematical features of a context or problem; try out and compare mathematical representations; select appropriate procedures and tools, including ICT. Process objectives: These will depend on the amount of freedom you allow your class with the activity. It might be worth considering how you’re going to deliver the activity and highlighting the processes that this will allow on the diagram below:

6. Activity: The activity looks at data from the 2010 election. Students are asked to consider the percentages given and determine what 100% represents in order to make sense of the data. They are then asked to calculate some alternative percentages and to represent their data on a graph of their choosing. You may wish to download the data for your own constituency.download the data Differentiation: You may decide to change the level of challenge for your group. To make the task easier you could consider: Representing the data given To make the task more complex you could consider: Asking students how to calculate 45.91% of 68.19%, for example. This resource is designed to be adapted to your requirements. Outcomes You may want to consider what the outcome of the task will be and share this with students according to their ability. You could: stick the resource sheet on a large piece of paper and ask pupils to annotate the data with their interpretations, representations and commentsresource sheet using the data for your constituency, write a letter to the electorate explaining the results for 2010 using the data for your constituency, ask different groups to represent different political parties and present the data in a way which is favourable to their allotted party. Working in groups: This activity lends itself to paired work and small group work and, by encouraging students to work collaboratively, it is likely that you will allow them access to more of the key processes than if they were to work individually. You will need to think about how your class will work on this task. Will they work in pairs, threes or larger groups? If pupils are not used to working in groups in mathematics you may wish to spend some time talking about their rules and procedures to maximise the effectiveness and engagement of pupils in group work (You may wish to look at the SNS Pedagogy and practice pack Unit 10: Guidance for groupwork). You may wish to encourage the groups to delegate different areas of responsibility to specific group members. Assessment: You may wish to consider how you will assess the task and how you will record your assessment. This could include developing the assessment criteria with your class. You might choose to focus on the content objectives or on the process objectives. You might decide that this activity lends itself to comment only marking or to student self assessment. If you decide that the outcome is to be a presentation or a poster, then you may find that this lends itself to peer assessment.

7. Probing questions: Initially, students could brainstorm issues to consider. You may wish to introduce some points into the discussion which might include: Why is the data presented using percentages? What does ‘turnout’ mean? Why isn’t the turnout 100%? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a pie chart to show the data? Which party would favour using a pie chart the most? You will need: The student resource sheet and the PowerPoint presentation. There are three slides:student resource sheet The first slide sets the scene The second slide introduces students to the results from one constituency from 2005 and invites them to explain the figures The last slide invites students to calculate some additional percentages and present their data on a graph of their choosing. The first slide sets the scene The second slide introduces students to the results from one constituency from 2010 and invites them to explain the figures The last slide invites students to calculate some additional percentages and present their data on a graph of their choosing