1. © Nuffield Foundation 2011 Nuffield Free-Standing Mathematics Activity Spot the errors

2. Do you understand invoices? phone bills? bank statements?

3. How much does it cost to prune the conifers? How much for the apple trees? How can you work out the VAT? What is the Total to pay?

4. Which part of the bill needs to be worked out first? What is the total cost of each type of call? What is the total cost before VAT? How much VAT is charged? What is the final amount charged?

5. What do all the abbreviations mean? What is the balance after each transaction? How can you check that the amounts given for total payments in and out are correct? Is the closing balance correct?

6. At the end of the activity What errors did you find on the invoice? Can you explain why the mistakes happened? What errors did you find on the phone bill? Can you explain why they happened? What errors did you find on the bank statement? What method is used to check the final balance? Spot the errors