Monday 29 December 2014

Long division!!!


Oh boy - If I had a dollar for every person who has complained about not understanding long division  in school - Well, I would have at least $23 by now.

Long division seems to be that thing that defines our school maths experience.  For those of you who 'got it', you felt good, gained confidence and progressed.  For those who didn't quite 'get it', you felt slightly worried, unsure whether you would be able to understand the next bit (and hoping long division was not pivotal to future learning).  For those who never understood a bit of it - we knew we were screwed.

Let's revisit it, and see what all the fuss was about.

But first, have a go at the problem below and try to use long division.  Don't worry if you have forgotten, just have a go - all that knowledge is sitting in your brain ready for action.  Just begin, write down the numbers, put it in the format you remember.  It'll come back.

The problem is a famous research question.  

An army bus holds 36 soldiers.  If 1128 soldiers are being bused to their training site, how many buses are needed?






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