Ratio

• Part 1 – The big idea

• Part 2 – Prerequisites
• Part 3 – Key teaching aspects
• Part 4 – Why is this important?
Part 1 – The big idea

• What do students need to know?

• What things typically go wrong (misconceptions)?

An understanding that:
• any two numbers can be connected by multiplication
• proportional relationships are multiplicative rather than additive
• numbers can be made smaller by multiplication as well as larger
• all proportional relationships share the same underlying mathematical structure, though
they may be presented in different contexts.
Part 1 – The big idea

• What do students need to know?

• What things typically go wrong (misconceptions)?

• Students might think they can add a constant to each part and the proportionality remains the
same
• Students might think that fractions/ratios/percentages are all separate parts of maths and are
not connected by mathematical structure
• Students might think that proportional multipliers can only be integers
Part 1 – The big idea

Non-examples
• A question or example that deliberately doesn’t fit within the
misconception (non- standard)
• Well thought out representations
• Consistent language

Ratio is often mixed up with students’

understanding of ‘fairness’.

Moving from ‘a proportion of something else’ to

‘in proportion with each other’.
x1.5
2
3
Part 2 – Prerequisites

• Expectations from KS2

• Prerequisite skills
Part 2 – Prerequisites

• Expectations from KS2

• Prerequisite knowledge and skills

• A good grasp of and fluency with the multiplication tables

• Using a number line
• Sharing into equal parts.
Part 2 – Prerequisites

1 x6=6 1 x6=6
2 x 6 = 12 10 x 6 = 60
4 x 6 = 24 5 x 6 = 30
8 x 6 = 48
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections
• In Key Stage 3, students should be taught that a
multiplicative relationship between two quantities can
be expressed as a ratio.
• The NCETM PD Materials state that students need to
understand that any two numbers can be connected
using a multiplier, and that fractions, ratios and
percentages are all different ways of expressing
multiplicative relationships.
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections

• Key vocabulary: ratio, proportion, multiplier, scalar, whole, part,

equivalent, multiple
• Expect students to answer in full sentences.
• Avoid language around proportional ‘quick tricks’, equation triangles,
rule following
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections
Sharing in a given ratio Simplifying ratios
• Dividing into equal parts • Recognising factors and highest common
factors
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

Two numbers are in the ratio 3:7

One of the numbers is 42
3 7
What possibilities are there for the other number?

The ratio table is a representation which can be used by

students in a variety of contexts to support them in making
connections between different topics in maths by drawing
attention to the underlying mathematical structure.
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects
x2

Chloe is making ice-cream.

She is using the recipe below. 4 8

300
x2

Serves 4 Serves 8
300ml cream
How much of each ingredient would
Chloe need to make enough for 8 320ml milk

people? 120g sugar

1 vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects x3

1 3

75
x3

Serves 4 Serves 8 Serves 2 Serves 1 Serves 3 Serves 6 Serves 10

300ml cream
320ml milk
120g sugar
1 vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

“Comparing and contrasting the double number line to these other representations by offering a
situation and asking students to represent it in more than one way, can support students in making
connections both between the representations themselves and in their understanding of the
mathematical structures they represent.”

From Double number lines (and ratio tables) ‘Using representations at KS3’ guidance

https://www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/secmm-using-mathematical-representations-at-ks3/
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects
 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

6
0

|---I---I---I---I---I---I---I---I---I---I---|
Number of
hamsters
2 3 6
x2
0

|---I---I---I---I---I---I---I---I---I---I---|
Parts of 6
the whole

3
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

1 3 2 10 1 5 1

12 6 35
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

5 12 8 3 11 7

12.5 100 45.5

Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

8 5 6 11 12 13

1.68 1.2 3750

 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

1 50
X X
12 12
600

90 100
X X
1.1 1.1
110

1 0.035
X X
1904 1904
1904
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

x8

Calculate the 45 360

area of the
minor sector. 314

➗ 8

4 30
X X
12 12
360
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections
 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

Think of a nu
mber that ha
the ratio. s an 8 as one
part of d raw n s o t h at the ‘2’ on
es are
And another… Two number lin ’ on the other
e with a ‘5
And another… one is in lin

What do you
notice?
How many diff
e rent possibiliti
es are there? f n u m b e rs w ill line up
irs o
Which other pa p a ir, a n d another…
oth e r
exactly? Find an
is a lw a ys , sometime s
a te m e n t
Decide if this st
or never true.

in g a n u m b e r m a ke s it bigger.
Multip ly

Find a ratio which

is equivalent to 3:7
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

From the NCETM Secondary Assessment Materials, page 30:

www.ncetm.org.uk/media/qgjdx5fo/secondary_assessment_materials_november_2017.pdf
 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

a) 1.3
b) 1.2
c) We merged the two
number lines together so
that you are dividing 6 by
10 people so that each
one is worth 0.6. You then
do 0.6 x 2 because that is
the second mark on the
number line.

From Mathematical prompts for deeper thinking

www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/secmm-mathematical-prompts-for-deeper-thinking-videos/
 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

From Mastery Professional Development Materials 3 Multiplicative Reasoning

www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/secmm-3-multiplicative-reasoning/
 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

From YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgoUySgZ2o0

 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

Proportional reasoning Departmental Workshop

www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/departmental-workshops/
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

Useful websites for questions that promote mathematical thinking or deepen understanding

• NCETM Secondary Assessment Materials

• NRICH
• Open Middle
• Don Steward: Median
• NCETM PD Materials (prompts for designing my own questions)
• NCETM Primary Exemplification of Ready-to-Progress criteria
Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

• Key message
• Key language
• Key skills
• Key representations
• Key questions
• Key connections
 Part 3 – Key teaching aspects

Scale factors Similar shapes Scale drawings Simplifying ratios

Compound
Trigonometry measures Gradients Best buys

Percentage Simplifying
change fractions FDP conversions Pie charts

Currency
Arc length Time Direct proportion
conversion

Percentage of an
Times tables amount Sector area Growth and decay
Part 4 – Why this is important

• How will this support future learning?