Buying office furniture

Unit standard(s): 9014

Summary:

In this activity we expose learners to the different payment options available when purchasing items on credit. We also consider the various factors at play when deciding which option is most suitable.

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Rental rates

Unit standard(s): 9014

Summary:

In this activity we consider the effect of exchange rates on the cost of renting properties in South Africa from foreign countries.

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Reading statements and budgets

Unit standard(s): 9014

Summary:

In this activity we want students to gain an understanding of how to read budget statements. This is because many of the later activities in this unit relate back to budget statements. We start by asking students to reflect on their own personal income and expenditure statements. Three budget statements are included with the activity: one is for Seaside Rental Company and the others are the provincial and national income and expenditure statements. It is important for students to recognise the similarities that exist between all budget statements.

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Inflation - things get more expensive

Unit standard(s): 9014

Summary:

This activity introduces the concept of inflation, and gives students the opportunity to discover for themselves that prices go up over time. It allows students to realise that not all items increase in price by the same amount over a fixed period of time. The ideas of simple and compound interest are also introduced.

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Analysing budgets

Unit standard(s): 9014

Summary:

In this activity we will combine the ideas learnt in the first two activities and explore how inflation plays a significant role in preparing and understanding budgets.

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Reading your payslip

Unit standard(s): 9014

Summary:

This activity looks at pay slips in detail and gives students the opportunity of understanding the information that is provided on a pay slip. In addition, it shows students how tax and UIF is calculated based on income and takings.

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Inflation revisited

Unit standard(s): 9014

Summary:

This activity enables learners once again to interact with the important concept of inflation. We look at two newspaper articles which deal with different aspects of inflation. The concepts learned are then applied to the running of a business.

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Developing a budget (assessment task)

Unit standard(s): 9014

Summary:

This activity is designed to be used as an assessment activity. It is intended to recap principles that have been learnt in the first five activities. There is an opportunity for learners to make their own judgments about how a business develops and to draw up a budget accordingly. If time allows it may be worthwhile for learners to share their budgets with each other, explaining the reasons behind their decisions.

Getting to work

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

This is a preliminary activity designed to raise some of the issues involved in data collection. Learners will collect their own simple data about different means of transport and decide what conclusions can be drawn. In order to locate this in a wider context, an information handout has been included that defines some common statistical terms and ideas. Problems such as sample size and representativeness are introduced.

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Getting organised

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

This activity involves the organisation and representation of raw data on a frequency table, a bar graph and a pie chart. Learners use data similar to that which they collected in the previous activity to answer simple questions and to determine the different central tendencies of the data.

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Making sense of the figures

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

This activity involves reading figures from tables and bar graphs. Learners are given three graphs and two tables taken from the Sunday Times / Markinor Top Brands Survey. They analyse the data type and sample size, and read off various simple results. They do calculations and suggest some conclusions that could be drawn from them.

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Analysing patterns

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

In this activity learners work with patterns and distribution of data. They extend the idea of ‘measuring the centre’ to measuring variance from the mean and understanding the ‘spread’ of the data. They identify data items that seem ‘not to fit the pattern’ (outliers) and analyse the effect these have on the mean. They draw scatterplots to illustrate various distributions using additional data taken from the Sunday Times / Markinor Top Brands Survey.

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From the motor industry

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

In this activity learners read and interpret tables. The context is sales, manufacturing and productivity in the motor industry. They calculate percentage increase, productivity ratio and labour index in simplified examples. They represent the information tables on a bar graph and a broken line graph.

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Reading and predicting

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

In this activity learners read data and make predictions by analysing trend lines. They observe patterns and measure important connections between variables. They identify variance from the mean as well as outliers, suggesting what implications these may have in real life situations.

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Interpreting tables

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

This activity involves the reading and interpretation of information from tables. Learners are given a table showing the amounts allocated to various provinces by the National Skills Fund for the training of unemployed people in South Africa. They are also given a table showing the number of people trained per programme and are required to cross-reference these tables, make calculations, interpret the relationship between the rows and columns and draw various conclusions.

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What are my chances?

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

This activity introduces the idea of probability. A preliminary handout has been included with background information on some of the common applications and terminology used in this branch of statistics. The learners work with single events in the context of the ‘Lotto draw’, comparing ‘counted’ results with calculated probability. In this way learners work with the mathematical verification of experimental results.

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Combined events

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

In this activity learners move from the probabilities involving single events, to probabilities of combined events. They work with the multiplication principle and are introduced to the ideas of dependent, independent and mutually exclusive events. A handout has been included with further information necessary to answer a selection of probability questions.

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Manipulations and misunderstandings

Unit standard(s): 9015

Summary:

In this activity learners critique the ways that data is used to support arguments. They identify how data is manipulated and how one can be misled by incomplete statistics, inappropriate samples and graphical methods.

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Planning travel and reading maps

Unit standard(s): 9016

Summary:

In this activity learners read maps of South Africa and road maps of particular provinces. They look for key symbols (like an areoplane representing a major airport) to find out information about places. This activity extends the work they did in Activities 1 & 2 of Level 3. Learners are again asked to think about scale, distance, speed and time (including how the time of day affects traffic flow and travelling time). They use the map scale bar to calculate distances between cities and towns. They use information on the road maps to approximate driving times between various places. Reading maps includes the skills of finding the correct block (cell) in the rows and columns, understanding that a map is a styalised view from above, and using a key to interpret symbols. This activity lays the foundation for the next activity in which they have to plan flight times and schedule meetings based on driving times and flight times.

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Planning a multi-stage business trip

Unit standard(s): 9016

Summary:

This activity extends learners travel arrangement skills that have been developed in Activities 1 & 2 of level 3 and Activity 1 of Level 4. Learners are asked to read aeroplane timetables and to book a multistage trip around the country. They are asked to schedule meetings that take into account flight times and driving times. Learners are again asked to think about how flight times affect the time of day at which one travels, and how the time of day at which one travels can impact on the speed at which one is travelling and so impact back on possible flight options. Usually business administrators will get someone else to find the most convenient flight to book, but it is useful for them to have an understanding of what factors limit possible suitable flights.

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Booking teleconferences and working with International time

Unit standard(s): 9016

Summary:

In this activity we continue the use the context of scheduling (this time an international teleconference rather than a face-to-face meeting). Learners need to look up and calculate time differences in different countries as the basis for finding the most suitable time for an international teleconference. They are also asked to convert between 12 hour analogue times and 24 hour digital time. Many businesses work across international boundaries and so business administrators need to know how to take different time zones into account. Learners are also asked to find out how to book and make teleconferences.

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Working with a candle co-operative

Unit standard(s): 9016

Summary:

This activity extends the concepts of volumes that learners have developed in Activity 5 of both Level 2 and Level 3. Here learners work with volumes of cubes, cuboids, cylinders and spheres. They see what happens if the lengths of the sides of the objects are increased. Learners are asked to think about how the context impacts upon how accurate their answers need to be.

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Finding volumes of different shapes

Unit standard(s): 9016

Summary:

In this activity learners think about the moulds in which candles are made. In order to work out how much they will need to pay for moulds they first calculate the surface area of differently shaped candles. Mathematically literate people are able to think about what mathematical resources to use in different situations and they are also able to find the information and mathematical resources they need to solve problems. Learners are asked to find certain information and formulae that have been provided in the previous two activities.

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Making candle moulds

Unit standard(s): 9016

Summary:

In this activity learners think about the moulds in which candles are made. In order to work out how much they will need to pay for moulds they first calculate the surface area of differently shaped candles. Mathematically literate people are able to think about what mathematical resources to use in different situations and they are also able to find the information and mathematical resources they need to solve problems. Learners are asked to find certain information and formulae that have been provided in the previous two activities.

Assessment: Co-ordinating multiple flight bookings

Unit standard(s): 9016

Summary:

In this activity learners are asked to draw on what they have learned about making travel arrangements over levels 2, 3 and 4. They are asked to schedule a meeting for people which includes local people as well as people travelling from different parts of the country. This requires reading different flight timetables in relation to each other, as well as taking into consideration the driving times to and from the meeting and to and from the airports on the other side.