Maths Terms for 11-13 Yr Olds

Also known as 'nought', 'nil' or 'nothing', zero (symbol 0) is the integer between one and minus one. In the place value system, it works as a place-holder. Example: 105. The zero represents that there are no 'tens' above the 100.

Any number raised to the power of zero is defined as equal to one. It is also defined that 1 divided by 0 is infinity, and anything multiplied by zero becomes zero.

See 'mean’. Compare with 'mode' and 'median'.

A format for representing statistical information. Bars, of equal width, represent frequencies and the lengths of the bars are proportional to the frequencies. Sometimes called bar graph.

Similar to a bar chart, the width of bars is reduced so that they appear as lines. The lengths of the bar lines are proportional to the frequencies. Sometimes called bar line graph.

A diagram to represent a set of ranked numerical data. A box represents the interquartile range. Lines from the points representing the maximum and minimum values to the box are sometimes referred to as whiskers. The median is marked on the box by a line.

Data arising from measurements taken on a categorical (unordered discrete) variable. Examples: pupils\' favourite colours; states of matter- solids, liquids, gases, gels etc; nutrient groups in foods - carbohydrates, proteins, fats etc; settlement types - hamlet, village, town, city etc; and types of land use - offices, industry, shops, open space, residential etc.

Following in order. Consecutive numbers are adjacent in a count. Examples: 5, 6, 7 are consecutive numbers. 25,30,35 are consecutive multiples of 5. In a polygon, consecutive sides share a common vertex and consecutive angles share a common side.

Data arising from measurements taken on a continuous variable (examples: lengths of caterpillars; weight of crisp packets) that can take on an infinite or effectively infinite set of values. 

A measure of the strength of the association between two variables. High correlation implies a close relationship and low correlation a less close one. If an increase in one variable results in an increase in the other, then the correlation is positive. Example: there should be a positive correlation between your understanding of maths and your enjoyment of it. If an increase in one variable results in a decrease in the other, then the correlation is negative. The term zero correlation does not necessarily imply no relationship, but merely no linear relationship.

A graph for displaying cumulative frequency. At a given point on the horizontal axis the sum of the frequencies of all the values up to that point is represented by a point. These graphs always curve upwards because the vertical co-ordinates will be proportional to the sum of frequencies, which can't decrease.