Maths Terms for 11-13 Yr Olds

The process of marking points. Points are usually defined by co-ordinates and plotted with reference to a given coordinate system. Noun - a collection of these points on a graph.

The likelihood of an event happening. Probability is often expressed on a scale from 0 to 1. Where an event cannot happen, its probability is 0 and where it is certain its probability is 1. It can also be expressed as a fraction or a percentage. The probability of scoring 1 with a fair dice is 1/6. The chance of rolling an even number is 3/6, or 50%. The denominator of the fraction expresses the total number of equally likely outcomes. The numerator expresses the number of outcomes that represent a 'successful' occurrence. Where events are mutually exclusive and exhaustive the total of their probabilities is 1.

A chain of reasoning that establishes the truth of a proposition.

Any attribute or characteristic. Examples: One property of a square is that all its sides are equal. A property of rational numbers is that they can be expressed as fractions.

1. A part to whole comparison. Example: Where £20 is shared between two people in the ratio 3:5, the first receives £7.50 which is 3/8 of the whole £20. This is his proportion of the whole.

2. If two variables x and y are related by an equation of the form y = kx, then y is directly proportional to x; it may also be said that y varies directly as x. When y is plotted against x this produces a straight line graph through the origin. If two variables x and y are related by an equation of the form y = then y is inversely proportional to x; it may be said that y varies inversely as x.

One of the four regions into which a plane is divided by the x and y axes in the Cartesian co-ordinate system.

Relating to a quality or attribute. Used as an adjective to describe conclusions and explanations that use mostly words as opposed to numbers and equations (quantitative).

Relating to a quantity or number. Used as an adjective to describe conclusions and explanations that use mostly numbers and equations as opposed to words (qualitative).

Where quantitative data is ranked in ascending order, the three quartile values (first, second and third) divide the data into four equal parts.  The difference between the first and third quartiles, used as a measure of spread, is the interquartile range. The second quartile is also the median value.

In statistics, a selection from a population where each sample of this size has an equal chance of being selected.