Singapore maths and Australian Curriculum Year 10 comparison
It’s important to compare Singapore maths with the Australian Curriculum at year 10 as this is the pivotal point where a decision needs to made on whether your homeschooled child will need more maths to do whatever they have chosen to do, be it enter the workforce, take up an apprenticeship or go to university.
It’s also a decision that causes unnecessary angst among home educating parents asking themselves if they will need to take on teaching year 11 and 12 maths. Most students are independent learners by this age and if you want to take on senior maths, getting a tutor is a good idea if you are not prepared. However, I would suggest that your money may be better spent on simply enrolling your child in an Open Universities maths course, which could count towards a degree (choose your unit carefully so it fits or gives credit to a course your child wants to complete).
Then, there is the fact that many university courses do not require high level maths and will often include Statistics or other maths courses specifically needed for the discipline. You will need to research specific courses to determine that.
Getting back to year 10… there are two streams in the Australian Curriculum (AC), year 10 and 10A. The year 10 stream is done by all students and 10A is optional, covering extra topics for students who want to prepare for Mathematical Methods or Specialist Mathematics in years 11 and 12. It should be noted that according to the AC “A selection of topics from the 10A curriculum can be completed according to the needs and interests of students”.
If you are homeschooling and using Singapore maths, it’s not as clear cut as that. New Syllabus Maths 7th Ed (Accelerated) covers up to year 11 maths in four years (if done at the pace of one book per year – four books). The Normal Academic edition will do this in five years /five books. Of course, homeschooling allows you the freedom to slow down or speed up as is fitting for your child’s needs.
According to the AC, Specialist Maths Units 1 and 2 (year 11) include Vectors and Matrices, which are covered in New Syllabus Maths 7th Ed (Accelerated) Book 4. Sets and Venn diagrams are not covered in Singapore maths until Book 4 Accelerated and Book 5 Normal Academic. This seems to be consistent with the teaching of probability and statistics not being a major focus in the earlier years in Singapore maths, and more attention being given to the other topics.
The charts below for the Singapore maths courses show what is covered in the books stated. Any topics listed in the below charts for the Book 4 Accelerated edition that are missing for the Book 4 Normal Academic, will be covered in the Normal Academic Book 5. If you can’t find a topic, it doesn’t mean it’s not covered – check the previous year’s comparison as it may have already been covered.
Number and algebra
| Australian Curriculum Year 10 | New Syllabus Maths 7th Ed. (Accelerated), Book 4 | New Syllabus Maths Normal Academic, Book 4 |
| Money Compound interest formula as repeated applications of simple interest | Covered in Book 3 | Covered in Book 3 |
| Patterns and algebra Factorisation by taking out a common factor Use index laws to simplify algebraic products and quotients Expand binomials Factorise monic quadratic expressions Substitution to find an unknown Quadratic equations | See Book 3 Revision: Numbers and algebra: Numbers and percentages Proportion, ratio, rate and speed Algebraic manipulation and formulae | See Book 3 Revision: Numbers and algebra Numbers and percentages Proportion, ratio, rate and speed Agebraic manipulation and formulae Equations and inequalities Functions and graphs |
| Linear and non-linear relationships Linear problems; inequalities; graphs | Revision Equations and inequalities Functions and graphs | Revision Equations and inequalities Functions and graphs |
Measurement and geometry
| Australian Curriculum Year 10 | Australian Curriculum Year 10A | New Syllabus Maths 7th Ed. (Accelerated), Book 4 | New Syllabus Maths Normal Academic, Book 4 |
| Using units of measurement Surface area and volume for prisms, cylinders and composite solids | Surface area and volume of right pyramids, right cones, spheres, composite solids Angle and chord properties of circles | Revision: Symmetric properties and angle properties of circles | Symmetric properties and angle properties of circles |
| Geometric reasoning Proofs – congruent triangles and angle properties Right-angle triangle problems | |||
| Pythagoras and Trigonometry Angles of elevation and depression Apply logical reasoning, using congruence and similarity, to proofs and numerical exercises involving plane shapes | Sine, cosine and area rules for any triangle Use unit cirlce to define trigonometric functions Simple trigonometric equations Pythagoras’ Theorem and trigonometry applied to 3-dimensional problems in right-angled triangles | See Book 3 Revision (Book 4): Angles, Triangles, polygons Congruence and similarity Pythagoras’ Theorem and trigonometry (area of triangle; trigonometric ratios; depression and elevation; bearings; 3-dimensional problems) Mensuration Coordinate geometry | Applications of trigonometry Angles of elevation and depression Bearings 3-dimensional problems Revision (Book 4): Angles, Triangles, polygons Congruence and similarity Pythagoras’ Theorem and trigonometry Mensuration Coordinate geometry |
| Not included in AC year 10 (Matrices covered in Specialist Maths Unit 2 and Vectors covered in Specialist Maths Unit 1) | Matrices Introduction Addition and subtraction of matirices Matrix multiplication Applications of matrices Vectors In two dimensions Addition of vectors Vector subtraction Scalar multiples of a vector Expression of vector in terms of two other vectors Positions and applications of vectors | Arc length, sector area and radian measure |
Statistics and probability
| Australian Curriculum Year 10 | Australian Curriculum Year 10A | New Syllabus Maths 7th Ed. (Accelerated), Book 4 | New Syllabus Maths Normal Academic, Book 4 |
| 2- and 3-step chance experiments, probabilities to outcomes, determine probabilities of events. Concept of independence | Probability of combined events: Simple combined events, possibility diagrams, tree diagrams Addition law of probability and mutually exclusive events Multiplication law of probability and independent events Revision: Probability Statistics | Probability of combined events: Simple combined events, possibility diagrams, tree diagrams Addition law of probability and mutually exclusive events Multiplication law of probability and independent events | |
| Quartiles and interquartile range box plots, scatter plots | Mean Standard deviation | Calculate the standard deviation Use mean and standard deviaiton to compare sets of data Statistical data analysis: Cumulative frequency table and curve – features; interpret and analyse Median, quartiles, percentiles, range and interquartile range – estimate from cumulative frequency curves Calculate quartiles for set of data Box-and-whisker plots – interpret and analyse | Mean Standard deviation Cumulative frequency: Cumulative frequency table and curve Median, quartiles, percentiles, range and interquartile range Box-and-whisker plots |
| Venn diagrams covered in year 8 – model authentic situations with two-way tables and Venn diagrams Venn diagrams used in years 9 and 10 | Sets: Set notations Venn diagrams, universal set and complement of a set Intersection of two sets Union of two sets Combining universal set, complement of a set, subset, intersection and union of sets |
No products in the cart. 