Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Form 4 School Syllabus - Mathematics

This syllabus is based on the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) CSEC Mathematics syllabus, effective for examinations from May/June 2010. It is designed to provide students with the mathematical skills, knowledge, and abilities needed for everyday life and future careers, further studies, and to appreciate the role of mathematics in society.

Core Topics:

• Computation: This section covers the four basic operations with real numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, conversions between units, significant figures, decimal places, and scientific notation. It also includes calculating fractions and percentages of quantities, ratios, proportions, and arithmetic mean.
• Number Theory: This section focuses on sets of numbers (natural, whole, integers, rational, irrational, real), sequences, factors, multiples, place value, and number properties (identities, inverses, closure, commutativity, distributivity, associativity).
• Consumer Arithmetic: This section deals with practical applications of mathematics in everyday financial transactions, including discount, sales tax, profit, loss, hire purchase, mortgages, simple and compound interest, appreciation, depreciation, and various aspects of personal finance like rates, taxes, utilities, bills, salaries, wages, insurance, and investments.
• Sets: This section introduces set language and concepts, including set representation, relationships among sets (subsets, intersections, unions, complements), Venn diagrams, and problem-solving using sets.
• Measurement: This section covers calculating perimeter and area of various shapes (polygons, circles, arcs, sectors), surface area and volume of solids (prisms, cylinders, cones, spheres, cubes, cuboids), unit conversions, estimation of errors, and use of maps and scale drawings.
• Statistics: This section focuses on data analysis, including types of data, frequency tables, statistical diagrams (pie charts, bar charts, line graphs, histograms, frequency polygons), measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode), measures of dispersion (range, interquartile range), cumulative frequency, probability, and making inferences from statistics.
• Algebra: This section covers symbolic representation, algebraic operations, directed numbers, algebraic expressions, laws of indices, linear equations, simultaneous equations, inequalities, changing the subject of formulae, factorization, quadratic equations, and word problems.
• Relations, Functions, and Graphs: This section introduces relations, functions, and their representation (ordered pairs, arrow diagrams, graphically, algebraically), linear functions, intercepts, gradients, equation of a straight line, parallel and perpendicular lines, length and midpoint of line segments, graphical solutions of linear equations, linear inequalities, linear programming, composite functions, inverse functions, quadratic functions, and interpretation of graphs.
• Geometry and Trigonometry: This section covers basic geometric concepts (points, lines, angles, polygons, circles, solids), geometric constructions, symmetry, properties of geometric figures, transformations (translations, reflections, rotations, enlargements), Pythagoras' theorem, trigonometric ratios, sine and cosine rules, bearings, and problem-solving involving geometric and trigonometric concepts.
• Vectors and Matrices: This section introduces vectors and matrices, vector operations, magnitude of vectors, using vectors in geometry, matrix operations, determinants, inverse matrices, matrix representation of transformations, and using matrices to solve problems.

Optional Topics:

The optional section of the exam allows students to specialize in specific areas within the broader topics. These optional specific objectives are detailed within the full syllabus document.