Samoa Year 9 School Syllabus - Mathematics

This syllabus outlines the curriculum for Mathematics in Samoa, focusing on developing students' mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills through inquiry and application in real-world contexts. The curriculum is organized around eight strands: one process strand (Working Mathematically) and seven content strands.

Working Mathematically: This strand emphasizes the processes involved in learning and applying mathematics. Students are expected to develop skills in:

• Interpreting and posing questions
• Strategically thinking and representing information
• Reasoning and justifying solutions
• Reflecting and evaluating strategies
• Communicating mathematically

These processes are integrated into each of the content strands.

Content Strands:

• Number & Operations: Students develop computational skills, understand number systems (real, rational, irrational, integers, fractions, decimals, percentages), use scientific notation, and apply these concepts to financial mathematics problems involving earnings, purchasing, investing, and simple interest.
• Algebra: Students learn algebraic techniques (simplifying, expanding, factorizing, evaluating expressions and formulas), work with indices, solve contextual word problems involving rates of change, and explore linear relationships on the Cartesian plane (midpoint, gradient, distance). They also solve linear equations and inequalities.
• Statistics & Probability: Students explore chance events, develop probability language, calculate relative frequencies, use two-way tables, and understand the relationship between relative frequency and theoretical probability. They also collect, display, and interpret data using measures of location and range.
• Measurement: Students perform time calculations involving mixed units, convert between metric units (length, area, volume), calculate perimeter and area of various shapes (including circles), find surface area and volume of prisms and cylinders, and work with limits of accuracy and scales.
• Geometry: Students identify and classify angles, explore angle properties related to parallel lines and transversals, classify and determine properties of triangles and quadrilaterals, identify congruent and similar figures, explore circle properties (symmetry, angle relationships), and use transformations (translation, rotation, reflection).
• Trigonometry: Students apply trigonometry and Pythagoras' Theorem to solve problems involving right-angled triangles (including angles of elevation and depression), sketch graphs of sine and cosine functions, and learn about Pythagorean triples.
• Rates of Change & Calculus: Students identify situations with constant and variable rates of change, connect rates of change to gradients and graph features, generate number sequences, and identify, represent, and recognize relations and functions.

This curriculum aims to equip students with the necessary mathematical knowledge and skills for everyday life, further studies, and future careers. It emphasizes the practical application of mathematics in various contexts and encourages students to become confident problem-solvers.