South Sudan Secondary Curriculum - Mathematics

This curriculum emphasizes a practical approach to mathematics, aiming to equip students with lifelong skills. The curriculum is structured into units, aligning with the national syllabus developed by the Ministry of General Education and Instruction. The Student's Books and accompanying Teacher's Guides provide comprehensive coverage of the syllabus, focusing on foundational mathematical concepts and their real-world applications.

Unit 1: Numerical Concepts

This unit covers fundamental numerical concepts, including:

• Indices: A shorthand representation of repeated multiplication, including base, exponent, and index. It explores the practical application of indices in simplifying calculations with large numbers.
• Surds: Irrational numbers expressed using the square root symbol (√). This section delves into operations with surds, including simplification, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as the concept of rationalizing the denominator.
• Commercial Arithmetic: This section applies mathematical concepts to real-world financial scenarios. Topics include foreign exchange rates, simple interest, income tax calculation, compound interest, appreciation and depreciation, and hire purchase agreements.

Unit 2: Geometric Figures and Pythagoras' Theorem

This unit explores geometric concepts, including:

• Surface Area of Shapes: A review of calculating the surface area of various geometric shapes.
• Coordinate Geometry: Using the Cartesian plane to specify the position of points, lines, and shapes. This includes plotting points, understanding the equation of a line, and calculating the gradient (slope) of a line.
• Pythagoras' Theorem: Various proofs and applications of Pythagoras' theorem, a fundamental concept in geometry relating to the relationship between the sides of a right-angled triangle.
• The Unit Circle: Exploring trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, and tangent) using the unit circle. This includes understanding the relationship between angles and their corresponding trigonometric values.

Unit 3: Algebra

This unit covers algebraic concepts, including:

• Algebraic Expressions and Equations: Expanding and simplifying algebraic expressions, including quadratic expressions and identities. This section also covers factorization, the reverse process of expansion.
• Solving Quadratic Equations: Methods for solving quadratic equations, including factorization.
• Vectors: Review of vector translations and introduction to position vectors. This includes representing vectors in column form and performing vector operations.
• Sets: Introduction to set theory, including set notation, subsets, complements, unions, and intersections. This section also covers Venn diagrams, a visual tool for representing set relationships.
• Matrices: Introduction to matrices, including matrix notation, order, equality, addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication, and matrix multiplication. This section also covers the identity matrix, determinants, inverses, and the application of matrices in solving simultaneous equations.
• Functions: Defining functions and using function notation. This includes composite functions, inverse functions, and the horizontal line test for determining if a function has an inverse.

Unit 4: Statistics

This unit covers statistical concepts, including:

• Mean, Mode, and Median: Review of measures of central tendency, including calculating the mean, mode, and median for a given data set.
• Assumed Mean: Using an assumed mean to simplify the calculation of the actual mean for grouped data.
• Cumulative Frequency: Constructing and interpreting cumulative frequency graphs (ogives). This includes using the graph to estimate the median, quartiles, and percentiles.