Cover lesson · Maths · Year 7 · Beginner
DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Name: Class: Date:
What this practises: digital competence in Maths. Pupils plan precise searches, judge which search results are reliable, check numbers by converting units and rounding, and reference the sources they choose. It also practises literacy: pupils skim a page of results against the clock, scan for numbers, read closely to spot a result about the wrong thing, and cross-check one source against another. Their answers to Steps 2 to 5 show how well they use these reading strategies.
Print: this sheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet “Search results for 3 facts about Wales”, one between two. Pupils need a calculator and a highlighter. The search results are printed, so no computers are needed. Time Step 2 strictly: 2 minutes.
Run: 8 min Step 1, plan the searches · 4 min Step 2, skim · 6 min Step 3, scan · 12 min Step 4, check Yr Wyddfa with maths · 10 min Step 5, population and coast path · 7 min Step 6, choose the best source · 8 min Step 7, fact file, then success criteria. Total 55 minutes.
Collect: this sheet. The worked example has every answer. Checkpoints: Yr Wyddfa is 1,085 m and 3,560 ft × 0.3048 = 1,085.1 m, so results 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 agree; result 3.1 is about a different path; the population of Wales in 2021 was 3,107,500.
Maths facts are everywhere online, but not all of them are right. You will plan good searches, read a page of results quickly and carefully, and use maths (converting units and rounding) to check which numbers agree. Then you will choose the most reliable source for each fact and reference it.
Search engines look for the words you type. Short, exact searches work best. These tricks also help:
| Trick | Example | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Quotation marks | "Wales Coast Path" length | finds those words together, in that order |
| Minus sign | Yr Wyddfa height -railway | leaves out pages with that word |
| site: | population Wales site:gov.uk | only shows pages whose address ends that way |
(a) Make each search better. Write your improved search and say which trick you used and why.
| Poor search | Better search | Trick and why |
|---|---|---|
| can you tell me what the population of wales is in the year 2021 please | ||
| how long is the path that goes round the coast of wales | ||
| snowdon height (but you keep getting train timetables) |
Do not read every word. Look only at the bold title and the line in italics under each result in Search 1. Label each result with a letter.
O = official organisation E = encyclopedia A = advert B = personal blog Q = quiz or fun facts F = forum
| Result | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type |
Now scan Search 1 for every height given for Yr Wyddfa. Highlight each one on the stimulus. Write each one with its unit and its result number.
| Result | Height given | Unit |
|---|---|---|
(a) The blog (1.3) gives the height in feet. Convert 3,560 ft to metres. Round your answer to the nearest metre.
(b) Which results agree with each other? How do you know?
(c) The advert (1.1) says “over 1,100 m”. Is that true? By how many metres is it wrong? Why might an advert say this?
(d) Read result 1.5 closely, word by word. Find two things in it that are wrong.
(e) The forum (1.6) says “about a kilometre”. Is that a fair rounding of 1,085 m? Is it good enough for a fact file? Explain.
(a) Search 2. Round 3,107,500 to the nearest million, and then to 1 decimal place of a million. Does the news website (2.4) agree with the statistics office (2.1)?
(b) Result 2.2 says 3,063,456. Is it wrong? Read its italic line closely, then explain why it is different.
(c) Search 3. Convert 870 miles to kilometres. Round to the nearest 100 km. Which results agree?
(d) Result 3.1 has a different number, 186 miles. Read its title closely. Why is it not an answer to the question?
For each fact, choose the most reliable result. Use who, why, when and whether it agrees with others.
| Fact | Best result | Why it is the most reliable |
|---|---|---|
| Height of Yr Wyddfa | ||
| Population of Wales | ||
| Length of the Wales Coast Path |
(b) The encyclopedia (1.4) gives the right height. Why is it still better to use 1.2 as your source?
Write the 3 facts as full sentences, each with a number and a unit. Under each, write a reference: who published it, the page title and when it was updated or published.
Example reference: National park authority, “Yr Wyddfa: facts for visitors”, updated March 2025.