Ordering Fractions, Decimals and Percentages using 'Flower Power'
MATHEMATICS SKILLS COVERED
Age 9-14
- Ordering whole numbers, halves and quarters
- Ordering fractions, decimals and percentages including negative numbers
HOW TO PLAY
Use fractions, decimals and percentages skills to correctly order blooms in the garden. When a stem is mature, 'harvest' and 'sell' the stem to bank the value.
In your garden, flower stems will grow from seeds. You will see buds appearing at the base of the stem, each carrying a value in the form of a fraction, decimal or percentage. Your job is to grow the stem by dragging the bud to the correct position on the stem - ordering them from the largest value on top, and smallest value at the bottom. A correctly positioned bud will bloom into a flower, while incorrect ones will wither and die.
Each stem carries a 'sell' value - found at the bottom of each stem. A perfectly ordered stem is worth more than stems with withered buds.
When a stem grows to its full height of seven flowers, it will stop growing. At this stage, you'll need to make a decision, whether to:
- wait - let the bee pollinate the flowers, and spread more seeds (adding more time on the clock) and generate higher value buds; OR
- collect - harvest the stem, and collect the money (click on the scissors that appear when you mouse-over the stem value displayed at the base of the stem)
To progress and succeed in the game, you will need to balance pollination and harvesting to achieve a high score.
Make as much money as possible, by growing and harvesting valuable and exotic flowers. The harder the maths, the more valuable (worth more money) the flowers.
SCORING INFORMATION
Here are the individual game levels and how much to 'bank' to earn a medal (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
- ordering whole numbers and halves >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Daisy and reach Market Day >>> $10 (B), $25 (S), $50 (G)
- ordering whole numbers, halves and quarters >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Tulip and reach Market Day >>> $20 (B), $50 (S), $80 (G)
- ordering fractions and decimals >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Rose and reach Market Day >>> $30 (B), $75 (S), $120 (G)
- ordering harder fractions >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Lily and reach Market Day >>> $40 (B), $100 (S), $160 (G)
- ordering harder fractions and decimals >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Orchid and reach Market Day >>> $50 (B), $125 (S), $200 (G)
- ordering decimals >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Daisy and reach Market Day >>> $10 (B), $25 (S), $50 (G)
- ordering fractions - halves and quarters >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Tulip and reach Market Day >>> $20 (B), $50 (S), $80 (G)
- ordering general fractions >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Rose and reach Market Day >>> $30 (B), $75 (S), $120 (G)
- ordering fractions, decimals and percentages >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Lily and reach Market Day >>> $40 (B), $100 (S), $160 (G)
- ordering including negatives >> In-game Goal: Grow at least one perfect Orchid and reach Market Day >>> $50 (B), $125 (S), $200 (G)
Flower varieties
Scoring calculation
The value per stem harvested is calculated by the following formula:
In a Bumper Harvest, an additional factor is applied:
Basic Strategies
- Don’t waste your time on cheap flowers – grow perfect stems and let them pollinate, so you progress quickly to more valuable flowers and fungi. Balance pollination and harvesting and attempt to keep at least six high-value stems growing at the same time.
- Toadstools are ordered in reverse order - smallest on top!
- Work left to right, ordering one bloom on each stem in sequence, taking extra care when ordering negatives and fungi.
- Use the Bumper Harvest as often as possible, especially for high-value flowers. For the most efficient harvests, cut stems from left to right. As soon as you hear the end-of-day bell tolling, harvest all of your flowers in one Bumper Harvest.
Comparing Buds
When comparing the numbers on the buds, you may find a number of different strategies useful:
- Think about which whole numbers a bud is between. For example, 2¼ is between 2 and 3.
- Think about whether a fraction part of a number is greater than or less than a half. For example, ¾ is greater than 1½.
- When you have a mixture of fractions and decimals, either think of them all as decimals or all as fractions. You need to be able to change numbers from fractions to decimals and back to do this. For example, ¾ = 0.75 and 1.25 = 1¼.
- It’s useful to know what some standard fractions are as decimals: 1/10 = 0.1, 1/5 = 0.2, ¼ = 0.25, ½ = 0.5
- A good way to compare two fractions is to use a common denominator. For example, if you are trying to compare 11/12 and 5/6 use the common denominator of 12 – 5/6 equals 10/12 and so 5/6 is less than 11/12.
