year 8 maths

ix
Introduction and guide to this book
The second edition of this popular resource features a new interactive digital platform powered by
Cambridge HOTmaths, together with improvements and updates to the textbook, and additional online
resources such as video demonstrations of all the worked examples, Desmos-based interactives, carefully
chosen HOTmaths resources including widgets and walkthroughs, and worked solutions for all exercises,
with access controlled by the teacher. The Interactive Textbook also includes the ability for students to
complete textbook work, including full working-out online, where they can self-assess their own work
and alert teachers to particularly difficult questions. Teachers can see all student work, the questions that
students have ‘red-flagged’, as well as a range of reports. As with the first edition, the complete resource
is structured on detailed teaching programs for teaching the NSW Syllabus, now found in the Online
Teaching Suite.
The chapter and section structure has been retained, and remains based on a logical teaching and learning
sequence for the syllabus topic concerned, so that chapter sections can be used as ready-prepared
lessons. Exercises have questions graded by level of difficulty and are grouped according to the Working
Mathematically components of the NSW Syllabus, with enrichment questions at the end. Working
programs for three ability levels (Building Progressing and Mastering) have been subtly embedded
inside the exercises to facilitate the management of differentiated learning and reporting on students’
achievement (see page X for more information on the Working Programs). In the second edition, the
Understanding and Fluency components have been combined, as have Problem-Solving and Reasoning.
This has allowed us to better order questions according to difficulty and better reflect the interrelated
nature of the Working Mathematically components, as described in the NSW Syllabus.
Topics are aligned exactly to the NSW Syllabus, as indicated at the start of each chapter and in the
teaching program, except for topics marked as:
• REVISION — prerequisite knowledge
• EXTENSION — goes beyond the Syllabus
• FRINGE — topics treated in a way that lies at the edge of the Syllabus requirements, but which
provide variety and stimulus.
See the Stage 5 books for their additional curriculum linkage.
The parallel CambridgeMATHS Gold series for Years 7–10 provides resources for students working
at Stages 3, 4, and 5.1. The two series have a content structure designed to make the teaching of mixed
ability classes smoother.
Cambridge Maths NSW
Stage 4 Year 8 Second edition
ISBN 978-1-108-46627-1 © Palmer et al. 2018
Cambridge University Press
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