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Secondary education

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Original poster

Have your dc learnt about binary / counting in bases other than 10 in maths?

59 replies

Sadik · 05/07/2017 18:16

Just curious - dd went on an event today for yr 10 pupils interested in taking maths/further maths A level. She was telling me about it, and that in one of the sessions the opening qu. was along the lines of 'who knows what binary is'. She gave a minimal summary answer assuming this was a noddy-lets-get-this-started question, but it became apparant that many of the others there either hadn't heard of binary at all or didn't really understand what it was.

We talked about it, and she says that she thinks they haven't ever actually studied non-base 10 counting in school (she knows about it because 'well, y'know, it just is, isn't it').

I'm sure even in the depths of history 1970s we did non-base-10 counting in primary (at a minimal level - wiggling our toes to count in base 20 - that sort of thing). I also don't quite see how you understand place value if you don't do not-base-10-counting? (Or understand how your computer works if you don't know what binary is Confused )

OP posts:
leccybill · 05/07/2017 18:18

I haven't got a clue what binary is and I'm a teacher.

GreenTulips · 05/07/2017 18:20

Binary is just on/off or a 1 or O

It's not magical - and computers may work in onnot - but you don't need to know that now with advancement etc

Original poster
Sadik · 05/07/2017 18:23

Presumably not a maths teacher though leccybill?

OP posts:
ImperialBlether · 05/07/2017 18:25

I did this in the last two years of junior school but I don't think my kids did it at all in school.

PatriciaHolm · 05/07/2017 18:29

Both mine have done it in primary - Year 6.

AlexanderHamilton · 05/07/2017 18:29

Ds has done it as part of computer studies, not maths.

noblegiraffe · 05/07/2017 18:52

I'm a secondary maths teacher - it's not on the maths curriculum (though I did mention it to my Y7s for fun this year). It's on the GCSE computer science curriculum.

Original poster
Sadik · 05/07/2017 18:55

TBH if I'd thought about it at all, I'd have assumed it was on the primary curriculum. Maybe it's not important, it just somehow seems like one of those things that makes the world make a little more sense IYKWIM Confused

OP posts:
Original poster
Sadik · 05/07/2017 18:56

(I'm also now wondering how teenagers can identify as non-binary, if they don't know what binary is Grin )

OP posts:
listsandbudgets · 05/07/2017 18:58

Think dd did it in year 4 or 5. I never did it myself until a friend taught me when I was at university (doing history not maths Grin )

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 05/07/2017 19:02

It was in the original draft of the new primary maths curriculum, not sure if it got taken out.

I think Jim Rose might have put it in the primary curriculum review he did just before the Tories came in.

TheSecondOfHerName · 05/07/2017 19:03

I learned to convert between base 10 and base X before starting secondary school.

My children have learned a little about binary and hexadecimal, but they did this in Computer Science lessons rather than in Maths.

TeenAndTween · 05/07/2017 19:24

I learned about bases last year of primary back in the late 70s.
I learned how to convert between decimal and other bases.
DD1 didn't do it in secondary, but tells me set 1 did.

There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary, and those who don't. Smile

hippyhippyshake · 05/07/2017 19:31

Binary (base 2) and Hexadecimal (base 16) were fundamental for us computer programmers back in the 70s. Also pre-1971 we had base 12 for money and length.

ImperialBlether · 05/07/2017 20:13

Grin Teen.

Original poster
Sadik · 05/07/2017 20:16

DD points out that these days you need hex for web colours hippy

Maybe decimal / other bases were more of a thing in 70s primary both because of imperial measures, and then also because computing was evidently the future and (back then) involved understanding binary / hexadecimal.

OP posts:
BigGreenOlives · 05/07/2017 20:20

We did different bases at school in the 70s but only ever used metric measurements. I find it really annoying that I'm approaching 50, was only ever taught cm, C & kg & we still have distances measured in miles.

ragged · 05/07/2017 20:23

DD (yr10) just finished computing GCSE. Says she knows about Deenary (dinary?), binary & hex.

hippyhippyshake · 05/07/2017 21:03

Aah, good to see Hex is still used! Denary is just the technical term for base 10 iirc

childmaintenanceserviceinquiry · 05/07/2017 21:35

I did a module at uni on this. Cant believe it it isnt really taught in maths at school.

KittyVonCatsington · 05/07/2017 21:40

Computer Science teacher here and it is taught at key stage 3 (my Year 7s can do basic binary/denary conversions and my Year 8s can add and multiply binary digits)

The revised Computing curriculum is new though so will take a while to filter to all schools but it is taught currently in most.

KittyVonCatsington · 05/07/2017 21:41

Hex is taught in Year 10 with my lot (converting to binary and denary and back)

CrazedZombie · 05/07/2017 21:53

They learned in computer science (y7)

TalkinPeece · 05/07/2017 22:09

Both DCs covered Binary and Hex in Further Maths GCSE and DS did more on it in Computing GCSE
"convert to base" was in the GCSE
and chatting about up to base 60 (Maya) was add on work

noblegiraffe · 05/07/2017 22:18

Binary and hexadecimal aren't in Further Maths GCSE.

Binary isn't on the primary maths curriculum either, but Gove made sure that Roman numerals up to 1000 are Hmm