Last week, we have done some practice with the numeracy test. What I have learned from doing these practice questions was that when we do the written part, we have to be convincing and detailed in our explanation and that it’s not so much about which is the correct answer. It’s more about your reasoning. Another important method I have learned while doing these questions is that you should always think or write down your reasoning behind why you chose your answer even when it’s multiple choice.

In some practice questions, I have learned how to determine which graph represents the situation the best, as well as how to read a graph. When we did some questions that involved making our own plan, I learned it’s helpful to write down ideas in a chart to lay out my ideas clearly then explain each one in detail and why I chose that specific amount and choice. I also learned that keeping units is extremely important when doing these types of questions. For example, we did one question where we had to plan our water use to a certain amount of litres per week. It was helpful to draw out a chart so that I could put in my plan for the high-efficiency appliances and fixtures and do some adjustments on my plan if needed before started to do my explanation. I also remembered to keep the units in when I was writing my explanation when I kept referring to the chart.

Lastly, I have figured out that there can be more than one answer and that we should show all our work when doing calculations as it’s not as simple as typing in a bunch of numbers in the calculator. These questions makes you think more and you’ll have to analyse the information and images carefully. When I got stuck with a question that included calculations, I drew an image which helped me see the situation more clearly. We also had to do some other questions where they would give a list of different strategies a family decides to do in order to use less water and you would have to check off the ones that are unreasonable. Analysing each choice carefully and the chart given helped me eliminate choices and I was able to come to a conclusion on which one(s) were the least reasonable. I also tried to think if what they planned to do was even possible which also helped me.