SCHEME OF WORK FOR SPN-21 (MATHEMATICS)
YEAR 11 NORMAL TRACK (2+3)
Content coverage Scope and Development
1. VECTORS
(4 weeks)
1.1 Representation of  Define a vector as a quantity which
Vectors has both magnitude and direction.
 Show the representation of vectors
in diagram and how to write and
name a vector. Students are
expected to write vector a by
underlining, a.
 Show the representation of the
‘value’ of a vector using column
x → x
vectors, a = y or AB =y.
   
Describe what each element in the
SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3)
Suggested activities Resources
Use 3.1 and 3.2 to explain the basic
concepts on vectors. Then apply
these basic concepts in the three
types of questions with reference to http://www.bbc.co.uk/s
sections 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5. chools/gcsebitesize/m
aths/datahandlingfi/pr
Explain why it is important to include obabilityrev1.shtml
direction when stating a quantity. For
example, when directing a tourist to http://standards.nctm.
the taxi station which is about 50m to org/document/exampl
the right of the junction. es/chap7/7.1/part2.ht
m has interactive work
Link vector to some vector quantities about vectors sums.
in Physics like velocity, acceleration,
force etc. Go to
http://www.standards.
Draw a few vectors and use the nctm.org/and click the
diagrams to guide the students to search button to find
write down and say out each vector resources on other
correctly. topics from site.
→ →
AB = BA but
A B≠
Explain that http://www.ex.ac.uk/ci
BA
mt/mepres/allgcse/bkc
→ 19.pdf is a chapter
Stress that should be read as
AB about vectors
vector AB and not merely AB .
Similarly, p or p should be read as
vector p and not merely p.
Tell the students that p and p are the
same and it is easier to write p as p
in their work. Check that they do not
write p as vector p.
When finding the column vector
representing a vector drawn on a grid,
Page 1 of 16
 column vector represents. it is important to stress on the
systematic procedure, i.e. from the
initial point, move left or right first
followed by up or down to reach the
final point so that the two values will
be written at the correct positions.

Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources

 Show how to draw the vector on a
grid when given a column vector and
vice versa.
 Show how to write a vector, in terms
of the given vector, which is parallel
(a) and equal (equivalent vector),
(b) but not equal,
(c) but opposite.

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 2 of 16

1.2 Vector Addition and  Explain how to express a vector as Use the idea of routes for an effective
Scalar Multiplication the addition and subtraction explanation on vector addition.
of Vectors (equivalent to addition of negative For example, to go from A to B is
vector) of two or more vectors. the same as from A to C and
then from C to B. So
→ C→ →
Explain triangle law and parallelogram .
AB = AC + CB
law.

A B

Extend this using any other

intermediate points.
For example, to go from A to D,
→ → → →
AD = AB + BC + CD or
→ → →
AD = AC + CD
B C

A D
As Vector Addition is a very important
concept, it is important to train
the students to be able to write
down the statement correctly.
One way to achieve this is to
give a few complete statements
and guide the students to
observe the pattern. Then
prepare a set of partially
complete statements and have
the students complete them.

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 3 of 16

Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources

A very common mistake when finding

vector using vector addition is to
write the statement under the
influence of the vectors given.
→
For example, to find BC with
→ →
and AC given, some
AB
students may write

→ → →
BC = AB + AC .

One way to cut down the chance of

making this mistake is to leave
the intermediate letter

blank first , i.e. BC = B + C,.

then look at the question to
search for the other relevant
letter. In this case, it is A. This
will lead to the correct statement
→ → →
BC = BA+ AC . Use the idea of
→ →
negative vector, i.e.
BA = − AB to
obtain the next statement
→ → →
BC = − AB + AC .

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 4 of 16

1.3 Column Vector  Derive and use the formula for the
magnitude of a column vector and
explain the symbol used to
represent the magnitude.
 Derive and use the formula for the
gradient of the line represented by
a column vector.
 Explain and discuss how to use the
relationship between the elements
of two column vectors which are
parallel
 Use Vector Addition together with
negative vector if necessary to find
unknown column vector

Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources

1.4 Position Vectors  Explain that if P is the position of a Stress that position vector must start
point with respect to the origin, O in from the origin.
a Cartesian plane, then the vector Make generalization that for questions
OP is known as the position vector on vector, if coordinates of points are
of P. involved, then the idea of position
 Explain that given P(x, y), then the vectors have to be applied.
position vector P with respect to O is
x
OP =  y
 and vice versa.
 

1.5 Problem on Vectors  Apply Vector Addition, Negative

Represented by Vector and Parallel Vectors to find
Letters unknown vectors.

 Explain that if the point A, B and C

→ →
are collinear, then = kBC or
AB
→ → → →
AB = hAC or AC = nBC . Train the students to handle situations
involving collinear vectors.
 Discuss situations where a vector is
SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 5 of 16
 divided into two or more sections
(collinear vectors) 2
Eg. (a) If AC = CB , then AC : CB
2 3
(E.g. AC = AB ; AC = 2CB ; AB : = 2 :3.
3
CB = 2 : 3) 2 3

A C B

This means AC = 2 parts and CB = 3

→
parts and AB = 5 parts. Thus AC =
2 →
,
5 AB
→ 3 →
CB = 5 AB etc

Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources

 Brief discussion on vector equation 2

like ap + bq = mp + nq, if p
(b) If AC = AB, then AC : AB =
3
and q are non-zeros and not parallel, 2 : 3.
then a = m and b = n.
 Apply the ideas on vector to solve 2 1
problem related to area of triangle

A C B

This means AC = 2 parts, AB = 3

→
parts and CB = 1 part. Then AC =
→ → 1 →
2 2CB , CB = 3 AB etc.

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 6 of 16

Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 7 of 16

2. SET LANGUAGE
AND NOTATION
(3 weeks)

2.1 Basic Concepts  Define set as a collection of similar
objects.
 Use set language and set notation to
describe sets and represent
relationships between sets as
follows:
For examples:
A = { x : x is a natural number}
B = { (x, y) : y = mx + c}
Require students to group sets of http://assets.cambridg
similar objects, for examples, a set of e.org/0521539021/sa
stationery = {pen, pencil, eraser, mple/0521539021WS.
ruler}, a set of boys = {Ali, Ahmad, pdf
John}, etc. Then introduce the term
set, element and the number of http://www.mathworld.
elements. wolfram.com/VennDia
Give examples of sets where the gram.html
different set notations are used –
using lists of numbers or alphabets.

C = { x : a ≤ x ≤ b} Familiarize the students with

examples of writing sets using the set
D = { a, b, c….}
builder notation and also by listing the
 Define the terms finite and infinite elements.
sets, empty/null set, equal sets,
subsets, universal sets and
complement of a set.
 Understand and use the following
notations:
“...is an element of...” or
“ … belongs to…” ∈
“….is not an element of…..” or
“… does not belong to …) ∉
Number of elements in set A n(A)
The empty/null set ∅
Universal set ξ
Complement of set A A’
A is a subset of B A
⊆B
A is a proper subset of B A

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 8 of 16

 ⊂B
A is not a subset of B A
⊄B
A is not a proper subset of B A
⊄B

Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 9 of 16

2.2 Intersection and  Define the terms intersection and
Union of Sets union of sets by listing the elements
and introduce the symbols used :
Intersection of A and B
B
Union of A and B
B Illustrate clearly, using examples on
 Give examples on finding the
complement sets and its number of
elements.
2.3 Venn Diagram  Present the set operations using
Venn diagrams and shade the
defined region and vice versa.
 Describe set notations in words.
SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3)
A∩
A∪
the correct way to write the answers.
1) If finding a set, the element(s)
must be enclosed with the
brackets.
2) In finding the number of
elements, the answer should be
just a number without any
bracket.
(common mistakes : n(A) = {3}; B =
0)
When doing set operations, it is better
to list all the elements in each set in
the operation first.
Use Venn diagram to show the
relationship between the sets and
discuss the meaning of the different
regions of the diagram.
Caution students on correct use of
terms and the necessity to write
statements in detail especially in
cases involving the ∪ and ⊂ symbols
e.g. If M = {set of students studying
mathematics} and P = {set of
students studying physics},
(i) M ∪ P is the set of students
studying mathematics or physics
or both mathematics and physics,
(ii) P ⊂ M means all students
studying physics also study
Page 10 of 16

2.4 Problem Solving  Interpret key words like ‘both’, ‘and’,
‘either’, ‘or’, ‘neither’, ‘nor’ and
‘not’.
 Solve word problems using Venn
diagrams to find the number of
elements in a set.
 Solve word problems involving
finding the maximum and minimum
possible value.
Content coverage Scope and Development
3. STATISTICS 2
(4 weeks)
3.1 Data Collection and  Review how to organize
Data statistical data and represent it in
Presentation different ways such as bar charts,
histograms, pie charts and
pictograms.
 Present ungrouped data using
frequency tables and histograms.
3.2 Mean, Mode and  Review the term mean, mode
Median and median.
 Revise the method of finding the
mean, mode and median for
ungrouped data
 Extend the idea to the finding of
mean, mode and median from
frequency tables and bar charts
3.3 Frequency  Present grouped data by using
Distribution frequency tables and histograms
Table for Grouped with equal intervals
Data
SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3)
mathematics.
Introduce the study of set as a tool for
problem solving.
Suggested activities Resources
Discuss examples where the diagrams http://www.geohive.co
give misleading information e.g. bar m
charts that do not start from the origin
and pictograms that show a 3-D object http://www.mathsisfun
enlarged with a factor of 2 to .com /data.html
represent twice a given quantity.
Use statistics to compare the weather http://www.mathforum
in different parts of the world, e.g. to .org/trscavo/statistics/
investigate which place has the comtents.html
largest mean temperature difference
between summer and winter. http://www.nytimes.co
m/learning/teachers/le
ssons/20061128tuesd
ay.html
Use a simple example to show how
discrete data can be grouped into
equal classes e.g. investigate the
length of words used in two different
Page 11 of 16
 Including  Show a frequency polygon newspapers and present the findings
Frequency derived from a histogram by joining using statistical diagrams.
Polygons the midpoints of upper side of
horizontal rectangles of the
histogram.

 Explain that for grouped data,

the class with the highest frequency
is the modal class, the class where
the median lies is identified by
finding where the middle position is
and the mean can be calculated
∑ fx
using the formula x= where
∑f
f is the frequency and x is the value
of the variable.

Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources

http://www.waldomath
3.4 Histogram With  Explain that for histograms with s. com/Hist1N.jsp
Unequal Class unequal widths, ‘frequency density’ is
Widths/Intervals used as the vertical axis instead of
frequency where frequency density =
frequency
and that it is the area of
class width
rectangle that represents the
frequency of each class.
 Explain that the mean calculated
∑ fx
using the formula x= is only
∑f
an estimate as x is the mid-value or
midpoint of the interval, taken to

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 12 of 16

 represent all values in that interval.
Stress the point that the modal class for
the histogram with unequal intervals is
not the class with the highest frequency
from the frequency table but the class
with the tallest bar (highest frequency
density on the histogram).

3.5 Cumulative  Construct and interpret a Explain that a cumulative frequency

Frequency Table cumulative frequency table from curve shows the number of variables
andCumulative given raw data or from a grouped with a particular value or less.
Frequency Curve frequency table.
 Complete a grouped frequency
table given a cumulativefrequency
table.
 Plot, draw and interpret cumulative
frequency curve.

3.6 Percentiles,  Introduce the term percentile and its Use a cumulative frequency curve to
Quartiles and meaning. explain percentiles and show how to
Interquartile Range  Use a cumulative frequency curve estimate these from graphs
to explain percentiles (introduce the
25th, 50th, 75th percentiles) and show
how to estimate these from a graph.
 Explain that the median is the 50th
percentile, the lower quartile is the
25th percentile, the upper quartile is The words “more than” or “less than” in
the 75th percentile. the question indicates whether the
 Show how to find the median, answer is on the top portion or bottom
quartiles, percentiles and inter portion of the vertical axis (cumulative
quartile range from a cumulative frequency)
frequency curve.
 Show how to find the frequency for
a given range of values

Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources

SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 13 of 16

4. PROBABILITY
(4 weeks)
4.1 Definition of  Understand the meaning of
Probability and probability.
Sample Space
 Explain the terms experiment, event,
outcomes and sample space, S,
used in probability.
4.2 Simple Probability  Define the probability of an
event A occurring as:
number of outcomes favourable to eventresults.
total number of all possible outcomes then pool them to obtain larger
n( A)
i.e. P ( A) = and calculate the
n( S )
probability of a single event as
either a fraction or a decimal (not a
ratio).
 Explain that an event A not
occurring is denoted by A’ and the
probability of A’ is P(A’ ) = 1 –
P(A).
SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3)
Introduce elementary ideas of http://www.bbc.co.uk/s
probability using familiar context for chools/gcsebitesize/m
example the probability of obtaining aths/datahandlingfi/pr
an odd number when a dice is rolled, obabilityrev1.shtml
obtaining a red ball when a ball is
chosen from a bag without looking, or http://www.mathgoodi
a weather forecaster saying there is a es.com/lessons/vol6/in
20% chance of rain today. tro_probability.hmtl is
an introductory lesson
Discuss probabilities of 0 (event will on probability
never occur) and 1 (event will
definitely occur), leading to the http://www.ex.ac.uk/ci
outcome that a probability lies mt/mepres/allgcse/bka
between these two values. 5.pdf is a chapter on
probability, suitable
sections include 5.1
Students do an experiment, for
and 5.2
example throwing a coin, say 50
times. Ask them to tabulate the
A www.mathgoodies.co
Compare their results and
m/lessons/toc_vol6.ht
ml
samples. Go on to calculate the
probability of getting a ‘head’ and the
http://www.ex.ac.uk/ci
probability of getting a ‘tail’.
mt/mepres/allgcse/bka
5.pdf
Various problems
involving probability at
http://www.nrich.math
s.org/publc/leg.php
Collect examples of mutually exclusive
outcomes. Establish and use the fact
that the sum of probabilities of all the
outcomes is 1. For example, raining or
not raining, late or not late, win or not
win.
Page 14 of 16
 Content coverage Scope and Development Suggested activities Resources
4.3 Probability of  Draw a possibility diagram to Start with a simple event such as the
Combined illustrate the outcomes for score on a spinner; ask for the
Events combined events and represent probability of the total score being a
outcomes as points on a grid. certain number when the spinner is
spun twice. List the outcomes and
then explain that each combined
outcome can be written as an ordered
pair (x, y) and so can be marked as
points on a grid as a possibility
diagram.
 Draw a tree diagram to
illustrate the outcomes for
To introduce tree diagrams, use an
combined events where the
example such as choosing balls at
outcomes will be written at the end
random from a bag, when there are
of branches and probabilities by the
different numbers of balls of different
side of the branches.
colours. First, do an example where
the first ball is replaced before a
second ball chosen (independent
 Calculate the probability of events). Later, do an example where
combined events using a possibility the first ball is not replaced
diagram or a tree diagram, explain (dependent events).
the concept of addition by relating
to the term “or ” as in union of sets
and multiplication by relating to the
term “and” as in intersection of
sets.
4.4 Problems on  Show examples of how
Probability probability may be applied in
different situations including solving
probability involving areas and
SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3) Page 15 of 16
 obtaining information from
frequency tables.
5. NUMBER  Continue a given number sequence.
PATTERNS
AND SEQUENCES  Recognise patterns within and across
( 3 weeks) different sequences and generalise to
simple algebraic statements
(including expressions for the nth
term) relating to such sequences.
 Extend the concept to patterns of
shapes.
SPN-21 (Interim Stage) Year 11 Normal Track (2 + 3)
Define a sequence of numbers. Work Various problems
with simple sequence of even, odd, involving sequences of
square, triangle or Fibonacci numbers, numbers at
etc. http://nrich.maths.org/
public/leg.php
Find the term-to-term rule for a
sequence, e.g. the nth term in the
http://www.coolmath.c
sequence 3, 9, 15, 21, 27, . . . .is 6n
om/algebra/Algebra2/0
– 3.
9SequencesSeries/01_
Discuss as a class activity the what.htm
following problem: Square tables are
placed in a row so that 6 people can http://www.waldomath
sit around 3 tables, and so on. How s.com/Linseq1NL.jsp
many people can sit around n tables?
Page 16 of 16