Numeracy and Mathematics: Concepts, Differences, and Applications

This essay provides a detailed exploration of numeracy and mathematics, highlighting their definitions, similarities, and differences. Mathematics is defined as the study of measurements and numbers, involving abstract thinking and generalization, with subfields like arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. Numeracy, a more recently defined term, involves applying mathematical concepts to everyday life using basic skills and competencies, including data presentation through charts and graphs. While mathematics solves complex problems across various fields, numeracy applies these concepts in practical situations like grocery shopping, budgeting, and cooking. The essay also illustrates how mathematics is integral to various natural phenomena, such as symmetry in butterflies and hexagonal honeycombs in beehives. The conclusion emphasizes that mathematics provides the derivations, while numeracy focuses on their application, impacting areas like government policies and economic growth. Desklib provides resources for students to further explore these concepts.

Running Head: NUMERACY AND MATHEMATICS
Numeracy and Mathematics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1NUMERACY AND MATHEMATICS
In numerous situations, learning measurements and computations can help in covering
skills, behaviour and disposition by applying the tools of mathematics. This is because
students are required to be mathematically competent (Ausraliancurriculum.edu.au., 2018).
Mathematics is the field of study dealing with measurements and numbers. Dealing with
concept that are difficult can also be made easier using mathematics. Numeracy is a newly
introduced term which is used widely with mathematics (Irwin, Baker & Carter, 2018). Brief
description about the concepts of mathematics and numeracy with their similarities and
differences will be discussed in this assignment. For a clearer understanding of the concepts,
examples will be used which will describe the application of mathematics and numeracy in
the real life.
The specialized field of study which involves the use of numbers and different
specialized operations is known as mathematics. Mathematics helps people to deal with
quantities much more easily (Whitehead, 2017). Mathematical symbols and operations help
to understand easily the different concepts of speed, velocity, time etc. These are known as
applied mathematics. Pure mathematics mostly deals with symbols and signs more than
numbers (Ostrowski, 2016). There are many subfields of mathematics. These are arithmetic,
algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, statistics etc. All these concepts are helpful in
learning the everyday situations that take place. Mathematics is thus an abstract thinking of
experiences and its generalizations (Wang, 2016).
Numeracy is a newly coined term. The concept has been developed to deal with the
mathematical concepts in daily life using basic skills and competencies (Goos, Vale &
Stillman, 2017). Different people have different opinions and some people think that
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are the basic concepts. To some other
people, the concept of numeracy is more fundamental than these basic mathematical concepts
(Karaali, Villafane Hernandez & Taylor, 2016). Numeracy is the method in which

2NUMERACY AND MATHEMATICS
mathematics is approached (Khan & Mason, 2015). Numeracy involves a learning which is
cross cultural. It is also more coherent and involves thinking which is logical and can be
applied to several curriculums (Kaye, 2015). With the help of the concepts of numeracy, the
number systems and its computation skills becomes easy and thus it helps in solving
problems (australiancurriculum.edu, 2018). Moreover, presentation of the data with the help
of charts, graphs and diagrams also comes under numeracy (Parnis & Petocz, 2016).
These two concepts of mathematics and numeracy are hugely interrelated, yet there
are some differences between the two. The study of mathematics involves numbers, space
and concepts that relate two different characteristics of the same object (McNally, 2015).
Mathematics can help in solving complex problems of different fields of study. There exist
no scientific subjects that can be understood without the help of basic mathematical concepts
of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (Purpura & Reid, 2016). Numeracy, on
the other hand, is the application of mathematics in different situations (Winn & Brady,
2015). The concepts of numeracy can thus be used in everyday life as well along with the
concepts of mathematics (Scotland, 2015). Hence, considering the similarities, it can be said
that there is involvement of numbers to both the concepts of mathematics and numeracy and
both can be applied in the daily life events.
There are various daily life events in which mathematics can be applied. One such
example can be explained with grocery shopping. Both mathematics and numeracy concepts
can be applied in the event of grocery shopping. At the time of shopping, price per unit of the
products, weight of the products, calculating the price of the goods when discount percentage
is given, estimating the price that has to be paid finally are all application of mathematics in
grocery shopping (Howell & Hopkins, 2017). On the other hand, before starting to shop, a
budget is generally fixed such that all the shopping should not exceed the estimated budget.
The number of units of the goods that has to be bought so that the final price remains within

3NUMERACY AND MATHEMATICS
the budget also has to be evaluated at the time of shopping. These are the situations where
numeracy is applied (Felton-Koestler, Sutherland & Tracy, 2016).
Another example where the concept of mathematics and numeracy can be applied is
in cooking. While cooking, it is important to follow a recipe. The quantity of the ingredients
that has to be used to make any dish, calculating the time that is required to complete the
dish, mixing the ingredients in the correct proportion is necessary to follow to make the dish
tasty. All these calculations involve mathematics (Hudson, Henderson & Hudson, 2015). On
the other hand, deciding the quantity of the dish that has to be prepared so that it will be
sufficient for the number of people to serve requires the concept of numeracy (Zosh, Hirsh-
Pasek & Golinkoff, 2018).
There are various other situations in which mathematics is related. In the case of
constructing buildings, the concept of geometry is necessary. The shapes, sizes and designs of
the buildings needs various measurements and thus comes the concepts of mathematics
(Henderson et al., 2015). One of the most important technologies that are used nowadays is
internet banking. To make the transactions secure, cryptology is applied. Cryptology involves
mathematics to a huge extent (Van Tilborg & Jajodia, 2014). Mathematical logic is also
involved in solving of puzzles. Estimating the chances of winning in a casino game also
involves mathematics (Green et al., 2017).
Mathematics is also involved in various natural events. The shape of a butterfly is
symmetric which helps the butterfly to keep the body balance and also helps it to fly. The
designs in its wings are also perfectly symmetric (Iwata et al., 2015). Snowflakes or the face
of a tiger follows rotational symmetry. Bees make their hives with the help of hexagonal
honey combes. Hexagonal shapes have greater area and lesser perimeter than squares or
triangles. Thus, less wax will be required to construct each comb and the honey produced in

4NUMERACY AND MATHEMATICS
the combes will be maximum (Takahashi et al., 2017). The Fibonacci sequence in which one
term is defined as the sum of the previous two terms, explains the number of petals in a
flower. Another concept of fractals can be used to explain the random pattern of fern or the
pattern in tree branches (fractalfoundation.org, 2013).
Thus, from all the discussions conducted in this article, it can be clearly concluded
that mathematics is the derivations of certain situations and numeracy is the application of
these results. The uses of numeracy are wide spread. The concept of numeracy can be applied
in various government policies to make future predictions of policies. These policies have an
impact in the nation’s economic growth. This indicates the extent to which the two most
important real life concepts, mathematics and numeracy are interrelated.

5NUMERACY AND MATHEMATICS
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