Cats and Kittens

This assessment task from Bowland requires students to analyse a claim made in an advert encouraging cat owners to have their cat neutered. The claim is made that an unneutered cat can have 2000 descendants in 18 months. Students are given a number of basic facts upon which to base their analysis. Students are required to decide how to represent their solution using a choice of diagrams and timelines. The task requires students to consider what calculations to perform, their accuracy, relate their calculations to the problem, make assumptions and show clarity of method and reasoning. Teacher guidance includes concepts which may be discussed with students, examples of probing questions which may be useful and assumptions that students need to make when completing the task. The assessment guidance consists of a progression table detailing how students may improve in each of the key processes. The resource concludes with a number of examples of students' work, together with comments, probing questions and feedback.