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NSW Curriculum
NSW Education Standards Authority

K–10Mathematics K–10 Syllabus

Record of changes
Implementation for K–2 from 2023 and 3–10 from 2024
Expand for detailed implementation advice

Content

Stage 5

Variation and rates of change A (Path)

Stn (Standard), Adv (Advanced) and Ext (Extension) have been used to suggest paths for related Stage 6 courses.

Identify and describe problems involving direct and inverse variation
  • Describe typical examples of direct variation/proportion

  • Apply the language of direct variation to everyday contexts: y is directly proportional to x, y is proportional to x, y varies directly as x

  • Identify and represent direct variation/proportion as yx (y is proportional to x) or y=kx, where k is the constant of variation

  • Describe typical examples of inverse (indirect) variation

  • Apply the language of inverse variation to everyday contexts:  y is inversely proportional to x,  y is proportional to the reciprocal of x,  y varies inversely as x

  • Identify and represent inverse variation/proportion as y1x (y is inversely proportional to x) or y=kx, where k is the constant of variation

Identify and describe graphs involving direct and inverse variation
  • Recognise and describe direct variation from graphs, noting that the graph of y=kx is a straight line passing through the origin, with its gradient k being the constant of variation

  • Recognise and describe inverse variation from graphs, noting that the graph of y=kx is a curve

Solve problems involving direct and inverse variation and examine the relationship between graphs and equations corresponding to proportionality
  • Solve problems involving direct or inverse variation using an equation

  • Use linear conversion graphs to convert from one unit to another

  • Graph equations representing direct variation, with or without digital tools

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