Nova Scotia · Grade 10

Mathematics 10

Nova Scotia’s Grade 10 math course, from Measurement to Financial Mathematics.

Units
4
Lessons
19
Skills
38
Provincial exam
20% of the final mark

Unit by unit

Every skill in the course, with its official code.

Unit 1 · 9 skills

Measurement

Linear measurement in SI and imperial units

  • Referents and estimation for linear measure

    I can estimate a length with a referent and pick a sensible SI or imperial unit.

  • Measuring and solving linear problems with instruments

    I can measure lengths with real instruments and solve linear-measurement problems.

Converting between SI and imperial

  • Converting units with proportional reasoning

    I can convert a measurement between SI and imperial using proportional reasoning.

  • Verifying conversions with unit analysis

    I can check a unit conversion with unit analysis and judge if it is reasonable.

Surface area and volume of 3-D objects

  • Surface area and volume of prisms and cylinders

    I can find the surface area and volume of right prisms and cylinders.

  • Surface area and volume of cones, pyramids, and spheres

    I can find the surface area and volume of cones, pyramids, and spheres.

  • Composite objects and unknown dimensions

    I can solve composite-object problems and find a missing dimension from a given surface area or volume.

Primary trigonometric ratios

  • Defining and setting up the primary trig ratios

    I can identify opposite, adjacent, and hypotenuse and write the correct trig ratio.

  • Solving right triangles and indirect measurement

    I can solve right triangles and use trig for indirect measurement.

The official wording · 9 outcomes
M01
solve problems that involve linear measurement, using SI and imperial units of measure, estimation strategies
M01
solve problems that involve linear measurement, using SI and imperial units of measure, estimation strategies, and measurement strategies
M02
apply proportional reasoning to problems that involve conversions between SI and imperial units of measure
M02
problems that involve conversions between SI and imperial units of measure
M03
solve problems, using SI and imperial units, that involve the surface area and volume of 3-D objects, including right cones, right cylinders, right prisms
M03
surface area and volume of 3-D objects, including right cones, right cylinders, right prisms, right pyramids, and spheres
M03
solve problems, using SI and imperial units, that involve the surface area and volume of 3-D objects
M04
develop and apply the primary trigonometric ratios (sine, cosine, tangent)
M04
the primary trigonometric ratios (sine, cosine, tangent) to solve problems that involve right triangles

Key ideas

  1. A referent is a known personal benchmark (a fingernail ≈ 1 cm, a doorknob ≈ 1 m high).

  2. A conversion factor is a ratio equal to 1 (1 in = 2.54 cm), so multiplying by it keeps the amount the same.

  3. Volume of a prism or cylinder is base area times height.

  4. In similar right triangles the side ratios stay constant, which is why each angle has fixed sine, cosine, tangent.

  5. The right unit keeps the number manageable — millimetres for a bolt, metres for a room.

Watch out for

  • Choosing a unit that makes the number awkwardly large or small.
  • Multiplying when you should divide (getting a larger number when converting to a bigger unit).
  • Confusing radius with diameter in the cylinder formulas.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 2 · 8 skills

Algebra and Number

Irrational numbers and simplifying radicals

Powers with integral and rational exponents

  • Applying exponent laws with rational exponents

    I can simplify expressions using the exponent laws, including rational exponents.

  • Converting between powers and radicals

    I can rewrite a rational-exponent power as a radical and back, and solve related problems.

Multiplying polynomials

Common factors and trinomial factoring

The official wording · 8 outcomes
AN02
demonstrate an understanding of irrational numbers by representing, identifying, simplifying, and ordering irrational numbers
AN02
simplifying, and ordering irrational numbers. (Focus on simplifying radicals)
AN03
demonstrate an understanding of powers with integral and rational exponents
AN03
powers with integral and rational exponents
AN04
understanding of the multiplication of polynomial expressions (limited to monomials, binomials, and trinomials), concretely, pictorially
AN04
understanding of the multiplication of polynomial expressions (limited to monomials, binomials, and trinomials)
AN05
demonstrate an understanding of common factors and trinomial factoring
AN05
trinomial factoring, concretely, pictorially, and symbolically

Key ideas

  1. An irrational number cannot be written as a fraction of integers; its decimal never terminates or repeats.

  2. Multiplying powers with the same base adds exponents; dividing subtracts them.

  3. An area model splits each binomial along the sides of a rectangle; each cell is a partial product.

  4. The greatest common factor is the largest monomial dividing every term.

  5. Approximating a radical (√7 ≈ 2.6) lets you locate it between whole numbers.

Watch out for

  • Thinking every square root is irrational (√9 = 3 is rational).
  • Multiplying exponents when the operation calls for adding them.
  • Multiplying only the first terms and last terms and skipping the middle products.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 3 · 16 skills

Relations and Functions

Data, graphs, and situations

Relations and functions

Slope

  • Slope as rise over run and rate of change

    I can find a slope from rise over run and read it as a rate of change.

  • Parallel and perpendicular slopes

    I can use slope to test whether lines are parallel or perpendicular.

Representing linear relations

  • Representing linear relations many ways

    I can represent a linear relation as words, a table, a graph, and an equation.

  • Characteristics of a linear graph

    I can find the intercepts, slope, domain, and range of a linear graph.

Forms of linear equations

Determining the equation of a line

  • Equation from a graph or a point and slope

    I can write a line's equation from a graph or from a point and slope.

  • Equation from two points

    I can write a line's equation from two points.

  • Equation from a parallel or perpendicular line

    I can write a line's equation through a point parallel or perpendicular to a given line.

Function notation

  • Representing a linear function with function notation

    I can write and evaluate a linear function in function notation.

Systems of linear equations

The official wording · 16 outcomes
RF01
interpret and explain the relationships among data, graphs, and situations
RF01
interpret and explain the relationships among data, graphs, and situations
RF02
demonstrate an understanding of relations and functions
RF03
demonstrate an understanding of slope with respect to rise and run, line segments and lines, rate of change
RF03
rate of change, parallel lines, and perpendicular lines
RF04
describe and represent linear relations, using words, ordered pairs, tables of values, graphs, and equations
RF05
determine the characteristics of the graphs of linear relations, including the intercepts, slope, domain, and range
RF06
slope-intercept form (y = mx + b)
RF06
general form (Ax + By + C = 0)
RF06
slope-point form (y – y1 ) = m(x – x1 )
RF07
determine the equation of a linear relation to solve problems, given a graph, a point and the slope
RF07
determine the equation of a linear relation to solve problems, given a graph, a point and the slope, two points
RF07
a point and the equation of a parallel or perpendicular line
RF09
represent a linear function, using function notation
RF10
solve problems that involve systems of linear equations in two variables, graphically
RF10
solve problems that involve systems of linear equations in two variables, graphically and algebraically

Key ideas

  1. The shape of a graph encodes the situation — steep means fast change, flat means no change.

  2. A function assigns exactly one output to each input.

  3. Slope = rise over run = change in y over change in x.

  4. A relation is linear when equal steps in x give equal steps in y (constant first differences).

  5. In y = mx + b, m is the slope and b is the y-intercept.

Watch out for

  • Reading a distance-time graph as if the line's slope were the path's slope.
  • Thinking repeated outputs (not inputs) disqualify a function.
  • Computing run over rise instead of rise over run.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 4 · 5 skills

Financial Mathematics

Unit pricing and currency exchange

Gross and net pay

Personal budgets

The official wording · 5 outcomes
FM01
solve problems that involve unit pricing and currency exchange, using proportional reasoning
FM01
currency exchange, using proportional reasoning
FM02
understanding of income to calculate gross pay and net pay, including wages, salary, contracts, commissions, and piecework
FM02
calculate gross pay and net pay
FM03
investigate personal budgets

Key ideas

  1. Unit price is total cost divided by quantity, giving a per-item or per-gram cost.

  2. Gross pay is total earnings before any deductions.

  3. A budget balances income against fixed and variable expenses.

  4. The lowest unit price is the best buy, but quality and quantity may still matter.

  5. Overtime is often paid at time-and-a-half or double time beyond a set number of hours.

Watch out for

  • Comparing total prices instead of unit prices.
  • Paying all hours at the overtime rate instead of only the extra hours.
  • Leaving out irregular or unexpected expenses.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

The mark you need

Your class mark counts for 80% of the final mark, the exam for 20%.

You need

50% on the exam

With 75% in class, your final mark lands between 60% (0 on the exam) and 80% (100% on it).

Which course?

Nova Scotia has 2 math courses for Grade 10. Here they are side by side.

What a university, college or program asks for is theirs to say: check its admission page, and your school’s course guide.

The official curriculum

This page follows Nova Scotia’s own curriculum for Mathematics 10.

Study it in MapleMind

MapleMind teaches Mathematics 10 one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.

Citizenship 9 in the MapleMind app on a tablet: its units, Unit 2 open, and the skills done so far with their starsCitizenship 9 in the MapleMind app on a phone: its units, Unit 2 open, and the skills done so far with their stars
Pictured: Citizenship 9, another Nova Scotia course, partway through Unit 2.

Practise it

Course Companion

Your year in one workbook

A fun way to keep Mathematics 10 organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.

Pages
33
Fillable fields
1,551
Price
$4.99
See the Course Companion

Questions about Mathematics 10

What is Mathematics 10?

Nova Scotia’s Grade 10 math course: 4 units and 38 skills, from Measurement to Financial Mathematics.

What units are in Mathematics 10?

1. Measurement, 2. Algebra and Number, 3. Relations and Functions and 4. Financial Mathematics.

Is there a provincial exam for Mathematics 10?

Yes. The Nova Scotia Exam: Mathematics 10 counts for 20% of the final mark. Next sitting: June 23, 2027.

What comes after Mathematics 10?

Mathematics 11, Pre-Calculus 11 and Mathematics at Work 11.

Can MapleMind help with Mathematics 10?

Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of Mathematics 10, step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.

Get ready for Mathematics 10

Practise every skill of Mathematics 10 in MapleMind, free with daily limits.