● For teachers
Maths inside a unit of inquiry, without losing the maths
Two things go wrong when maths meets a unit of inquiry. It gets bolted on as a colouring sheet with numbers, or it gets pulled out into a separate lesson and never touches the unit. The fix is to start from the question the unit is really asking and find the maths that question needs.
Ameera Surekha, who built Explorisle at home for one child · 26 September 2026
The two failure modes
Decoration. A unit about markets, and the maths is a worksheet of sums with a picture of a stall on it. The children do the sums; nothing about markets is learned from them.
Separation. The maths lesson runs at ten o'clock and the unit at two. Both are fine. Neither knows the other exists, and the child never sees the maths do a job.
Both come from the same place: the maths was chosen before the question.
A five-step method
- Start from the strand outcome, not the unit. Which strand and phase is this class working in right now? Write the outcome in one line.
- Find the unit's real question that needs that maths. A markets unit needs to know what sells; that is data handling. A migration unit needs to know how far; that is measurement. If no question in the unit needs the maths, do not force it: keep the maths stand-alone this week.
- Choose the data the children will actually collect. A survey of the class, a count at the school gate, a measurement taken in the playground. Real data, gathered by them, is what makes the maths a tool instead of a task.
- Keep facts practice separate. Tables, bonds and place value need short, spaced, frequent practice. That does not belong inside the unit and does not need to. Five minutes a day on the island covers it.
- Close with a decision that uses the maths. What should the stall sell? Which route is shortest? Is the tank shared fairly? The child decides, gives a reason, and the reason is the evidence.
A worked example: a markets unit
| Unit question | The maths | Strand, phase | What the children make |
|---|---|---|---|
| What should our stall sell? | Ask the class, tally, bar chart, read it back | Data handling, phase 2 to 3 | A chart and one sentence: we should sell X because… |
| How much stock do we need? | Count in groups, multiply, check with an array | Number, phase 2 to 3 | A stock list |
| When are we open? | Read a timetable, work out durations | Measurement (time), phase 2 to 3 | The opening times on a card |
| What price? | Compare a low price that sells out fast with a high price that sells slowly; there is no single right answer | Number, with a decision | A price and a reason |
How the six theme islands do this
Explorisle has six theme islands, one for each transdisciplinary theme, and each carries a unit of inquiry. A unit is a set of stations. Each station borrows its questions from the maths island at the child's own level: the market stall's survey uses the same chart questions as Graph Harbour, the migration route uses the same map questions as Map Ridge. So the maths is real, levelled, and inside the unit at the same time.
One station on every island is a decision with options and no wrong answer. The child picks and gives a reason. The set of stations earns an exhibit for the child's own plot: a well, a stall, a suitcase, a mural, a bench, a machine.
On the island, tap For teachers on the first screen, make a class (you get a six-character code and a teacher key), set the level for the class, and pick this unit as the class goal. Children join with the code and a seat number; no name, no email. The evidence sheet in the class view prints the central idea, the lines of inquiry, the concepts, what each station practised, and every seat's findings and reasons, ready to paste into your planner.
What it will not do for you
It will not write your planner, choose your central idea or replace the conversation in the classroom. The island's units are written for the island and are not sample units from anyone's programme of inquiry. Where your unit and the island's unit overlap, use the island's stations as the maths inside yours; where they do not, the maths island still carries the facts practice on its own.
On the island
Not on the island yet: a planner that writes the unit sections for you. That is on the list, after the class test.
Read next
Explorisle is an independent product of A Surekha (the registered business of Ameera Surekha). It is not endorsed by, affiliated with or licensed by the International Baccalaureate Organization. IB, PYP and International Baccalaureate are registered trademarks of the IBO.