Skip to main content

View related sites

  • Thought leadership
  • Media
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ
  • Events
  • Contact us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Cambridge Mathematics

  • About us
  • The Cambridge Mathematics Framework
  • Our services
  • For teachers and practitioners
  • Blogs
  • Research
  • Thought leadership
  • Media
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ
  • Contact us

Proportional reasoning

  • Cambridge Mathematics
  • Mathematical Salad
  • Proportional reasoning
  • Blogs
  • Teaching maths
  • Considering the research
  • Interviews and intersections
  • Mining for maths
  • Events and take-aways
  • Policy and big ideas

Proportional reasoning

by Dominika Majewska & Ben Stevens, 17 April 2020
An architects drawing of a house

Recently the CM Define It app featured the word “proportion.” When you think of the term “proportion,” what springs to mind? What other mathematical words do you immediately connect with it?

We’ve used the CM Framework to generate the following visualisation to help with this question:

Figure 1. All glossary entries in the CM Framework which are connected to the word “proportion”

A word is connected to the word “proportion” if both of them occur as glossary links in the text of the same waypoint (piece of mathematical content). For each word, the number of waypoints where this happens is used to determine the strength of its connection to the word “proportion.”

Does this match the words you thought about? Are there any surprises? Is anything missing? Send us your thoughts on Twitter @CambridgeMaths.

As an additional challenge, can you imagine how each word might be connected to “proportion”? For example, “approximation” is connected via two waypoints, one being Looking for pi. This waypoint talks about establishing that the circumference and diameter of a circle are in proportion and suggests actions to find approximations for the ratio. The Framework provides many ways to explore such connections; for example, by finding waypoints connected by glossary entries, or following explicit “use of” and “development of” links between waypoints.

Please sign up for or continue to use the CM Define It app, which will help us understand what you and others would like to see in mathematical definitions.

Useful links

  • Home
  • About us
  • The Cambridge Mathematics Framework
  • Services
  • For teachers & practitioners
  • Blogs
  • Research
  • Thought leadership
  • Media
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ
  • Contact us

About Cambridge Mathematics

Cambridge Mathematics is committed to championing and securing a world class mathematics education for all students from 3 – 19 years old, applicable to both national and international contexts and based on evidence from research and practice.

  • Cambridge Mathematics

View Related Sites

  • University of Cambridge
  • Cambridge University Press & Assessment
  • Faculty of Mathematics
  • Faculty of Education

© Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2025

  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility and Standards
  • Data Protection
  • Use of Cookies
  • Statement on Modern Slavery
  • Terms and Conditions
Back to top
We use cookies. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies