It’s holiday time so time to enjoy some more puzzles. There is a series of pages, Puzzles & Games on this blog, available from the top menu.
To highlight just a few of this large collection, Algebra includes the lovely SolveMe mobiles puzzles.
Or for a rather different approach, try Shuttle Mission Workshop from Math Playground, here students build and solve their own visual math puzzles. Play Shuttle Mission Pro first to practise.
Nrich features on many pages including reading; Nrich has many excellent articles on the use of games in the classroom; hence a Reading page.
Math Playground – PEMDAS Exhibit
On Number, Math Playground, PEMDAS Exhibit provides great practice for order of operations. Touch an operation to form that part of the operation.
Following each puzzle, you can find a discussion on the puzzle. Have a look at this puzzle and discussion for example.
In response to this puzzle, you can see various solutions including an Autograph file created by Rob Smith. Rob has this up to change both squares and you can move also move a point on the smaller square.
The collection includes from Cambridge PhD student, Omar Wagih ‘Guess the Correlation‘, a rather addictive game with a purpose – Omar Wagih is collecting the data on the guesses collected and using it to analyse how we perceive correlations in scatter plots. Select About to read the rules and further details.
Underground Maths, this page includes several resources on puzzles and games from Underground Maths
There is so much opportunity for thinking backwards when we teach – a great learning opportunity and also a problem-solving strategy.
I was delighted to present a session at The Joint Conference of Mathematics Subject Associations 2023. We looked at lots of ideas and activities to get our students thinking backwards as well as forwards. The Slides from the session are available at the end of this post. The resources used are listed below.
Questions such as this can make a great starter for a lesson and provide the chance to discuss number operations and the relationships between them. Manipulating numbers like this can also help with algebraic manipulation.
Looking for some more examples of this type, I came across a really useful resource on TES, “If I know this then I also know …”by Piers Butler. This would make an ideal lesson starter. As it is an Excel spreadsheet, I thought it would be simple to add another worksheet with the answers and created the Excel file CY If_I_know_this_then_I_also_know_which is a copy of the original, but just adds another worksheet with the answers.
From AQA comes an outstanding resource, GCSE Mathematics: 90 maths problem solving questions. Strategies discussed include work back familiar and work back unfamiliar. Problems are indexed both by strategy and also by content.
Arithmagons
Transum – Arithmagons
This post on Arithmagons includes the resources discussed and many more.
The resources are hosted by Nottingham University, including all the pdf files very clearly indexed. Note that this site includes the complete set of resources including the software;however, this software no longer works on modern browsers and mobile devices, but see note on my Standards Unit page for HTML5 versions.
Matt Woodfine has been busy with his brilliant Maths White Board site; you can now upload and annotate pdf files which is so useful. I find this works very well indeed; pens work well, and we can also use a protractor and compass.
If you have not used Maths White Board much and want more information, Matt Woodfine advised trying his “2 min Tuesday” videos for ideas on which features you would like to implement first. Main Tutorial video.
Does anyone recall Boris Johnson’s 2004 statement, made during the BBC’s light-hearted news quiz show Have I Got News for You, “I could not fail to disagree with you less.” ? I remember hearing it on the radio whilst driving to school and correctly predicting it would turn up in a D2 logic question on an MEI A Level Further Maths paper!
MEI Decision Maths 2 June 2008
From Cabri, their new Geometry app is available for Windows and OSX, a Primary version is also available. Check the Cabri Express Guide to get started.
I have been adding further resources to GCSE Revision 2023, the latest additions come from BBC Bitesize and from Dave Taylor:
On BBC Bitesize you will find GCSE Maths – exam practice, 5 quizzes of 10 questions each, with fully worked solutions.
Also from Bitesize, try these GCSE maths – quick-fire quizzes, each quiz has 10 quick-fire questions that should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. You can take the quiz again and answer a new set of questions. Answers are all explained.
The new Casio Calculators are appearing, here’s Jack Brown’s first look at the Casio FX-991CW.
And from an absolute favourite Calculator guide author, The Calculator Guide, Inequalities On A Number Line On A Casio fx-83GTCW | fx-85GTCW. I am looking forward to more from the Calculator Guide, keep an eye on these playlists on The Calculator Guide YouTube Channel.
The word problems are available on All About Maths. The booklets have been designed by shadowing past exam questions to help students gain ample practice in answering such questions. Two levels of difficulty are available: basic and multi-step. For students who need a little extra support, note the booklets with ‘starter advice’ which could be useful to provide scaffolding.
AQA’ s all about Maths is a resource site for teachers with numerous excellent resources. The resources are for teachers who offer, or are considering offering AQA maths qualifications; see How to get access to AQA All About Maths and register here.
From NCETM, have a look at these new resources on Algebraic Thinking.
New Algebraic Thinking resources now available! Developed by teachers for teachers. ✔️ PPTs and notes for teaching algebra at KS3 ✔️ Use for collaborative planning and in lessons ✔️ Five different topics to explore Download them now https://t.co/Mtsl5zh1ntpic.twitter.com/qwVihe9dqv
These materials for exploring algebra with KS3 students are all freely available to download from the NCETM website. The 6 resources include PowerPoint slides and very helpful notes for teachers including the rationale behind each topic, useful language for teachers to model, how to address misconceptions, and how the topic might be explored in the context of KS2 to KS3 transition..
NCETM Balance Beam
The notes suggest that this Checkpoint activity could be used to introduce the Balance Beaam resource. A reminder that you can find all the Checkpoint activities on the NCETM webste.
NCETM Checkpoint Activity
From the brilliant Nathan Day Calculate Cleverly, Trigonometry, and Mathematical Quotations :
Inspired by @boss_maths, 'Calculate Cleverly' is making a return to my Year 10 starters!
This worked well and we could have discussed all lesson. I love how some students quickly spotted that some values of b wouldn't give solutions. Some said that some statements were contradictory so if one was true the other wasn't. They didn't like wording for Ash. https://t.co/wg2NvRdihE
Note the latest addition – Ultimate Revision, currently available for Foundation GCSE and Higher. This incredible resource includes a video and accompanying booklet (answers also available) with 400 questions!
Corbett Maths – A Bit of Everything practice papers
On Corbett Maths choose your examination board from GCSE Maths – Summer 2023 and you will also find Revision checklists, a collection of Practice Papers, and A Bit of Everything Papers; the papers with questions provide very comprehensive syllabus coverage! Each paper includes a contents list with the relevant teaching video.
CorbettMaths revision checklistMr Neill
From Mr Neill, a brilliant resource, all Edexcel, AQA and OCR GCSE maths questions categorised by topic with answers from June 2017 to Nov 2021 (9-1), available all on pdf, PowerPoint or Promethean.
On ExamQ from Mr Watts you can quickly search for Edexcel Maths GCSE and A-Level exam questions. You can choose from GCSE Foundation or Higher, AS or A level, you can also select by exam series, paper, area and topic.
The interface is very clear indeed, easily display the questions or mark schemes.
Dr Austin Maths – Revision Grids
From DrAustin Maths under Revision note the new revision grids, further grids will follow.
On Mr Morely Maths you will find a wonderful collection of GCSE resources, including Video tutorials, worksheets to match, exam question packs with mark schemes, starters, full lessons, revision guides, CPD sessions and methods road maps.
Mr Morley Maths Revision Work Books
Note the latest resources – Revision Work Books. These booklets contain at least one past paper question on every topic split into grades 1-3, 4-5 and 6-9. Each has a contents page with QR code links to relevant videos.
I do like these excellent revision guides – notes jotters to accompany the videos.
Mr Morely Maths
From White Rose Maths, GCSE Practice Papers (scroll down) for AQA, Edexcel and OCR. Whilst based on the November and June 2022 advance information these papers and mark schemes for all three boards and also the excellent pre-exam workshops provide very useful revision resources.
White Rose MathsThird Space Learning
From Third Space Learning, papers for AQA and Edexcel have been created for 2023 (OCR to follow).
1st Class Maths
On 1st Class Maths, new practice papers and video solutions are being created for Edexcel and AQA. The publication dates are here.
From GCSE Maths Tutor we have practice papers and worked solutions.
🚨 NEW GCSE Maths Practice Papers for 2023 🚨
🔹 3 Practice Papers 🔹 Higher and Foundation 🔹 Full Video Solutions 🔹 Topic Videos for Each Question 🔹 Completely FREE👏🏼
Bonus paper coming next week for all topics not included! Save the link ✅
On BBC Bitesize you will find GCSE Maths – exam practice, 5 quizzes of 10 questions each, with fully worked solutions.
Also from Bitesize, try these GCSE maths – quick-fire quizzes, each quiz has 10 quick-fire questions that should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. You can take the quiz again and answer a new set of questions. Answers are all explained.
This Custom Starter from Transum, is one I have featured before, it allows teachers to select the number of questions and the topics to include; scroll down the page and choose the topics you want from the Concept Selection. It is possible to save a particular selection of topics as the URL for your selection will be generated. It is also possible to drag the panels so your questions are displayed in the desired order. The beginning of a lesson can be an ideal time to review previous learning.
On the subject of starters – short questions can make ideal revision starters – a reminder of some great resources:
Transum has an extensive library of self-checking exercises, so we could easily provide examples on inequalities for example. On Transum, there are several ways to search for resources, for example, try:
On TES, from SNO, this Excel spreadsheet generates an endless supply of 1 mark questions with the option to display the answers, making an ideal starter. Two versions are available, you can choose 5 or 10 questions to display.
We start every foundation lesson with a booklet of ten 1&2 mark questions, aimed at repetition. Builds up in difficulty in both calc & non-calc topics. 80 pages worth. Seems to help reduce errors at the start of papers. Feel free to take a look. https://t.co/qdPT8P7UDupic.twitter.com/v9U2fwyegM— Mr Kingsley (@KingsleyMaths) February 12, 2021
Edexcel’s Practice Papers include freely available Foundation Tier one mark questions. There are calculator and non-calculator paper questions and mark schemes from June 2017 through to June 2019 (non-calculator) and to November 2019 for the calculator questions.
I do like Wayne Chadburn’s monthly calendars that provide regular, varied practice – a little bit of maths each day. Calendars for the 2022-23 academic year are available here. Note the three versions including crossover questions (these appear on both Foundation and Higher papers so great practice for the more challenging Foundation questions), Foundation, Foundation plus and Higher; answers are provided.
From Jake Gordon, try his Skills grid creator– customise exactly as you want from 90 skills, and answers are included.
Jake Gordon – Skills Grid CreatorJake Gordon – Skills Grid Creator
On Jonathan Hall’s Test Maker on MathsBot we could create a test to test many of these skills. Choose the skills you want from the menu, the number of questions, and the initial and final difficulty of the questions on a scale of 1 to 10, also note the Paired Solutions option to show one example with an answer then one to try. An Answer Key is provided for any test you create.
MathsBot – Test Maker
We could also use the many brilliant GCSE resources from MathsBot.
Maths White Board – Revision Boards
See on Maths White Board: Revision Board – generate a starter based on the Advance Information
Interactive Maths Generators – Dan Rodriguez-Clark
On Interactive Maths Generators from Dan Rodriguez-Clark (@InteractMaths), design your own sets of questions on more than 50 maths topics for your students to practice a variety of skills. There are many customisation options, generally as well as for individual topics. Full instructions are on Dan’s site.
