Maths Warm-Ups: 20 No-Calculator Starters

20 ready-to-project maths starters for the first five minutes of class. Each no-calculator puzzle has one small twist, so the obvious answer is usually wrong. Worked solutions included.

Start every lesson with five minutes of real thinking. Each puzzle sits on its own slide, ready to put straight on the board. It’s quick to read, solvable in a couple of minutes, and has one small twist that catches students who rush. That’s what gets them talking, arguing and explaining how they know.

What’s included

• 20 puzzle slides (16:9, ready to project)
• A printable student answer sheet (A4)
• Answers with full worked solutions for every puzzle
• A how-to-use page and a topic list, so you can match a puzzle to what you’re teaching

Topics covered

Fractions, angles (triangles, quadrilaterals, parallel lines, angles on a line), order of operations, algebra, percentages, mental maths, counting, sequences, negative numbers, ratio, area, powers, mean, speed and logic.

How to use it

Step 1: Put a puzzle on the board as students come in.
Step 2: No calculators. Give them 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 3: Ask for answers, and ask how they know.
Step 4: Reveal the worked solution.

Every answer has been checked, and every diagram is drawn accurately, so the angles you see are the angles you’re told.

Suits KS3 (England and Wales), S1 to S3 (Scotland) and Junior Cycle (Ireland), ages 11 to 15.

Made by Rough Work Games. More puzzles every day at @roughworkgames.