A set of three colourful questions to encourage pupils to understand: (i) why angle-naming conventions exist and (ii) how to apply them.

Copyright-free cartoon animal images. Source: http://inkscapetutorials.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/cute-cartoon-animals-set-free-vectors/

At present it is a bit of a bind converting from Pearson “steps” from Pearson’s Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 (GCSE) unit and termly tests to GCSE grades. This spreadsheet simply undertakes the mapping and provides a -/on/+ range within each grade. If anyone from Pearson is unhappy with this being placed on this website, please do contact me so we can discuss our comparable levels of time and effort and a just and equitable solution for busy teachers using the Pearson tests but needing to record and share GCSE-level marks for pupils, parents and internal and external reporting. NOW UPDATED FOR PEARSON’S NEW KS4 UNIT TESTS (July-September 2018)

Match the instructions from the bottle of orange squash to the glass or jug of orange squash: beginner, learner and expert levels.

James Bond Skyfall 007 Transformations Revision Starter Plenary Main Activity

From days at Primary; animated & adjusted to work for -ve powers of 10 as well as +ve. Kibel [pp34-40 Miles T.R., Miles E. (2004)Dyslexia é mathematics] has +ve story to tell about Dienes blocks. Worth remembering that their use can be scaled up é down. Hence BETTER version will be made by someone with time é 3D ICT kit. It’ll ZOOM in é out to enable pupils to view (é correctly name - for US é Brit purposes!) numbers as big as a Googol é as small as... It'll use techniques like those in these slides; but combined with ZOOMING as seen in this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Tym_6YLUI

How much will your pupils pay *you* to switch over to a Red Nose Day-themed revision sheet/lesson? Charge them what you can and pay it through to Comic Relief! :-)

Builds on Ryan Brewer's set. Adds a few more complex solids, a clear 'top trump'(!) and an extra category: 'Platonic?'. Aimed at opening GM15 from new KS3 syllabus (or at revising / AfL during it!): 'use the properties of faces, surfaces, edges and vertices of cubes, cuboids, prisms, cylinders, pyramids, cones and spheres to solve problems in 3-D'. Assume Top Trumps logo OK to upload since Ryan Brewer has (and since others have used various images from cartoons etc). Presumably it acts as (in)direct advertising for their brand [for which, arguably, maths teachers/TES should be remunerated]!

AfL tool to assess topics requiring teacher's input when starting unit on charts and graphs. Aligned with new GCSE mathematics curriculum. Can also be used as mid unit or end of unit test.

Takes a bit of effort to imagine when simultaneous equations may come in handy. Partly inspired by the new fashion of publishing the tax returns of persons in "positions in influence" (with a view to identifying enemy agents: with "foreign" income sources), these questions will hopefully awaken pupils' interest in simultaneous equations and how/when/why they might (just might!) become useful in "real life"... [now with, step-by-step, solutions]

double binary power index country dancing growth cell division mitosis doubling

A gentle starter for those beginning to grasp proportionality. It enables extension by encouraging pupils to design their own questions (with answers). Proportionality is visualised using a familiar item (macaroni) that they may see at home. Recognising that such a familiar item may be used in this way may lead to experimentation beyond the classroom.

The brief: "Probability: using diagrams for combined event including Venn diagrams and two way tables". Accordingly, this was possibly created in reaction to a "typo" in a challenge that was set; possibly created in reaction to an ongoing clash between the jargon of mathematics and Crystal-mark plain English; possibly not. This resource looks (constructively and positively!) at how one could find an event (singular) which features combined probabilities (think combined=compatible and hence of withdrawing, say, Queen of Diamonds from a pack of cards). This resource then moves into more traditional territory: combined independent events (plural!): each event with its own set of distinct mutually-exclusive outcomes. The resource encourages pupils to think about how to arrange data from these events and it can be used to lead them towards either (somewhat complex / technically flawed?) Venn diagrams or (more traditional and clear!) two-way tables [albeit a "sample space" would be preferable to both] as a means to clarify and present the raw data for speedy analysis. The language and symbols of set theory are used in places and may need decoding for pupils. The absence of a true sample space may render these slides "unsatisfying" for mathematicians likely to progress to the highest grades and on to A-Level; however, the faith was kept with the brief; next time... ;-)

Brief intro slides with a little annotated animation. Give them a try. They may provide a pleasant surprise.

Multiplying Powers of ten

The people running Bedford bridges mini-marathon in England, UK want to extend the number of bridges it crosses. Bedford, England has a great many bridges. Can you find a route that crosses each bridge only once?

A series of sets of four to connect. They relate to the Christmas holiday period. There is a bonus at the end.

See title!

A 4 question refresher (covering a few options / decisions re. estimating & rounding), with worked solutions. Useful for mini-plenary, plenary or starter. Designed to open pupils’ minds to variety of estimation/rounding methods required in different circumstances.

With many thanks to Don Steward for inspiration on Saturday 16 March 2019 at ATM London, IoE, UCL, London. Cross links to ratio, sequences and gradient. Square dotty paper is set as back ground for slides; so you can build your own or print and ask your pupils to create their own. I’m certain you have access to more than enough questions on adding fractions. This merely provides pupils with a different means to answer them; visually/geometrically.