A few years ago I wrote a set of notes for pupils and put them on my website. The notes were supposed to be written in a pupil-friendly way, and different to notes students might find in textbooks or elsewhere on the internet. I have converted the notes to PowerPoint slides so you can download them, adapt them if needed, use them in revision lessons or perhaps give your students a set to take home with them to help them prepare for exams. The chances are there will be a few mistakes here and there, so if you spot any please email me & I will correct them. Hope they are of use!

A great tutorial explaining how to use autograph to investigate straight line graphs. It is very clear and has lots of ideas as to how to use this software in class. The 25th in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. Here we look at two different approaches to investigating the equations of straight lines on Autograph, both of which make good use of Autograph's excellent dynamic textboxes, and one which uses the Constant Controller.

This a rich, Arithmagon activity on Division, linking in fractions. I love Arithmagons as they allow consolidation of key topics when going Forwards, and then opportunities for extension, creativity and discovery when working Backwards. They are also really easy to modify to suit the particular needs of your class. For all the Arithmagon activities in this series, together with teaching notes and extra information, please visit http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/arithmagon.htm

“Build an Army” is a fun, strategy game that can be used to consolidate understanding of key mathematical concepts. After students have played the game and described their strategy, there are opportunities for differentiation via various lines of inquiry and probing questions for the students to investigate. Full instructions are provided in the “General Rules” PowerPoint. To find more Build an Army activities, just visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/buildanarmy.htm

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on Properties of Quadrilaterals. To access all the Venn Diagram activities in this collection, as well as teaching notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/venn.htm Here is why I love Venn Diagram activities so much: 1) Students can always make a start. If they can think of a number/expression/object or whatever it might be, it has to go in one of the regions on the diagram, so they are up and running 2) The more regions student find, the more challenging the task gets, which adds a nice element of differentiation 3) They are incredibly versatile, and can be used for almost all maths topics for all ages and abilities 4) They are easy to tweak by simply changing one of the circle labels if you find they are too difficult/easy 5) Students can create their own as an extension task I hope you and your students enjoy them.

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on operations with negative numbers. To access all the Venn Diagram activities in this collection, as well as teaching notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/venn.htm Here is why I love Venn Diagram activities so much: 1) Students can always make a start. If they can think of a number/expression/object or whatever it might be, it has to go in one of the regions on the diagram, so they are up and running 2) The more regions student find, the more challenging the task gets, which adds a nice element of differentiation 3) They are incredibly versatile, and can be used for almost all maths topics for all ages and abilities 4) They are easy to tweak by simply changing one of the circle labels if you find they are too difficult/easy 5) Students can create their own as an extension task I hope you and your students enjoy them.

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on inequality notation, regions & solving inequalities. To access all the Venn Diagram activities in this collection, as well as teaching notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/venn.htm Here is why I love Venn Diagram activities so much: 1) Students can always make a start. If they can think of a number/expression/object or whatever it might be, it has to go in one of the regions on the diagram, so they are up and running 2) The more regions student find, the more challenging the task gets, which adds a nice element of differentiation 3) They are incredibly versatile, and can be used for almost all maths topics for all ages and abilities 4) They are easy to tweak by simply changing one of the circle labels if you find they are too difficult/easy 5) Students can create their own as an extension task I hope you and your students enjoy them.

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on co-ordinates in all quadrants. To access all the Venn Diagram activities in this collection, as well as teaching notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/venn.htm Here is why I love Venn Diagram activities so much: 1) Students can always make a start. If they can think of a number/expression/object or whatever it might be, it has to go in one of the regions on the diagram, so they are up and running 2) The more regions student find, the more challenging the task gets, which adds a nice element of differentiation 3) They are incredibly versatile, and can be used for almost all maths topics for all ages and abilities 4) They are easy to tweak by simply changing one of the circle labels if you find they are too difficult/easy 5) Students can create their own as an extension task I hope you and your students enjoy them.

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on Transformation of Functions, including f(x). To access all the Venn Diagram activities in this collection, as well as teaching notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/venn.htm Here is why I love Venn Diagram activities so much: 1) Students can always make a start. If they can think of a number/expression/object or whatever it might be, it has to go in one of the regions on the diagram, so they are up and running 2) The more regions student find, the more challenging the task gets, which adds a nice element of differentiation 3) They are incredibly versatile, and can be used for almost all maths topics for all ages and abilities 4) They are easy to tweak by simply changing one of the circle labels if you find they are too difficult/easy 5) Students can create their own as an extension task I hope you and your students enjoy them.

Have a play around with this task, and please share any questions, extensions, simplifications, modifications, or lines of inquiry in the comment box below. The idea is to collect loads of suggestions that can then be used for effective differentiation. The full set of these tasks, along with additional notes, can be found here: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/richtasks.htm

Have a play around with this task, and please share any questions, extensions, simplifications, modifications, or lines of inquiry in the comment box below. The idea is to collect loads of suggestions that can then be used for effective differentiation. The full set of these tasks, along with additional notes, can be found here: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/richtasks.htm

Have a play around with this task, and please share any questions, extensions, simplifications, modifications, or lines of inquiry in the comment box below. The idea is to collect loads of suggestions that can then be used for effective differentiation. The full set of these tasks, along with additional notes, can be found here: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/richtasks.htm

Have a play around with this task, and please share any questions, extensions, simplifications, modifications, or lines of inquiry in the comment box below. The idea is to collect loads of suggestions that can then be used for effective differentiation. The full set of these tasks, along with additional notes, can be found here: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/richtasks.htm

A Tarsia activity on completing the square. These type of activities can be used to consolidate understanding of a given topic, and foster positive group work and co-operative learning. For more ideas on how to use these types of activities (including twists!) and to download the latest version of the wonderful free software to open this resource (and create your own), just click on the web-link. If you have any comments, or spot any (non deliberate!) mistakes, please share them below. Many thanks to all the teachers who have helped me assemble these Tarsias over the years.

An idea for a starter activities to engage pupils. It contains possible extension activities.

Manipulate constants to observe the effect on all types of functions. Use the tabs at the bottom of the worksheet to move between functions.

A Tarsia activity by Alan Catley. A great way of introducing the Factor Theorem but it took a long time to ensure that this is a unique solution! i.e. (x-1) is only a factor of one of the given functions etc. A wonderful group activity used in conjunction with a paused slow plot of y = 2x³ + x² – 4x – 3 on Autograph (at approx x = -2) where does this graph cut the x-axis? etc. The group will have to share the work out which means they discuss and share each other’s answers but the more they do the easier the puzzle gets. The ‘Start’ is a trivial one deliberately!

A presentation introducing the chinese postman algorithm. Powerpoint on route inspection problems.

A domino activity matching up straight lines to co-ordinates that lie on them.

An interactive activity that tests students' ability to work out the surface area and volume of a cuboid, triangular prism and a cylinder. The lengths are to be chosen and entered. Can be used on the interactive whiteboard or printed out as worksheets. Suitable for KS3 and KS4 students.