A Tarsia activity on simplifying expressions. 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.

The 37th in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. This week we take a look at one of the excellent Autograph Extras pages. The Dice Simulation page is fantastic for allowing your students to explore the concepts of experimental probability, sample sizes and distributions. Below the video you will find an option to download it and play it on a larger screen, or by clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

The 17th in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. This week we take a look at how to construct Circle Theorems using Autograph, beginning with the Angle at the Centre Theorem. We also see how understanding this theorem leads us to another theorem for free! Autograph's dynamic nature makes it perfectly suited to demonstrating circle theorems to your students. Below the video you will find an option to download it and play it on a larger screen, or by clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

The ninthvideo in Mr Barton's Autograph tutorial series. This time we look at the basics of measuring angles in Autograph. Below the video you will find an option to download it and play it on a larger screen, or by clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

A free online Autograph Player activity that allows students to use Autograph's gradient function to discover one of the most important numbers in mathematics - Euler&'s number (e). You can use this activity on the interactive whiteboard, or for your students to investigate on their own. Autograph does not need to be installed to use this activity (so your students can even use it at home), but you will need to install the free Autograph Player add-on (instructions given after clicking the link). For a full list of Autograph Activities, please click on the other web-link.

A free online Autograph Player activity that challenges students to predict the number of distinct planes of symmetry of this cuboid. Can they then discover the equations of these planes? You can use this activity on the interactive whiteboard, or for your students to investigate on their own. Autograph does not need to be installed to use this activity (so your students can even use it at home), but you will need to install the free Autograph Player add-on (instructions given after clicking the link). For a full list of Autograph Activities, please click on the other web-link.

A free online Autograph Player activity that challenges students to investigate a very interesting property of quadratic curves. Can your students prove this? You can use this activity on the interactive whiteboard, or for your students to investigate on their own. Autograph does not need to be installed to use this activity (so your students can even use it at home), but you will need to install the free Autograph Player add-on (instructions given after clicking the link). For a full list of Autograph Activities, please click on the other web-link.

A Tarsia jigsaw activity with a difference, kindly shared by Gill Hillitt. Unlike traditional Tarsia activities, this one is accompanied by a sheet of additional information containing a variety of data sets presented in different ways. Students must interpret the data and statistical diagrams (including histogram and cumulative frequency), and use their answers to complete the jigsaw. This is a nice way of revising the key data handling components of GCSE. For more information about Tarsia, click on the web link.

A free online Autograph Player activity that allows students to discover the rules for finding the gradient function of quadratic equations. You can use this activity on the interactive whiteboard, or for your students to investigate on their own. Autograph does not need to be installed to use this activity (so your students can even use it at home), but you will need to install the free Autograph Player add-on (instructions given after clicking the link). For a full list of Autograph Activities, please click on the other web-link.

A brilliant Tarsia activity by Gill Hillitt on revision for trigonometry and sequences. 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 feedback for Gill, please share them below.

A special edition of Mr Barton’s Gapminder World Video series. This is a video that I created especially for Oxfam’s water week, and it looks at the different levels of access to water for counties all over the world. Below the video you will find an option to download it and play it on a larger screen, or by clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series

The 20th in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. In a special edition of Mr Barton's Autograph Videos we look at the use of Autograph's very impressive Animation function and how you might use it in the context of angles, points and transformations. Below the video you will find an option to download it and play it on a larger screen, or by clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on solving quadratic equations including factorising. 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 completing the square in quadratic expressions. 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.

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 7. Based on the nRich task. Using their own numbers (following a rule) the pupils form fractions and carry out operations on them. All answers are the same. This is from the “Something in Common” collection of resources by John Burke. They allow consolidation of key skills, prevent students from copying each other (as all the questions are different), make marking and assessing easy for the teacher (as all the answers are the same!), and provide a lovely extra challenge for students as they try to figure out exactly what is going on! To access the full collection, and read John’s background notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/common.htm

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 10. Discovery of two circle theorems. Pupils mark out angles on a chord and cut them out and compare. This is from the “Something in Common” collection of resources by John Burke. They allow consolidation of key skills, prevent students from copying each other (as all the questions are different), make marking and assessing easy for the teacher (as all the answers are the same!), and provide a lovely extra challenge for students as they try to figure out exactly what is going on! To access the full collection, and read John’s background notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/common.htm

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 9. Based on RISP 9 from Jonny Griffiths. Pupils choose certain values and draw their own circle. All circles go through the origin. This is from the “Something in Common” collection of resources by John Burke. They allow consolidation of key skills, prevent students from copying each other (as all the questions are different), make marking and assessing easy for the teacher (as all the answers are the same!), and provide a lovely extra challenge for students as they try to figure out exactly what is going on! To access the full collection, and read John’s background notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/common.htm

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 9. Work out the area of two triangles given the area of two others which all fit in a trapezium. Each problem is different but all the answers are the same. This is from the “Something in Common” collection of resources by John Burke. They allow consolidation of key skills, prevent students from copying each other (as all the questions are different), make marking and assessing easy for the teacher (as all the answers are the same!), and provide a lovely extra challenge for students as they try to figure out exactly what is going on! To access the full collection, and read John’s background notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/common.htm

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 11. Four crescents are drawn around a rectangle. All rectangles are different and the area of the crescents is equal to the rectangle. Surd (area = 1) and non-surd (area = 900) versions available. This is from the “Something in Common” collection of resources by John Burke. They allow consolidation of key skills, prevent students from copying each other (as all the questions are different), make marking and assessing easy for the teacher (as all the answers are the same!), and provide a lovely extra challenge for students as they try to figure out exactly what is going on! To access the full collection, and read John’s background notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/common.htm

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 12. Pupils need to find out where a parabola and a hyperbola just touch This is from the “Something in Common” collection of resources by John Burke. They allow consolidation of key skills, prevent students from copying each other (as all the questions are different), make marking and assessing easy for the teacher (as all the answers are the same!), and provide a lovely extra challenge for students as they try to figure out exactly what is going on! To access the full collection, and read John’s background notes, please visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/common.htm