Self-marking Binary Addition Spreadsheet Activity

An Excel spreadsheet containing three worksheets covering binary addition.
The first worksheet takes students through basic binary addition including how to carry from one column to the next. Students are shown worked examples and provided with four questions to answer. They must include their carries and are given feedback on their answers. When they have answered all questions correctly on the worksheet, the tab will turn green. This allows teachers to see progress easily and where students have moved on before getting 100% success. It also encourages students to persevere and compete with neighbours to ‘go green’ first.

Tab two provides more advanced binary addition examples that include overflow errors. Students then work through four questions independently and receive feedback on their answers. Tab turns green when completed successfully.

Tab three provides an extension task where students are asked to create their own binary addition sums. They can then complete the answers themselves or can swap seats with a neighbour to complete each other’s sums.

The spreadsheet uses macros which must be enabled in order to activate the feedback and tab colouring on completion of tasks.

Used successfully with GCSE Computer Science students and with Level 3 IT Year 12 students.

Works well with my other number representation activity spreadsheets as a revision aid or as a task to be included in a lesson on binary addition.

Also available – Binary conversion and Hexadecimal conversion spreadsheet activities.

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