Earliest recommended Year group: Year 13. Given the 3D coordinates of four points what is the volume of the tetrahedron that is formed by joining them with line segments? This brings together just about everything they need to know about vectors and so is a good revision task. Using the triple product to solve it takes some of the fun out (hence suitable up to C4). Of course, the volumes are all the same.... but why? 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

An Autograph Player activity where students investigate reflections by playing golf. 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.

An Autograph Player activity to investigate the transformation of functions in the form f(x + c) + d. 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.

An Autograph Player activity where students can investigate why it is possible to draw a circle through any three points. 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.

An Autograph Player activity where students use their knowledge of straight line graphs to sink some co-ordinate battleships. 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.

An Autograph Player activity by Simon Woodhead where students investigate how to model a vase in 3D. 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.

Here is a quick idea for an activity that should help your learners practise identifying the equation of a line from the points that lie on it. A line is constructed, and a point attached to it, but the line is then hidden! Can your students figure out the equation of the line by moving the point up and down? Can they work out the gradient? You about the y-intercept? Fire up the turtle and test out their answer!

The 67th in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. The final part of the Autograph Puzzle Trilogy! This week we take a look at the “Pizza Problem” – what is the maximum number of pieces you can cut a pizza up into making straight line slices? This is something I have always investigated using good old-fashioned pencils and rulers, but Autograph just adds that extra dimension, allowing students to move the cuts around without the need for lots of rubbings out. Can you and your students spot the pattern? Can you explain why? Click on the link to see all my Autograph videos

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

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 11. Work out the area of a triangle with an inscribed circle. Answers are all different but easily calculated from the given parameters. 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

An Autograph Player activity to investigate the transformation of functions in the form f(bx). 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.

An Autograph Player activity to investigate the transformation of functions in the form af(bx + c) + d. 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.

An Autograph Player designed to show why a rectangle only has 2 lines of symmetry (and not 4!). 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.

An Autograph Player activity to help students to estimate the sizes of angles. 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.

An Autograph Player activity to investigate different types of transformations. 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.

An Autograph Player activity to investigate the transformation of functions in the form af(x). 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.

The 61st in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. I was surprised that one of my Year 13 students wasn’t aware of the lovely fact that you can draw a circle through any 3 points, so long as those 3 points do not lie on a straight line. After an example with compasses and a ruler failed to convince him, I turned to Autograph, and this is the result! Clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

An Autograph Player activity to practise sketching quadratic graphs. 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.

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 13. You have to run from tree A to tree B whilst touching a fence. Where should you touch the fence to minimise the distance you have to run? 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

An Autograph Player activity for students to attempt to make angles of various sizes. 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.