Conway's Game of Life

This comprehensive pack contains resources to introduce students to Conway’s Game of Life. Watch configurations of dots die, survive and give birth. This recreational mathematics topic has fascinated thousands of people since its discovery in 1970.
The pack contains four worksheets with student activity Challenges, a 5-page Teacher’s Guide with answers to all the Challenges and an accompanying suite of 4 Grid Templates. It is suitable for students of all ages and ranges of ability.
The Guide also gives advice as to suitable classroom approaches, further extension work and reference to videos and software.
Worksheet 1 introduces the idea of Neighbours, Worksheet 2 focusses on death from loneliness and overcrowding. Worksheet 3 tackles the birth of dots. Then Worksheet 4 brings all the rules together and the activities focus on finding the next generation for various configurations. Still Life patterns are also explored.
The emphasis throughout is on activity, exploration and extension work. Much of the activity is suitable for group work.
Reference is made to suitable motivational videos and to an excellent free open-source software package (Golly) for further exploration.