This was inspired by a task from Don Steward: https://donsteward.blogspot.com/2014/12/algebraic-product-puzzles.html I wanted some similar puzzles on Quadratics that were more accessible to weaker students, without any negative terms, so that’s what I created! Students have to fill in each blank cell with a bracket so that every row and column multiplies to make the quadratic expression at the end. Of course this could be done by random trial and error, but it makes much more sense to factorise the Quadratics! An example is given on the sheet to help students understand how the puzzles work. Answers are provided.

Inside each shape are the instructions for the enlargement - the letter is the centre of enlargement, and the fraction is the scale factor. Unfortunately the letters which show the location of the centre of enlargement are quite small - sorry! Once all enlargements have been successfully completed, they should join together to create a short message. Solution included!

A division worksheet I made to help my Year 7s practise giving their answers as decimals, instead of just writing the remainder. Full solutions provided, and I’ve also provided the PowerPoint file I used to create this in case you want to make any edits. I designed this to be similar to the “Settler” worksheets you may have seen on Mathsbox, which I use a lot! Students complete each question, then cross their answer off in the Answer Grid (if they can’t find their answer, they’ve made a mistake!). Once all 20 questions have been completed, there will be 5 numbers in the Answer Grid that haven’t been crossed off. Add these 5 numbers up to get the final answer.

This was designed for my Year 11 Foundation class. It is a second lesson after students have already had an introduction to solving quadratic equations by factorising, All quadratics in this lesson can be solved by factorising - they just must be re-arranged to give a quadratic equal to 0. There are 3 examples to go through - one which is a recap of previous work, and 2 quadratics that need to be re-arranged. There are 20 fluency questions for students to work through. The bronze questions at the top only have positive terms in the quadratic, while the gold questions underneath introduce some negatives. There are 2 problem solving questions at the end as an extension, or to finish off the lesson. These are both based on past exam questions.

This is similar to a resource already on TES that I really like (https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/gcse-maths-sequences-search-worksheet-6158880) but I wanted an activity that required more substitution into nth terms rather than pattern-spotting, so this is what I came up with. Students have to find the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 10th, 50th and 100th terms of sequences using the given nth terms. They cross off all of their answers in the grid above. For ease of marking, there will be 10 numbers left over in the grid after the activity is completed. Students should add these together, and if they’ve made no mistakes, they’ll get a total of 1000. Full solutions are still provided however!

This Powerpoint covers the 5 Sampling Techniques covered in Chapter 1 of the Applied Textbook for Edexcel Year 12 / AS Maths, namely: Simple Random Sampling Systematic Sampling Stratified Sampling Quota Sampling Opportunity Sampling To try and make the content a little bit more interesting, I introduce these techniques using Skittles (eating them is a nice treat at the end of the lesson!).

In each block of the maze, students are given a value and a percentage they should increase it by. An answer is given (the large number in each block). Students try to find a way through the maze, left to right, that only goes through correct answers (moving diagonally is not allowed!). Solutions provided.

An activity that I designed to make ordering fractions a bit more challenging for the more able in my group. Pupils are given 4 algebraic fractions, and must order them by size for particular values of the unknown. Solutions are provided.

A simple game to give students some practice of algebraic substitution. Due to the competitive element and using dice, I find that students quite enjoy it! Students roll a die - the number rolled is their x value. They substitute their x value into one of the expressions on the grid - the answer is the number of points they score this round. Play then passes to the next student who repeats the process (although they can’t pick any algebraic expressions that have already been chosen).

A simple worksheet on Dividing Mixed Numbers - nothing fancy. 12 questions for students to complete. Once students have completed a question, they cross off the answer at the bottom of the page - if they can’t find their answer, they’ve made a mistake somewhere. There are 15 answers, so 3 won’t be used.

A basic worksheet to ensure students are comfortable with the > and < symbols. Students are given 2 calculations to do, and must use the appropriate symbol to show which calculation gives the greater answer. The calculations involve integers at first, but move onto decimal calculations later. Solutions are provided.

A Treasure Hunt based on finding the input value in a function machine when given the output. Print out the cards and stick them around the classroom. Students pick their own starting point, answer the question, and look for their answer at the top of a different card. This tells them which question to do next, and then they repeat the process. They should end up back at their starting point if they get all the questions correct. Solution provided.

A treasure hunt based on ratio questions like: Hugh and Kristian share some money in the ratio 9:7. Hugh gets £10 more than Kristian. How much does each person get? Students pick their own starting point, answer the question, and look for their answer at the top of another card. This tells them which question to answer next, and then they repeat the process. They should end up back at their starting point if they get all 20 questions correct. Solution provided.

A way to make solving equations a bit more interesting! Students have to pick 2 of the algebraic expressions and set them equal to each other. They then solve the equation they’ve created, and hope the answer is one of the targets on the right hand side of the page. If not, they create another equation! When I use this in my lessons, I say the first person to create an equation with a target answer gets to “claim” that answer and gets their name on the board. I find the students are really motivated by this, and do a lot more practice than they usually would! Possible solutions are provided.

A basic worksheet to ensure students are comfortable with the equal to and not equal to symbols. They have to check my answers to various calculations and put the appropriate symbol in the gap. Starts with calculating with integers, then addition/subtraction of decimals, then adding fractions, and finally multiplying/dividing decimals. Solutions provided.

This worksheet (with 15 questions) guides students through the process of finding the equation of a tangent to a circle. I used this with a class of grade 5/6 Higher students, who I thought would probably struggle with the topic without any support. I’ve tried to make the worksheet gradually harder as students work their way through the questions - e.g. the y-intercept is mostly an integer, except for the final few questions. Full solutions are provided.

My attempt at making practice of multiplying and dividing negative numbers a little more interesting! Students are given completed multiplication grids - but the numbers around the outside (which can be negative or positive) are missing. Students have to work out where the numbers should go to give the completed grid. Solutions are provided.

A Tarsia puzzle that covers “simple” Trig. Equations such as 4 sin x = 1. A few of the equations require knowledge of the identity tan x = sin x / cos x. Students solve the equations and match them up to the answers on another piece. When completed, all the pieces join up to make a hexagon. As space on the puzzle pieces was limited, I’ve used a code to tell students the range in which they are looking for solutions. For example, if an equation is followed by (A), they are looking for all solutions between 0 and 360 degrees. You will need to display the code on the board whilst students complete the puzzle. I wasn’t able to upload the Tarsia file, just a pdf copy of the puzzle pieces, so you won’t be able to edit the task, sorry.

A Treasure Hunt on converting decimals to fractions ( which should be in simplest form). Print out the questions and place around the room. Students decide which card they want to start on. Students answer the question by converting the decimal to a fraction, and look for their answer at the top of a different card - this tells them which question to answer next. They then repeat the process, and if they’re correct, they should end up back at their starting point after 20 questions. Solution is provided.

A simple worksheet on Multiplying Mixed Numbers - nothing fancy. 12 questions for students to complete. Once students have completed a question, they cross off the answer at the bottom of the page - if they can’t find their answer, they’ve made a mistake somewhere. There are 15 answers, so 3 won’t be used.