Earliest recommended Year group: Year 12. From clues given about a geometric progression work out the possible solutions - all common ratios are the same and first terms are five times each other. 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

A series of challenging problem solving questions from Canada. Tricky, but good.

Have a play around with this task, and please share any questions, extensions, simplifications, modifications, or lines of inquiry in the comment box below. The idea is to collect loads of suggestions that can then be used for effective differentiation. The full set of these tasks, along with additional notes, can be found here: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/richtasks.htm

A brilliant Tarsia activity by Gill Hillitt on trigonometric addition formulae. 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 brilliant Tarsia activity by Gill Hillitt on trigonometric identities for Core 3. 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.

Have a play around with this task, and please share any questions, extensions, simplifications, modifications, or lines of inquiry in the comment box below. The idea is to collect loads of suggestions that can then be used for effective differentiation. The full set of these tasks, along with additional notes, can be found here: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/richtasks.htm

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on Averages and Range, including mean, median, mode and range. 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.

Have a play around with this task, and please share any questions, extensions, simplifications, modifications, or lines of inquiry in the comment box below. The idea is to collect loads of suggestions that can then be used for effective differentiation. The full set of these tasks, along with additional notes, can be found here: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/richtasks.htm

Alternative to speed distance graphs. Poerpoint lesson. Test of students' ability to predict and interpret the graphs that would be formed from water dripping into various glasses

This a rich, Arithmagon activity on Multiplication, linking in prime factors. I love Arithmagons as they allow consolidation of key topics when going Forwards, and then opportunities for extension, creativity and discovery when working Backwards. They are also really easy to modify to suit the particular needs of your class. For all the Arithmagon activities in this series, together with teaching notes and extra information, please visit http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/arithmagon.htm

A brilliant Tarsia activity by Gill Hillitt on quadratic inequalities. 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 set of Starter Cards on powerpoint from the wonderful liverpool maths team. The idea is that you print out the cards, laminate them, and use the prompts on the back to engage the pupils in a stimulating discussion.

A set of Starter Cards on powerpoint from the wonderful liverpool maths team. The idea is that you print out the cards, laminate them, and use the prompts on the back to engage the pupils in a stimulating discussion.

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on Probability, including work with fractions. 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.

Teaching the forming and solving of simple linear equations via 'i think of a number'.

A Tarsia activity on the equations of circles. 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.

“Build an Army” is a fun, strategy game that can be used to consolidate understanding of key mathematical concepts. After students have played the game and described their strategy, there are opportunities for differentiation via various lines of inquiry and probing questions for the students to investigate. Full instructions are provided in the “General Rules” PowerPoint. To find more Build an Army activities, just visit: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/buildanarmy.htm

This a rich, Arithmagon activity on Adding Fractions. I love Arithmagons as they allow consolidation of key topics when going Forwards, and then opportunities for extension, creativity and discovery when working Backwards. They are also really easy to modify to suit the particular needs of your class. For all the Arithmagon activities in this series, together with teaching notes and extra information, please visit http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/arithmagon.htm

A Tarsia activity on everything to do with percentages. 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.

A few years ago I wrote a set of notes for pupils and put them on my website. The notes were supposed to be written in a pupil-friendly way, and different to notes students might find in textbooks or elsewhere on the internet. I have converted the notes to PowerPoint slides so you can download them, adapt them if needed, use them in revision lessons or perhaps give your students a set to take home with them to help them prepare for exams. The chances are there will be a few mistakes here and there, so if you spot any please email me & I will correct them. Hope they are of use!