Daniel Rodriguez-Clark kindly shared this Differentiation/Calculus rich activity using my Build an Army format. “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

A Tarsia activity on 4 Operations. 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 Alan Catley, Gill Hillitt and lots of others for helping me assemble so many Tarsias!

A Tarsia activity on substituting into 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 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 Tarsia activity on Indices with numbers only. 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.

This is a rich Venn Diagram activity on completing the square in quadratic expressions. 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.

The 32nd in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. In preparation for the next few videos, we take a look at some of the important tools needed for getting the most out of Autograph's unique 3D engine. Below the video you will find an option to download it and play it on a larger screen, or by clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

A video tutorial on how to use autograph for the geometric series at A Level. The 42nd in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. Continuing our theme of all things statistical, this week we take a look at how Autograph might be used to introduce students to the concept of the Geometric Distribution, with a little helping hand from the Animation Controller! Clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

A Tarsia activity on improper fractions. 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 Special Christmas Edition of Mr Barton's Autograph Videos which has a look at the online Autograph Player (with a festive twist!). To have a play with the file yourself, just visit the second weblink above. Below the video you will find an option to download it and play it on a larger screen, or by clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series. Merry Christmas!

Maths PC software for teaching calculus, coordinate geometry, statistics and probability. Geometry and Measures tutorial. A special video from Autograph creator Douglas Butler. Lovely patterns created by rotating hexagons.

A video tutorial on how to explore the NLVM website. The 6th in a new series of videos where each week I visit my favourite mathematics websites. The National Library of Visual Manipulative is a fantastic website crammed full of really impressive little applets. These applets provide interesting and innovative ways for visualising some of the most important concepts in maths. I am a particular fan of the congruent triangles resource and the balance beam for solving linear equations. A lovely website that is certainly worth a visit. Please share how you use the website below.

The 23rd in a series of videos where each week I visit my favourite mathematics websites. Magic is one of the few things that fascinates all students, regardless of age and ability. Mathematics (of course) is the most important subject in the world. Therefore, if you can bring these two great subjects together, wonderful things will ensue. This free manual of mathematical magic is packed to the brim with amazing magical tricks, all of which have a fundamental mathematical basis. In this video we look at some of the tricks, and think more widely about how they might be used in the classroom.

MEI has kindly shared the following resources to support the use of ICT in A/AS Level maths. These are practical activities that look at how we can use the TI-Nspire (graphical calculator) to enhance the study of differentiation and integration (calculus), predominantly at AS level. These are ideal for use in a computer room or for students to investigate at home. The pdf file contains full instructions and challenges, and you can download all the supporting TI files by clicking on the weblink.

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 13. A parabola is stretched - calculate the stretch factor to achieve the area bounded between the two. All parabolas are different but the stretch factors are the same. 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 tutorial on using Autograph to work with grouped data.The fifteenth in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. In our final look at data for a while (you can have too much of a good thing) we tackle an issue with commas and how to alter the sizes of your groups. Below the video you will find an option to download it and play it on a larger screen, or by clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

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.

Earliest recommended Year group: Year 10. Pupils need to work out the area of a couple of rings with different dimensions - but the same area. 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 Tarsia activity on simplifying expressions. 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 Tarsia activity on simple linear functions. 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 Tarsia activity on Fractions, Decimals and 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.