This idea is from Craig Barton and is an excellent one (check them out his at website); essentially it is four questions based on the same information. There are four here which use fractions, ratio, percentages and averages as well as other topics. This really should create discussion and a deeper understanding of the topics covered on top of ensuring that students actually read the question. I hope these are worthy! I will be using these as starters or plenaries. I haven’t used logos to avoid any copyright issues. Hyperlinks added…

Practice for the skills required to find a percentage of an amount; not difficult but designed for non-calculator use ultimately and checks skills such as multiplying and dividing by 100, decimals, converting between fractions, decimals and percentages before asking a few percentage of an number questions.

I had this idea whilst driving home tonight thinking that I could do with some more stuff on bearings. The idea is for student to practice all the skills involved in bearings problems (angle properties on lines, around a point, triangles and parallel lines as well as scale) and then move on to solving some actual bearing problems. I have designed it in the shape of a wall to show that we build up to the summit. Obviously with this topic, scale is more of an issue but I hope it’s useful… (error corrected)

This takes students through everything they will need to know about sets and Venn diagrams, building up to the hardest type of question (hence the name).

Another one of these, taking students through the skills required for linear graphs up to and including perpendicular line.

I have concentrated on the algebra rather than linking to graphs of functions as I’m not sure at GCSE that the graphs are overly helpful for solving function notation problems; I will eventually get on to transforming functions which will tackle this (size could be an issue in the format though). This goes from simple function machines, through substitution, rearranging formulae and links them to functions questions. This started off as a request from a former colleague who bemoaned the lack of function notation resources, which is a fair point at present, I think.

This takes students through the skills required to answer vectors questions and some vectors questions from adding vectors to describing routes to proof.

This details the skills required to perform GCSE proofs up to grade 8/9 building up from the basics to the more complicated questions.

This takes students through the skills required to solve differentiation problems at GCSE and IGCSE level.

This covers from simple finding pairs of integers up to completing the square, including completing the square and the quadratic formula. I will put solving graphically on a another one as there wasn’t room here.

Working up from simple fraction of a number to adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing mixed numbers with everything in between, including a “Show that” question which always seems to confuse some.

Working its way up from symmetry to negative and fractional scale factor enlargements; the diagrams are as big as I can make them in the format so sorry if they are a bit small.

This is an activity based on the daytime quiz show “Impossible” where a question is asked and three options given: one correct, one incorrect but could be correct if the question was slightly different (partial answer), and one that is impossible (cannot be the answer). This is designed to be a discussion/reasoning activity where students find the correct answer then discuss why the other two options are impossible or incomplete. Topics include HCF, fractions, percentages, bounds, standard form, ratio, proportion, indices.

Find the lengths of the tunnels using the Sine and Cosine Rules. The students have to decide which to use with the information that they have. An attempt to show a use for the mathematics in a real life sense.

Colour in the numbers in certain multiplication tables and you are left with the primes.

A series of real-life graphs that are misleading in some way. Nice for a discussion activity.

It's always a challenge to make constructions interesting and seem relevent so I came up with this. Not sure it&'s hugely more engaging but it&';s something!

This is a twist on revision notes. I have written some notes and given examples but there are mistakes that the students have to correct. They must therefore read the notes very carefully and a partner must check their work. The idea is derived from an idea born from a discussion on Twitter (if you're not on Twitter, seriously think about it). I have split the notes up into two bits but I have included the whole thing so that you can chop them up your own way, or change stuff if you want. It&'s a bit of an experiment and we&';ll see how it goes!

Given the information on the bands A-ha, Depeche Mode, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Madness, can you argue who the best/most successful band of the 1980s was? This is designed to get students to think about relevant calculations to back up their argument. I have calculated some answers but won't have covered everything.

This allows students to use their knowledge of y=mx+c. There are five different spiders of increasing difficulty ranging from being given the gradient and y-int then forming the equation, to being given one of those pieces of information and a point on the line to being given two points on the line. Discussion could arise over how to write the equations.