There two sets of tables (one without negative values of x and one with) and equations to match up. There are two more tables than equations meaning that guessing is far more difficult but as an extension students can work out the missing equations of lines. This should encourage some discussion too.

I found this map of the Neet (Not in Employment, Education or Training) data from 2009/10. I have looked at Worthing purely because that's where I work. Not the most happy statistics, but real-life and relevent to the kids, and might encourage them to get the best grades they can before they because a statistic!

Answer the questions and be rewarded with a cheesy joke! These are always popular in class or online, the cheesier the joke the better.

I felt like doing an A Level codebreaker and this seemed like a good topic to start with. Use laws of logarithms to reveal the punchline to a cheesy joke…

Whilst perusing Twitter after England's heavy defeat to Australia I came across this graphic posted by @skycricket which gave me the idea of using it for a maths discussion on data. You don&'t really need to know anything about cricket, just a basic understanding of statistics. It is designed to encourage some literacy and explanation.

Two “Crack The Safe” activities, one on reading Venn diagrams and the other using set notation. These are designed to be used as a starter or a plenary and allow students to self-mark as possible answers are shown but more that they require to avoid guessing.

The usual: answer the questions on the cumulative frequency graphs, discover the punchline.

One on a basic histogram and another using frequency polygons; the usual terrible jokes are revealed.

Designed for the AQA Further Maths Level 2 Certificate course but could be used at A Level. Answer the questions, reveal the joke, you know the drill…

Three codebreakers covering area using trig, the sine rule and cosine rule respectively. Make sure that students do not round any answers until right at the end (it does state on each to round you “final answer”) and reveal the three cheesy jokes. These work well in my classes as starters, plenaries or main tasks. Each one is an anagram so that students are not tempted to guess letters. The final question on each is more of a problem solving question.

These are an attempt to break from the monotony of past papers in the run up to exam season. I have taken 2 or 4 (depending on whether they will fit on a page!) questions from past papers and put them on one sheet; I will photocopy onto A3 for students to have a go in groups and discuss. The aims/rules etc are all listed if you wish to follow them and hopefully they all make sense. I have also provided answers.

The usual: Do some maths Get some letters Reveal a lame joke My classes like them, yours might too.

Find the invariant points, reveal the punchline to a cheesy joke… Useful for starters, plenaries and main tasks in my experience but use (or don’t use) however you like.

D (Data) A (Algebra) N (Number) and G (Geometry) - four bombs to defuse on each area, left by that infamous terrorist "The Mathematician". Each sheet has 6 sections and the questions are more worded. Find the average of the answers in each section to crack the code to defuse the bomb in each case. It's just general revision to get students thinking. It's easier to look at than put into words!!!

Another one of these; solve the quadratic inequalities and reveal the joke. Ideal for students at home or in school as the fact that it spells out a short sentence means that they know whether they are doing it right; they also like the competitive nature of getting to the end first in my experience.

Four “spiders”: two on midpoints, two on finding the distance between two points. Midpoints: some questions ask students to find the midpoint, some give the midpoint and one coordinate. Distance: the first spider asks students to find distance (the final question asks students to find a points a given distance from another point). The second gives one point and a length; this could lead to a discussion on Pythagorean triples. Suggested/examples of answers are given where there are multiple options.

Designed to be used in the AQA Further Maths Level 2 Certificate but could be used at A Level too. Answer the questions, reveal the punchline to a cheesy joke… the usual nonsense.

Some equations and inequalities to solve, using sketches where possible, to reveal the cheesy joke. I will be using this as a starter.

Using the (in)famous Smiths Crisps advert from the mid-Eighties there are some questions based around units of measurement. Designed as a plenary.

The usual answering of maths questions reveals the punchline; my classes like these and in this time of remote learning they are easy to mark! This involves set notation with three sets in some questions. Mistake on the last question now corrected!