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.

This was an idea I had in a bid to get the students to explain their thinking mathematically. Error corrected!

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

A student gave me the title (pun on 'The Hunger Games' - original was 'The Number Games'), I did the rest. Five different sets of questions in a functional style for students to work through either individually or in pairs/teams.

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.

Another set of four "spiders" to encourage discussion regarding shapes. It starts with naming polygons, moves on to triangles, quarilaterals and finally 3D shapes.

Surds practice from basic simplifying to expanding brackets to rationalising denominators. This encourages workings and the students to work backwards (what's the question given this answer?) so should also encourage discussion in class.

This is aimed to cover as many aspects of fractions as possible: equivalence, of an amount, adding/subtracting, multiplying dividing but in a fashion so that they have to think about it rather than just have hundreds of questions doing essentially the same thing.

This is a different way to allow students to gain some practice in short bursts and helps introduce fractional indices. The point is to generate discussion in class whilst the students do some work.

Four sets of four problems where students have the answer but there are blanks in the questions which require filling in. This is designed to create discussion in class and hopefully provided natural differentiation (find the general solution where possible compared to finding a single solution). I will be using these as starters or plenaries as I believe they will develop deeper understanding of topics, but feel free to use them as you like (you will as you don’t need me to hold your hand). Typos corrected (hopefully).

This gives students a question and four potential answers; they must choose the correct answer and then explain what the three wrong answers have done incorrectly. Topics include simplifying expressions, expanding brackets, factorising expressions and solving equations with the variable on one side. I have purposely only highlighted the correct answer and not suggested what has been done incorrectly with the other solutions so students (and staff) aren’t tainted by my personal thinking and develop their own. I am hoping this will lead to some great mathematical discussions in the classroom.

There are 8 sets of five questions that have been answered either correctly or incorrectly, the students have to decide which. These are designed to create discussion in classrooms and include one-step, two-step, brackets, variables on both sides, equations involving fractions, simultaneous equations (linear only) and quadratic equations (both factorised and non-factorised). Hopefully there should be something for all levels up to GCSE.

There are 8 slides involving 5 questions on each. Answers are given for each question but students must decide whether those answers are correct. There are also “answer slides” but no explanation intentionally because this should invite discussion. The slides move through Pythagoras, trigonometry in right-angled triangles, whether the triangle is right-angled or not, exact trigonometric values, trigonometry in non-right-angled triangles including some worded problems. As I said before, the whole point of these is to create discussion points in class. Hyperlinks now work; sorry for neglecting this initially!

Four slides each with four questions where they have the answer but not all the information in the question. This is designed to get the students to think and demonstrate their understanding by working backwards from answer to question. These have been quite successful for encouraging discussion in class and being an extension task.

Given one coordinate, can students come up with a second coordinate so that the line between the two meets certain criteria? This is an activity designed to create discussion, covering gradient and equations of lines. Extension should be pretty easy, allowing students to generate equations of lines etc. I have left a slide template so that you can create your own if you wish.

There are six slides with a percentage and fraction sales-related question question. This involves calculating sale prices, working out which sale would offer the best price and finding the original price given the sale price. This is designed to create discussion in class.

This is a presentation involving six real recipes (linked on each slide) and their ingredients which students have to work with to make the number of each required. This is designed to create a bit of discussion and the questions get more challenging as you work through them.