This is a great activity I have run with classes from year 7 to year 10, and one that they all seem to love. The aim is to develop a plot of land into a housing development to try and make the most possible profit, whilst also creating a desirable place to live. I usually run it over four lessons giving groups the opportunity to create their designs and then work on computers to put together brochures and business plans. I have had some incredible outcomes, including a group one year who created a virtual 3D model of their estate using some online design software. I have included: -Powerpoint covering the main rules. Development plot handout. Rule summary handout sheet. Budget tracker handout. (This is an excel file, but is currently not a working spreadsheet. It might make a nice additional task, getting pupils to write the formulas so calculations are done automatically.) Great for end of year projects and to get groups applying some real life maths and some tough decision making.

This task allows students to apply mathematical skills to a very real life scenario. The aim is to choose a job, calculate taxes and income, pick a place to live and then plan your monthly budget based on utilities costs and other lifestyle choices. It enables pupils to practice basic skills such as written methods of calculation and percentages, and gives them an idea about managing personal finances. Jobs and house prices have been taken from a search of my local area, and can be altered to best suit your locality.

Flat pack maths takes problem solving questions and breaks them down into their component steps. The sheets are designed to give students guidance on how to approach the problems in the style of flat pack furniture instructions. They are given help in four manageable steps and at each stage advised what tools they will need. The idea is to get students into the habit of breaking problems down and considering their approaches and so develop their problem solving skills. All sheets come with a fully written solution. This pack contains: Trapezium Problem Preserved Volume Problem Algebraic Area Problem Scale Factor Problem Vector Problem Worked solutions for all 5 problems.

I use this as a termly competition I have run with all classes. It allows students to be very creative whilst practicing how to plot equations and graphical inequalities. I have included a sample image with instructions to show them what you can create. The great thing about this task is it works with all ability levels as the picture can be as simple or complex as the person wants. Higher level groups and older students can start using quadratics, cubics and trig graphs to add more detail. Kind of a fancy etch a sketch really. A brilliant way to show people how creative and beautiful maths can be.

Flat pack maths takes problem solving questions and breaks them down into their component steps. The sheets are designed to give students guidance on how to approach the problems in the style of flat pack furniture instructions. They are given help in four manageable steps and at each stage advised what tools they will need. The idea is to get students into the habit of breaking problems down and considering their approaches and so develop their problem solving skills. All sheets come with a fully written solution. This pack contains: Circle & Tangent Problem Cone & Sector Problem The Infamous Circle Problem Semi-Circle Pythagoras Proof Triangle Ratio Problem. Worked solutions for all 5 problems.

A scale drawing activity where students have to construct drawings of different sports pitches. There are three pitches in total getting gradually more difficult each time. The Bronze activity is an American football field (all straight lines with a suggested scale), the silver activity is an English football field, more complex and involving compasses, and the gold is a basketball court, this one gives the least amount of assistance and is the most complicated to draw.

A themed activity to highlight the problem of survivor bias. It is based on the wartime problem of "the missing bullet holes" worked on by Abraham Wald. Pupils are given the problem without any previous discussion. At the end of the task a discussion is made of how it is the aircraft that did not return that should inform the positioning of the armour, i.e high priority areas should be where the bullet holes are not. Perfect for getting discussion going on the pitfalls of data analysis.

This is a great resource for introducing the golden ratio and examining ratio in the real world. I have tried it with students in year 7 to 11 and they all seem to love the task. I usually get students to work in pairs and get them to measure each other, then have some of the groups measure the celebrity faces. It is a good idea to get them to complete the worksheet before revealing the value of the golden ratio as this prevents people fixing their data. I have included some celeb photo's but obviously these can be changed to suit. I have also included a brief powerpoint showing some examples of the golden ratio in the real world.