5 Maths Gems #25

Gems 18 I featured v ideas from the starting fourth dimension 100 issues of Chris Smith's newsletters. I promised I'd live on dorsum with to a greater extent than newsletter gems, hence today's post features unopen to highlights from issues 101 - 250.

Chris's newsletters are really pop with maths teachers - he directly has over 1,000 subscribers. Each week's newsletter is total of educational activity ideas, puzzles, jokes together with mathematical trivia - it's e'er a pleasance to read. If y'all don't already subscribe, email Chris to larn on the list.

1. Number Stories
In Issue 123, Chris featured an sentiment for developing mathematical vocabulary. Students do their ain number stories - this tin live on every bit elementary or complex every bit y'all like. Chris included the basic event below for inspiration.

 2. Fractions together with Percentages
Another elementary simply effective activity was featured inward Issue 113. Students dyad off the numbers below (which y'all could impress onto cards) to shape fractions equivalent to the percentages inward the table. One respond is already given.

3. Remembering Bearings

There's 3 cardinal points that students ask to recollect well-nigh bearings. And remembering them is every bit slow every bit 123...

This sentiment originated from @kimmychuck together with featured inward Newsletter 245.

4. Guess Who

In my post well-nigh Desmos Polygraph I described it every bit a digital (and mathematical) version of Guess Who. Back inward Issue 210, Chris wrote well-nigh a similar sentiment (originating from Jennifer Clark) which uses actual Guess Who boards - these are available for £3.50 on eBay. The pic below shows a guessing game for famous mathematicians. Jennifer too suggests putting the numbers i - 24 inward the holders. For event I mightiness select the number 12 together with my partner would accept to inquire me questions (eg is it prime?, is it a multiple of 4? is it square? etc) to operate out what number I've chosen past times a procedure of elimination. This is a prissy agency to prepare vocabulary together with noesis of number properties. It could live on used for other topics eg polygons, linear graphs together with parabolas. I'm non certain it would live on practical to laid this upward for a whole class, simply it would live on a prissy activity for non bad parents to do at habitation with their children if they accept an quondam Guess Who game.

5. Factor Visualisation

These animated factorisation diagrams are lovely. They're worth showing to your students when y'all learn prime number factorisation. The animation moves speedily simply tin live on paused together with reversed. It shows numbers arranged inward accordance with their prime number factors. For example, nine is shown every bit 3 groups of three, 10 is v groups of 2 together with xi is prime, hence at that topographic point is no grouping.

Visualisations of 9, 10 together with 11

The animation is mesmorising.  Background information is available Off on a Tangent - a post well-nigh opportunities to live on spontaneous inward maths lessons together with whether schemes of operate allow us to explore off-topic interesting mathematics.

Stretching Practice - a post well-nigh where to honor challenging exercise questions together with resources.

It's exclusively 3 weeks until La Salle Education's National Mathematics Teacher Conference in Birmingham - I'm actually looking forrad to it (don't forget to larn a gratis ticket if y'all haven't already!). This calendar week I've been busy writing my session, which is all well-nigh choice methods for explaining mathematical concepts. See y'all then!

Joke from Issue 169

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