Thursday, October 10, 2019

5 Maths Gems #113

Welcome to my 113th gems post. This is where I part some of the latest news, ideas together with resources for maths teachers.

1. L Shapes
In MathsPad's July update they shared a free interactive tool for finding missing sides of L-shapes. This tin live used to demonstrate how the vertical lines on ane side of the shape jibe the total length on the other side together with to assist pupils carve upward horizontal together with vertical measures when finding missing lengths. There are accompanying worksheets too.


I know I've said it before, but I dear MathsPad! It's good worth the subscription. I'll live teaching Year seven together with 8 side past times side twelvemonth together with convey been busy working on resourcing the Scheme of Work over the lastly 2 weeks. Many of my recommended resources for each topic come upward from MathsPad.

2. Maths inwards Science
Thanks to scientific discipline instructor Adam Bilton (Gems 102 to learn a ameliorate thought of the maths content of the scientific discipline curriculum. Knowing this materials helps maths teachers piece of work ameliorate amongst their scientific discipline subdivision inwards price of consistent methods, guild of topics together with hence on.
3. Puzzles for the Classroom
Thank you lot to Sarah Carter (@mathsequalslove) for sharing Erich Friedman's website. There are loads of bully activities to explore here. Sarah has picked out a duet of examples that would piece of work good at school:

Arithmetic Sequence Puzzle
In the Arithmetic Sequence puzzle students fill upward inwards some of the blank squares amongst digits 0-9. Each row together with column should contains just three digits, together with these digits should cast an increasing arithmetics sequence. Here's an example:

There are xv increasingly hard puzzles to consummate together with solutions are provided.

Number Mazes
Here you lot start amongst the issue on the left. By moving through the maze together with doing whatever arithmetics operations on the issue that you lot encounter, you lot move out the maze amongst the lawsuit on the right. You may move past times through an performance several times, but you lot tin non brand a U-turn. The results of all operations volition live positive whole numbers. Each maze has several solutions, but has a unique shortest solution.
There are sixteen puzzles together with solutions are provided. I've had a become at this - it's fun together with the maths is accessible, hence I've added it to my 'First Lessons amongst Year 7' post.

Finally, also depository fiscal establishment check out the 'What's Special About this Number' page. If inwards your classroom you lot similar to part interesting issue facts (eg relating to the date) together with hence this volition live really helpful! The listing goes all the means upward to 9999.

4. Circle Game
This circle sketching game was shared by Graham Walton (@mr_g_walton). Although the scoring seems a combat inconsistent at times, it's fun to endeavor together with describe the best possible circle. It industrial plant on a proper substantive upward together with a computer. Have a go!
5. Topic Grids
Both BossMaths together with MathsBot of late launched novel features which tin live used to forthwith generate mixed topic retrieval activities.

H5N1 duet of months agone BossMaths added 'Top Topics' to their site. Using this tool teachers tin do grids of upward to 6 questions on topics of their choice. There are over 120 query variants together with it's really slow to accommodate the difficulty level. I similar it that ane time you've shown the respond you lot tin forthwith generate an almost identical question, hence if pupils struggled amongst it together with hence they tin convey some other become afterwards you've gone through it.



On MathsBot there's now a 'last lesson, week, month, year' last year - this MathsBot tool volition relieve a lot of fourth dimension inwards making those starters.

Thank you lot to @boss_maths together with @StudyMaths for their generosity inwards sharing these costless tools for teachers.

Updates
June is ever my busiest calendar month inwards price of conferences together with events - it's been awesome but I'm pleased to convey my weekends dorsum now! I also started my novel labor lastly Monday. It's wonderful to live properly dorsum inwards a schoolhouse afterwards a twelvemonth on the key team. My schoolhouse currently but has Year 7s together with they are absolutely lovely. I can't await to learn them maths side past times side year. Along amongst my novel squad I'm planning to endeavor some exciting materials - similar ringbinders instead of practise books inwards maths for the whole of Year seven together with 8. No uncertainty I volition weblog close how it all goes.

In instance you lot missed them, my 2 recent weblog posts were:
And hither are 2 of my older posts that are ever pop at this fourth dimension of year:
Even though it was a few weeks ago, I haven't nonetheless had the adventure to study dorsum on La Salle's #mathsconf19 which took house inwards South Yorkshire. It was a bully conference inwards a especially lovely venue. I enjoyed pre-conference drinks, ran the MA bookstand, presented on the development of maths vocabulary, caught upward amongst my Twitter pals Ed together with Tom, together with went to some bully workshops.
If you lot missed it on Twitter at the time, do depository fiscal establishment check out this thread from Sam Blatherwick which features exercises from his workshop on inequalities. There were some questions inwards this laid of exercises that I've never asked earlier together with this made me call upward close the gaps inwards my explanations.

Last Mon I delivered the closing plenary at the Kent together with Medway Maths Hub Conference. It was lovely that I got to convey dinner amongst some of the speakers together with organisers the nighttime before, including James together with James from my PGCE course.
I actually enjoyed the workshops I attended. In Peter Hubble's session on algebraic proof he shared a funny Abbott together with Costello video that I'd never seen before.



In Pietro Tozzi's workshop on Edexcel H5N1 level, he told us that some schools convey started using the large information laid to learn statistics at Key Stage three together with iv to construct early on familiarity. For example schools who do Edexcel H5N1 degree utilisation weather condition information for GCSE box plots together with hence on. He also shared some large information laid resources.
Another affair that Pietro shared that I hadn't seen earlier was a laid of actually good videos from Pearson explaining how to utilisation the Classwiz at H5N1 level. Teachers who are teaching H5N1 degree for the kickoff fourth dimension side past times side twelvemonth would do goodness from watching these videos to ensure they are familiar amongst all the novel estimator functions.
And finally from this conference, here's a bully occupation shared past times Charlie Stripp.


In other news:
  • I wrote June's edition of the MA eNews. We convey of late relaunched this newsletter - non solely does it incorporate word from the MA together with the wider basis of maths education, but it also at nowadays contains puzzles together with resources for maths teachers. Subscribe here to have hereafter editions.
  • This year's Big Math Off is underway. I competed lastly twelvemonth together with that meant I had the award of picking an entrant for this year's competition. I nominated Vincent Pantaloni - you lot tin read his entries, together with all the other wonderful maths beingness shared, on aperiodical.com.
  • Don't forget to mass your ticket for Marvellous Maths Teaching which is beingness run past times me together with Craig Barton inwards Oct 2019. We've sold some ninety tickets already, which is exciting given that nosotros know that most teachers won't live inwards a seat to mass until September. 

I'll leave of absence you lot this video, shared on Twitter past times @DrFrostMaths. It's an American Youtuber completing an Edexcel Maths GCSE paper. I constitute it surprisingly enjoyable! It's weird, together with quite insightful, to take away heed someone's entire thought processes equally they do maths.