Maths Puzzles for KS3/KS4

Rob Apperley and Gill Colley

75^+VAT

HTML on CD-ROM

Jul 08

978 1 84070 793 9

Ideal to use as starters
Suitable for all abilities
Encourages discussion

Develop investigative skills

Finding ways to motivate students and to get them to think for themselves can be difficult. The opportunities for analytical thought in KS3 and KS4/GCSE maths may be further limited by the withdrawal of coursework after 2008.

Maths Puzzles for KS3/KS4 is designed to help students think laterally and analytically. Ideal for use with students who lack motivation, the resource contains over 80 activities of the following types:

Number puzzles
Visual puzzles
Shape puzzles
Tricks with numbers
Tricks with words
Open-ended puzzles
Algorithmic puzzles
Riddles
Optical illusions.

Flexible use

The activities could be used:

as starters or plenaries
as discussion points
to encourage peer group interaction
as the basis for investigations
in after-school clubs
for out-of-school learning
for competitions or end-of-term quizzes.

All provided on one CD-ROM, Maths Puzzles for KS3/KS4 is sold with a full site licence, so everyone in your department can benefit.

Encourage lateral thinking

Aimed at KS3 and KS4/GCSE students, the activities can be tackled by learners of all abilities. Often the path to the solution is not structured or specified; some puzzles have more than one correct answer. The activities can therefore help to develop dialogue between students and between student and teacher, and foster analytical thinking as well as healthy competition and a welcome sense of enjoyment. Even students who are normally disengaged can be readily involved – and even enthused.

Ready-to-use resources

Each activity is:

referenced to the 2008 National Curriculum at KS3 and KS4
available as a worksheet to print out and distribute to students
available as a presentation to display on an interactive whiteboard
accompanied by teacher’s notes and answers where appropriate.

Full support for staff

Maths Puzzles for KS3/KS4 includes full teacher’s guidance for delivering the activities in the classroom. The material can readily be used by non-specialist teachers or in cover lessons.

Introduction
Number
Fractions, ratio, proportion
Algebra
Logic
Spatial puzzles
Trick questions
Optical illusions
Resources