Here are some mathematical activities to keep your brain active
and continue your learning while school is closed.
Online Lesson Plan 1
- Make an Expression Your first activity is a 15 minute challenge. Set a timer for fifteen minutes then try to make as many numbers as possible from the digits 1 to 4. You have to use all four digits but you can use any operations. Good Luck.
- Polygons Your head is probably still spinning with numbers after that last activity so let's move on to shapes for a change. This activity requires you to name the polygons by dragging the name cards to match the correct shapes. Press the check button when you have finished to see if you are correct. You can always try again if you get it wrong first time. Look up the shape names in a dictionary or in Wikepedia if they are unfamiliar to you.
Now take a five minute break, walk around the house and stretch your legs. Look out of the window and take three deep breaths.
- Snail Race This activity is about probability. You have to think which snail is most likely to win before starting the race. When it has finished write an article describing the race, the reason you chose the snail you did and what your theory is about which snails are likely to be the fastest. Send your article by email to your teacher.
You should now feel good about yourself. You have done a Maths lesson at home without a teacher and your brain is now better than it was an hour ago!
Online Lesson Plan 2
- Broken Calculator Your warm-up for today's home learning is to show that you can use a broken calculator. You only have some of the calculator keys to make the list of numbers. Don't forget you can use the number buttons to make two or three digit numbers too.
- Writing Expressions Whether you are new to algebra or have been doing it for years this practice exercise is probably quite different from what you have done before. Press the buttons to hear the voice of Transum saying expressions which you then have to type in. If you get any wrong try them again and again until you figure out the correct way to write down the expressions.
Now take a five minute break and drink a glass of water. Do some stretching or yoga poses to keep your body active.
- Football Scores This is an investigation. It requires you to write in your exercise book (or paper) your version of the situation and show all of the working you did and the conclusions you came to. Don't forget to consider many different full time scores.
There are many ways you can let your teacher know how well you are doing even though you are at home. If you have earned a trophy for a Transum activity you could sent your teacher the URL of tour trophy cabinet. Alternatively you could send a screen shot of your computer work or a photograph of your work on paper.
Online Lesson Plan 3
- Brainbox Start todays home-learning with this puzzle called Brainbox. Try to extend yourself to attempt one of the higher levels. Use the lower levels to develop strategies which can then be used on the higher levels. You could take a screen shot of your work to send to your teacher.
- Angle Chase If you have forgotten the basic theorems about angles then have a peep at this page (click each diagram to find out more). Your challenge is to type in every angle shown on the Angle Chase page. Good luck.
Take a screen break for five minutes before applying your mind to the next task. You are allowed to have a snack but it must be a healthy snack.
- Dividing in a Ratio Have you ever learnt maths from a poem before? This could be a first! Go to this page then click the little red arrow to go through the presentation, enjoying the poem then working through the examples on the slides. When you think you fully understand this concept you can claim a trophy by doing the exercise that can be found here.
Let your parents know what activities you have been doing in Maths today. Can they remember studying angles and ratio when they were at school?
Online Lesson Plan 4
- Beat The Clock To get your brain warmed up for today's Snow Day Maths try this mental arithmetic challenge. Begin with the lowest levels then see how far you can get answering the questions correctly before the shield comes down and stops you.
- Shapes in the Stars Now let's switch to a different topic in Maths. This challenge is to see if you know the names of common two dimensional shapes. Find the shapes by joining up the stars. You will find that they are all regular polygons.
Now take a five minute break, do seven sit-ups, two minutes of jumpstyle dancing then wash your hands.
- Online Logo Teach yourself how to program in Logo using the instructions and the collection of mathematical challenges on the Logo page. You can use the snipping tool to capture pictures of your work which you can paste into your notes or send to your teacher.
Online Lesson Plan 5
- Mind Reader Begin this cool day with a cool mind reading trick. Believe it or not, this app can read your mind. If you don't believe it can you figure out how it works? You will have to do the mind reading a number of times before you see the secret behind the trick.
- Area and Perimeter Show that you know the area and perimeter formulas of basic shapes. If there any you don't know look them up in your textbook or on the internet. If you have a printer you could print out your finished work and put it on the wall.
- Areas of Composite Shapes Find the areas of combined (composite) shapes made up of one or more simple polygons and circles. You can use a calculator to help with this exercise.
- Area Two How many different shapes with an area of 2 square units can you make by joining dots on this grid with straight lines? Keep a record of those shapes you find.
Now take a five minute break, have a drink and a walk around the house.
- Area wall puzzles Divide the grid into rectangular pieces so that the area of each piece is the same as the number it contains. There are a number of levels for this puzzle and you can claim a trophy for each level that you manage to do. Good luck.
Online Lesson Plan 6
- Screen Test Here's an unusual start to your snow day Maths lesson for today. Memorise the mathematical facts in the video then answer the ten quiz questions. You can rewind or replay the video if you missed the fact in the questions.
- Systematic Listing The main theme for today is for you to develop skills for finding all the possibilities in a situation. Do three or four of the activities or levels unless your teacher has given you specific instructions about what you should do.
Now take a short break and do a little exercise.
- 23 or Bust Here is a game to finish your Maths activities for today. Choose the one player game so that you play against the computer. Play many times and look for strategies that may help you win. You could next play the two player game with a member of your family to show off your game winning strategies.
Online Lesson Plan 7
- Sieve of Eratosthenes Start today's home learning by clicking numbers on a ten by ten grid according to the given instructions. This is a self checking, interactive version of the Sieve of Eratosthenes method of finding prime numbers. When you have finished try to memorise as many of the prime numbers as possible.
- Factor Trees (and puzzles) Now you know some prime numbers you can create factor trees to find the prime factors of the given numbers. You can't go wrong ... the system won't let you make a mistake. Try the puzzles when you have finished the exercise.
Now take a five minute break, walk around the house and stretch your legs.
- HCF and LCM Practise finding the highest common factor (HCF), sometimes called the greatest common divisor, and the lowest common multiple (LCM) of two numbers. There are 5 levels in this exercise and it's best if you do the working carefully in your exercise book then type in the answers online.
- Pick The Primes Finish this Maths lesson by picking the prime fruit from the tree as quickly as possible. Practise to improve your personal best time at each level.
Online Lesson Plan 8
- Multitude As a warm up for the main theme of this lesson try solving this puzzle. There are seven different levels of difficulty; you don't have to do all seven, just see how far you can get in fifteen minutes. Tell people about the trophies you earn!
- Decimal Times Multiplying and dividing decimal numbers is something that people learn, then after a while, forget! Now is your chance, in a quiet room, to bring yourself up to speed with this skill. Most importantly don't forget that there is a help video which gives you clear directions for answering the questions at each level so take your time and get those trophies claimed!
Now take a five minute break, walk around the house and stretch your legs.
- Tantrum Your head is probably swimming with numbers right now so let's do something completely different to finish off today's Maths lesson. The Tantrum challenge is all about visualising squares, one of the simplest shapes there is. Along with the challenge there is also a game so if someone else in your house is available enjoy playing the game with them.
Online Lesson Plan 9
- Octagram Star This is a puzzle with nine levels of difficulty. The first level is quite easy as ten numbers have already been put in correct positions. Level nine is super difficult! Begin at level one then give yourself twenty minutes to complete as many levels as you can. It will really warm up your brain ready for the rest of today's lesson.
- Transformations The main part of today's lesson is about simple shapes that appear to move or mutate according to a rule. There are videos to help you along (click on the help tab) and you can try as many times as you wish to get the transformed shapes correct. You should spend 40 minutes on this activity. Good luck!
Now take a five minute break, have a healthy drink, do ten press-ups then wash your hands.
- Remainder Race I love this game! It's based on the oldest board game in the world. You can play against a member of your family if they are available or you can play against the computer. The computer does not play the perfect game so you have a good chance of winning.