In the factors, multiples and primes activity students are required to use their knowledge of the properties of numbers to solve a puzzle. There are thirty three sequentially numbered figures to be shared between six teachers. The first has all factors of 36, the second has all prime numbers, the...

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has produced sets of facts and figures about various aspects of life in Britain. The statistics give a picture of our society and show how mathematics has applications in the study of other subjects. * Where would social science be without maths? - A poster and...

The relationship between third world countries and the developed world is demonstrated in this resource, from the Centre for Innovation in Teaching Mathematics. Students work in groups to make and sell shapes, which are bought by the class teacher who performs the dual roles of Banker and United Nations. Market...

In this Bowland assessment task, students decide the rate at which taxi fares are set. Students are provided with the price of diesel over the past eight years and use this data to decide what would be a fair price increase. Students are required to process the data to find a relationship between fuel costs and...

Scheduling jobs in a fashion workshop is the context for this Nuffield exploration. There are six people in the workshop and a series of jobs to be completed in one day.

The key processes which developed include:...

This activity requires students to investigate the mathematics behind fashion trends. The software contains an introductory short film that shows the CEO and Store Manager of a London boutique discussing how to be successful in running a fashion business. His...

This Mathematics Matters case study looks at how Formula One teams use mathematical methods such as fluid mechanics and Navier-Stokes equations to improve performance. Every second counts in the fast-paced world of Formula One, so race teams use advanced mathematics to squeeze the best performance out of their cars...

This task is designed to assess how well students understand maximising a volume.

The task looks at designs for freight containers made using metal frames. For the first task, 60 metres of metal tubing is available and students must design a container in the shape of a cuboid that maximises the volume of the...

This lesson plan with starter, main and plenary from CensusAtSchool suitable for Year Eight students develops the concept of ratio. Students will Investigate the Golden Ratio (also known as Phi) using the ratio of height to belly button height data collected and presented as a dataset.

The resource comes...

This mathematical activity provides students with the opportunity to solve a realistic animal care problem and become active problem-solvers. Students are encouraged to make a mathematical model of a real-life situation, identifying and incorporating relevant factors, obtain information relevant to the problem,...

This resource contains a short presentation which introduces three problems where approximate solutions can be calculated.

The first activity asks students to use Fermi estimation to calculate the quantity of tea used in China in a three month period. Students are also invited to calculate an estimate of the...

This question asks us to consider a person opening a burger bar, doing all of the cooking themselves, and then estimate how much space should they rent?

The main topics required are rates (number of burgers per hour that one person could cook, number of customers per hour), and areas. 

This Cre8ate maths activity allows the opportunity to discuss the modelling function of mathematics. The tasks allow students to develop their own strategies and to consider the idea of an ‘efficient’ algorithm. In addition, 'First fit and full bins' activity involves work on ratio and pie charts.

Act 1

A simulation is shown of a Ferris-wheel, where one of...