A complete lesson looking at slightly trickier questions requiring Pythagoras’ theorem. For example, calculating areas and perimeters of triangles, given two of the sides. Activities included: Starter: A nice picture puzzle where pupils do basic Pythagoras calculations, to remind them of the methods. Main: Examples of the different scenarios pupils will consider later in the lesson, to remind them of a few area and perimeter basics. Four themed worksheets, one on diagonals of rectangles two on area and perimeter of triangles, and one on area and perimeter of trapeziums. Each worksheet has four questions with a progression in difficulty. Could be used as a carousel or group task. Plenary: A prompt to get pupils discussing what they know about Pythagoras’ theorem. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on inverse operations. Includes questions with decimals, with the intention that pupils are using calculators. Activities included: Starter: Four simple questions where pupils fill a bank in a sum, to facilitate a discussion about possible ways of doing this. Slides to formalise the idea of an inverse operation, followed by a set of questions to check pupils can correctly correctly identify the inverse of a given operation and a worksheet of straight-forward fill the blank questions (albeit with decimals, to force pupils to use inverse operations). I have thrown in a few things that could stimulate further discussion here - see cover image. Main: The core of the lesson centres around an adaptation of an excellent puzzle I saw on the Brilliant.org website. I have created a series of similar puzzles and adapted them for a classroom setting. Essentially, it is a diagram showing boxes for an input and an output, but with multiple routes to get from one to the other, each with a different combination of operations. Pupils are tasked with exploring a set of related questions: the largest and smallest outputs for a given input. the possible inputs for a given output. the possible inputs for a given output, if the input was an integer. The second and third questions use inverse operations, and the third in particular gives pupils something a lot more interesting to think about. The second question could be skipped to make the third even more challenging. I’ve also thrown in a blank template for pupils to create their own puzzles. Plenary: Your standard ‘I think of a number’ inverse operation puzzle, for old time’s sake. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please do review if you buy, as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on the graphs of sine, cosine and tangent outside the range 0 to 360 degrees. I’ve also made complete lessons on these functions in the range 0 to 360 degrees. Designed to come after pupils have been taught about the ratios sine, cosine and tangent in the context of right-angled triangle trigonometry, and looked at the graphs of sine cosine and tangent in the range 0 to 360 degrees. This could also be used as a precursor to solving trigonometric equations in the further maths gcse or A-level. Activities included: Starter: A worksheet where pupils identify key coordinates on the graphs of sine and cosine from 0 to 360 degrees. Main: A reminder of the definitions of sine, cosine and tangent using the unit circle, with a prompt for pupils to discuss what happens outside the range 0 to 360 and a slide to make this clear. Three examples of using knowledge of the graphs to effectively solve a trigonometric equation. This isn’t formalised, but done more as a visual puzzle that pupils can answer using symmetry and the fact that the functions are periodic (see cover image). A worksheet with a set of similar questions, followed by a related extension task. Plenary: A brief summary about sound waves and how pitch and volume is determined. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on the theorem that opposite angles in a cyclic quadrilateral sum to 180 degrees. Assumes that pupils have already met the theorems that the angle at the centre is twice the angle at the circumference, the angle in a semicircle is 90, and angles in the same segment are equal. See my other resources for lessons on these theorems. Activities included: Starter: Some basics recap questions on the theorems already covered. Main: An animation to define a cyclic quadrilateral, followed by a quick question for pupils, where they decide whether or not diagrams contain cyclic quadrilaterals. An example where the angle at the centre theorem is used to find an opposite angle in a cyclic quadrilateral, followed by a set of three similar questions for pupils to do. They are then guided to observe that the opposite angles sum to 180 degrees. A quick proof using a very similar method to the one pupils have just used. A set of 8 examples that could be used as questions for pupils to try and discuss. These have a progression in difficulty, with the later ones incorporating other angle rules. I’ve also thrown in a few non-examples. A worksheet of similar questions for pupils to consolidate, followed by a second worksheet with a slightly different style of question, where pupils work out if given quadrilaterals are cyclic. A related extension task, where pupils try to decide if certain shapes are always, sometimes or never cyclic. Plenary: A slide showing all four theorems so far, and a chance for pupils to reflect on these and see how the angle at the centre theorem can be used to prove all of the rest. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on adding a negative number. Activities included: Starter: Some questions on number bonds. Main: A slide showing a number pattern to demonstrate the logic of adding a negative. Example question pairs with number lines, for pupils to practice and give a chance to provide instant feedback. A set of differentiated questions. A more challenging task for pupils to discuss in pairs, where they try to find examples or counterexamples for different scenarios. Plenary: A final question to prompt discussion about misconceptions pupils may already have. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review it if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on using calculators to directly make percentage changes, e.g. increasing by 5% by multiplying by 1.05 Activities included: Starter: A recap on making a percentage change in stages, e.g. increasing something by 5% by working out 5% and adding it to the original amount. Main: Examples and quick questions for pupils to try, along with some diagnostic questions to hopefully anticipate a few misconceptions. A worksheet of questions with a progression in difficulty. An extension task/investigation designed to challenge the misconception that you can reverse a percentage increase by decreasing by the same percentage. Plenary: A question in context - working out a restaurant bill including a tip. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review if you buy, as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson, or range of activities to use, on the theme of Pythagorean triples. A great lesson for adding some interest, depth and challenge to the topic of Pythagoras’ theorem. Activities included: Starter: A set of straight forward questions on finding the third side given two sides in a right-angled triangle, to remind pupils of Pythagoras’ theorem. Main: Slides explaining that Pythagoras’ theorem can be used to test whether a triangle has a right angle. A sorting activity where pupils test whether given triangles contain a right angle. Quick explanation of Pythagorean triples, followed by a structured worksheet for pupils to try using Diophantus’ method to generate Pythagorean triples, and, as an extension, prove why the method works. Two pairs of challenging puzzles about Pythagorean triples. Plenary: A final question, not too difficult, to bring together the theme of the lesson (see cover image). Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson for introducing the area rule for a triangle. Activities included: Starter: Questions to check pupils can find areas of parallelograms (I always teach this first, as it leads to an explanation of the rule for a triangle). Main: A prompt to get pupils thinking (see cover image) Examples and a worksheet where pupils must identify the height and measure to estimate area. Examples and a worksheet where pupils must select the relevant information from not-to-scale diagrams. Simple extension task of pupils drawing as many different triangles with an area of 12 as they can. Plenary: A sneaky puzzle with a simple answer that reinforces the basic area rule. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review it if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on defining, recognising and extending linear sequences. Activities included: Starter: Pupils discuss whether six sets of numbers are sequences, and if so, what the rules are. Main: Slides to define linear sequences, followed by mini whiteboard questions and a worksheet of extending linear sequences. A fun puzzle a bit like a word search (but where you try to find linear sequences). Plenary: Another nice puzzle where pupils try to form as many linear sequences as they can from a set of numbers. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review it if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on finding a term given its a position and vice-versa. Activities included: Starter: Recap questions on using an nth term rule to generate the first few terms in a linear sequence. Main: Short, simple task of using an nth term rule to find a term given its position. Harder task where pupils find the position of a given term, by solving a linear equation. Plenary: A question to get pupils thinking about how they could prove if a number was a term in a sequence. No worksheets required, and answers are included. Please review it if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on the theorem that a tangent is perpendicular to a radius. Assumes pupils can already use the theorems that: The angle at the centre is twice the angle at the circumference The angle in a semicircle is 90 degrees Angles in the same same segment are equal .Opposite angles in a cyclic quadrilateral sum to 180 degrees so that more varied questions can be asked. Please see my other resources for lessons on these theorems. Activities included: Starter: Some basic recap questions on theorems 1 to 4 Main: Instructions for pupils to discover the rule, by drawing tangents and measuring the angle to the centre. A set of six examples, mostly using more than one theorem. A set of eight similar questions for pupils to consolidate. A prompt for pupils to create their own questions, as an extension. Plenary: A proof by contradiction of the theorem. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please do review if you buy, as any feedback is greatly appreciated!

A complete lesson for first teaching how to divide fractions by fractions. Activities included: Starter: A set of questions on multiplying fractions (I assume everyone would teach this before doing division). Main: Some highly visual examples of dividing by a fraction, using a form of bar modelling (more to help pupils feel comfortable with the idea of dividing a fraction by a fraction, than as a method for working them out). Examples and quick questions for pupils to try, using the standard method of flipping the fraction and multiplying. A set of straightforward questions. A challenging extension where pupils must test different combinations and try to find one that gives required answers. Plenary: An example and explanation (I wouldn’t call it a proof though) of why the standard method works. Optional worksheets (ie everything could be projected, but there are copies in case you want to print) and answers included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson for first teaching how to divide whole numbers by fractions. Activities included: Starter: A set of recap question to test if pupils can simplify improper fractions. Main: Some highly visual examples of dividing by a fraction, using bar modelling (more to help pupils feel comfortable with the idea of dividing by a fraction, than as a method for working them out). Two sets of straightforward questions, the first on dividing by a unit fraction, the second on dividing by a non-unit fraction, moving from integer answers to fractional answers. An extension where pupils investigate divisions of a certain format. Plenary: Two more related examples using bar modelling, to reinforce the logic of the method used for division by a fraction. Answers included to all tasks. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson (or maybe two) for introducing the circumference rule. Activities included: Starter: Prompts for pupils to discuss and share definitions for names of circle parts. Main: Link to an online geogebra file (no software required) that demonstrates the circumference rule. Quickfire questions to use with mini whiteboards. A worksheet of standard questions with a progression in difficulty. A set of four challenging problems in context, possibly to work on in pairs. Plenary: Pupils could discuss answers with another pair, or there could be a whole-class discussion of solutions (provided) Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review it if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson designed to first introduce the concept of angle. The lesson is very interactive, with lots of discussion tasks and no worksheets! Activities included: Starter: A link to a short video of slopestyle footage, to get pupils interested. The athlete does a lot of rotations and the commentary is relevant but amusing. The video is revisited at the end of the lesson, when pupils can hopefully understand it better! Main: Highly visual slides, activities and discussion points to introduce the concepts of angle as turn, angle between 2 lines, and different types of angle. Includes questions in real-life contexts to get pupils thinking. A fun, competitive angle estimation game, where pupils compete in pairs to give the best estimate of given angles. A link to an excellent video about why mathematicians think 360 degrees was chosen for a full turn. Could be followed up with a few related questions if there is time. (eg can you list all the factors of 360?) Plenary: Pupils re-watch the slopstyle video, and are then prompted to try to decipher some of the ridiculous names for the jumps (eg backside triple cork 1440…) Includes slide notes with suggestions on tips for use, key questions and extension tasks. No printing required for this one! Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson of more interesting problems involving perimeter. I guess they’re the kind of problems you might see in the Junior Maths Challenge. Includes opportunities for pupils to be creative and make their own questions. Activities included: Starter: A perimeter puzzle to get pupils thinking, where they make changes to shapes without effecting the perimeter. Main: A set of four perimeter problems (on one page) for pupils to work on in pairs, plus some related extension tasks that will keep the most able busy. A matching activity, where pupils match shapes with different shapes but the same perimeter, using logic. I would extend this task further by getting them to put each matching set in size order according to their areas, to address the misconception of confusing area and perimeter. Pupils are then prompted to design their own shapes where the perimeters are the same. Plenary: You could showcase some pupil designs but much better, use all of their answers to create a new matching puzzle. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson on solving two step equations of the form ax+b=c using the balancing method. Designed to come after pupils have solved using a flowchart/inverse operations. Activities included: Starter: A set of questions to check that pupils can solve one step equations using the balancing method. Main: A prompt for pupils to consider a two step equation. An animated solution to this equation, showing physical scales to help reinforce the balancing idea. An example-problem pair, to model the method and allow pupils to try. A set of questions with a variation element built in. Pupils could be extended by asking them to predict answers, or to explain the connections between answers after finishing them. A related, more challenging task of solving equations by comparing them to a given equation, plus a suggested extension task for pupils to think more mathematically and creatively. Plenary: A closer look at a question, looking at the two different balancing approaches that could be taken (see cover slide). Depending on time, pupils could go back and attempt the previous questions using the second approach. Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson of more challenging problems involving the sine rule. Designed to come after pupils have spent time on basic questions. Mistake on previous version now corrected - please contact me for an updated copy if you have already purchased this. Activities included: Starter: A set of six questions, each giving different combinations of angles and sides. Pupils have to decide which questions can be done with the sine rule. In fact they all can, the point being that questions aren’t always presented in the basic ‘opposite pairs’ format. Pupils can then answer these questions, to check they can correctly apply the sine rule. Main: A set of eight more challenging questions that pupils could work on in pairs. Each one is unique, with no examples offered, and therefore I’d class this as a problem solving lesson - pupils may need to adopt a general approach of working out what they can at first, and seeing where this takes them. Questions also require knowledge from other topics including angle rules, shape properties, bearings, and the sine graph. I’ve provided full worked answers FYI, but I would get pupils discussing answers and presenting to the class. Plenary: A prompt for pupils to reflect on possible rounding errors. Most of the questions have several steps, so it is worth getting pupils to think about how to avoid rounding errors. I’ve left each question as a full slide, but I’d print them 4-on-1 and 2-sided, so that you’d only need to print one worksheet per pair. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!

A complete lesson looking at the effect of multiplying and dividing integers and decimals by 10, 100 and 1000. Activities included: Starter: A prompt for pupils to share any ideas about what the decimal system is. Images to help pupils understand the significance of place value. Questions that could be used with mini whiteboards, to check pupils can interpret place value. Main: A worksheet where, by repeated addition, pupils investigate the effect of multipliying by 10, initially with whole numbers but later with decimals. A slide to summarise these results, followed by some more mini whiteboard questions to consolidate. A prompt for pupils to use a calculator to investigate the effect of multiplying or dividing by positive powers of 10, followed by slides to help pupils reflect on their findings, and provide notes for all pupils. A related game for pupils to play (connect 4). Plenary: A very brief, bulleted summary of the history of the decimal system and the importance of the invention of zero. Printable worksheets included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated.

A complete lesson on the graphs of sine and cosine from 0 to 360 degrees. I’ve also made complete lessons on tangent from 0 to 360 degrees and all three functions outside the range 0 to 360 degrees. Designed to come after pupils have been taught about the ratios sine, cosine and tangent in the context of right-angled triangle trigonometry. Activities included: Starter: Examples to remind pupils how to find unknown angles in a right-angled triangle (see cover slide), followed by two sets of questions; the first using sine the second using cosine. The intention is that pupils estimate using the graphs of sine and cosine rather than with calculators, to refamiliarise them with the graphs from 0 to 90 degrees. Although I’ve called this a starter, this part is key and would take a decent amount of time. I would print off the question sets and accompanying graphs as a 2-on-1 double sided worksheet. Main: Slide to define sine and cosine using the unit circle, with a hyperlink to a nice geogebra to show the graphs dynamically. Or you could get pupils to try to construct the graphs themselves by visualising. A set of related questions that I would do using mini-whiteboards, where pupils consider symmetry properties of the graphs. A mini-investigation where pupils look at angles with the same sine or cosine and look for a pattern. Plenary: An image to prompt discussion about the “usual” definition of sine and cosine (using the terminology opposite, adjacent and hypotenuse) and the fuller definition (using the unit circle) Printable worksheets and answers included. Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!