Tag Archives: worksheet

263. Percentages Tick or Trash

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To quote a famous DIY company from the UK, this post ‘Does exactly what it says on the tin’!

ronsealImage credit: www.ronseal.co.uk

Here is a tick or trash worksheet on percentages, including a couple of tricky ones:

Percentages Tick or Trash inc solution

I usually tick these worksheets until I find a mistake. I then tell the student to have a rethink. Obviously the correct answer is the other option, but the working out will need to be corrected. I also do not tell them how many of the remaining questions are actually correct – they then recheck these before I mark it again.

The only difference with this worksheet is that students have space for working out – no more guessing! The extension task asks students to try and figure out where the wrong (misconception) answers come from – that can be quite tricky and tests their understanding.

241. Histogram Hysteria

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Are you fed up of explaining the difference between a histogram and a bar graph/chart?

Cheer up! Help is at hand…

I teach a class of bright students with very little self-belief in their abilities and total fear of leaving their comfort zone. Instead of telling them what to do and set page X of textbook Y, I let them tell me what was going on and let them take small steps. After all, you wouldn’t take a beginner climber up the North face of the Eiger, would you?

Let us begin:

Download this simple comparison file: What is a Histogram? (pdf)

First I gave the students individual time to write down what they observed. They then compared their answers in pairs/threes. Finally, I collected their observations together on the board (where I had projected up the comparison worksheet).

This hands on approach allowed the students to understand how a histogram is constructed. There were fewer students thinking that histograms are just bar-charts where the bars touch.

Download the step by step worksheet: Histogram calculations step by step

(Alternatively you can download the worksheet with RAG123 self-assessment at the end: Histogram calculations step by step RAG123 )

This worksheet allows students to get the feel for calculating frequency densities without stress. The instructions are gradually removed, until students are just working from a data source. Then students practise drawing histograms.

It is also a handy revision resource – my students referred back to this worksheet when they were stuck in subsequent lessons, rather than ask me!

232. Steps in Volume

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This is a quick little post to give you a nifty little resource inspired by the ideas of Bruno Reddy (@MrReddyMaths). I suggest you visit his website at: http://mrreddy.com/.

Sphere cone pyramid

Image Credit: http://k12math.com/math-concepts/algebra/volumes/volumes.htm

I’ve been teaching my class how to calculate the volume of spheres, cones and pyramids. They really like these staged worksheets. You could print them out as they are, but I personally print them as A5 booklets which fit into their books.

Volume of Sphere Cone Cylinder (pdf)

129. A pie without a stab wound

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A pie? Without a stab wound? What craziness is this?

image

From a cook’s perspective this pie divider is a great way to cut pie and not stab yourself. Google ‘pie divider’ for other genius/bonkers ideas.

But … back to school:

Imagine you are teaching pie charts. You’ve discussed what they are about, how to calculate angles, you may even have used the earlier blog post on Human Pie Charts. The class settle down to apply all their knowledge, when the floodgates open:

  • ‘What’s that thingy you draw circles with?’
  • ‘My pencil doesn’t fit in my compasses?’
  • ‘I haven’t got a compass.’ (Do you mean pair of compasses?)
  • ‘I did have a compass (!), but Mr X took it off me in Y.’ (Why?) ‘ I was stabbing Z with it!’
  • ‘My compasses keep going wiggly’
  • ‘I’ve made a hole in my book’
  • ‘I forgot to mark where I put the point bit’
  • …..etc

By the time all this is sorted out, all their shiny new knowledge has shrivelled away.

 

A helping hand

To assist with this issue, I’ve put together an A4 sheet of 6 piechart templates that you could enlarge on a copier. They’ll get you through the first pie-chart drawing lesson and set you up for
Round 2:

‘You know that pointy thing you told us to bring to this lesson and I even wrote it in my homework planner well I had one in my new geometry set aren’t you impressed that I finally bought one but my mum said I had to lend it to my brother for his test and he’s only just given it back and he’s wrecked it and he said he’ll get me a new one but he doesn’t get paid until next Saturday and he’ll forget but that’s the reason …I haven’t got a compass(!) today.