A polygon of side length two is shown with a circle circumscribing its vertices. A second circle is shown with the sides of the polygon tangential to the circle. The challenge is to calculate...

On December 15th 2015 European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake launched on the six month Principia mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Principia was named after Isaac Newton’s Naturalis Principia Mathematica, describing the principal laws of motion and gravity.

The education and inspiration of...

Standards Unit: Improving Learning in Mathematics professional development materials. Features notes and presentations describing the active learning approaches.

Getting started To encourage participants to: * reflect on their current assumptions, beliefs, and teaching practices; * consider...

This lesson develops the concept of producing and evaluating geometrical proofs. In particular students work on:

• Interpreting diagrams
• Identifying mathematical knowledge relevant to an argument
• Linking visual and algebraic representations
• Producing and evaluating mathematical...

This maths in construction resource looks at Pythagoras’ Theorem and the importance of right angles in construction. The activity is supplemented by worksheet-based calculations and links to careers in Quantity Surveying and Construction Site Manager.

The initial challenge is to attempt to draw a quadrilateral that does not tessellate. There is a Geogebra file included with the resources that will help demonstrate the impossibility of the...

A rectangle is presented. The length of a diagonal is marked. The sides of the rectangle are given in terms of expressions in x. The challenge is to determine the value of x. Solving the problem involves the use of Pythagoras’ theorem which then gives rise to a quadratic with...

This series of short tasks is designed to assess how well students understand proportional reasoning in practical contexts. The contexts featured include:

• Relating a photograph to its negative
• Water used by a washing machine
• Coffee powder and cups of coffee made
• Stamp...

Tunnelworks is a series of teaching and learning resources linking mathematics and science to the Thames Tideway Tunnel project, a major new sewer that will help protect the River Thames from increasing pollution. Background to the project is given in the ...

This scheme of work, produced by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), allows students to investigate environmental issues in the context of the design and operation of a new school. Students are introduced to the concept of recycling and then apply their...

This lesson develops the concept of combining transformations. In particular students will:

• Recognise and visualise transformations of 2D shapes
• Translate, reflect and rotate shapes, and combine these transformations
• Discuss some common misconceptions about transformations
...