Maths Puzzles for KS3/KS4

Rob Apperley and Gill Colley

HTML resource

Jul 08

978 1 84070 793 9

Ideal to use as starters
Suitable for all abilities
Encourages discussion

Develop investigative skills

Finding ways to motivate students and to get them to think for themselves can be difficult. The opportunities for analytical thought in KS3 and KS4/GCSE mathematics may be further limited now that coursework is no longer required at GCSE.

Maths Puzzles for KS3/KS4 is designed to help students think laterally and analytically. Ideal for use with students who lack motivation, the resource contains over 80 activities of the following types:

Number puzzles
Visual puzzles
Shape puzzles
Tricks with numbers
Tricks with words
Open-ended puzzles
Algorithmic puzzles
Riddles
Optical illusions.

Flexible use

The activities could be used:

as starters or plenaries
for group work
for whole class discussion
as the basis for investigations
as exam practice
for out-of-school learning
for competitions or end-of-term quizzes.

Maths Puzzles for KS3/KS4 is sold with a full site licence, so everyone in your department can benefit. Full teaching notes are included, and the material can readily be used by non-specialist teachers or cover supervisors.

Encourage lateral thinking

Aimed at KS3 and KS4/GCSE students, the activities can be tackled by students of all abilities. Often the path to the solution is not structured or specified; some puzzles have more than one correct answer. The activities can therefore help to:

develop dialogue between students and between student and teacher
foster analytical thinking
create an atmosphere of healthy competition
provide a welcome sense of enjoyment.

Even students who are normally disengaged can be readily involved – and even enthused.

Ready-to-use resources

Each activity is:

referenced to the 2008 National Curriculum at KS3 and KS4
available as a worksheet to print out and distribute to students
available as a presentation to display on an interactive whiteboard
accompanied by teacher’s notes and answers where appropriate.

Introduction
Number
Fractions, ratio, proportion
Algebra
Logic
Spatial puzzles
Trick questions
Optical illusions
Resources