nrich – rich mathematical tasks
I thought it time to share some of the resources that I use frequently and perhaps I take for granted. 1st up, nrich:
nrich is a great UK website that is chock full of rich mathematical problems suitable for pupils from 5-19.
The website has a teacher or pupil view. Following the link to the teacher section gives you the option of searching by ability range, looking at various curriculum mapping documents and looking at the monthly problems. Each month a new set of problems are added and answers are invited from the public. This can be good incentive for pupil completion, promise to send in the best examples! Puzzles are split into 5 stages, these nominally follow the UK Key Stages, 1 being early primary school up to 5 being A-Level.
I sometimes use these as homeworks, group tasks, extension tasks. They really can be used to spice up any lesson. These puzzles and challenges fit in well with the new KS3 National Curriculum.
So get searching, there’s bound to a puzzle you can use for the topic you are teaching tomorrow!
EDIT: For reference the Stages follow the UK Key Stages:
- KS1 = 4-6 yrs
- KS2 = 7-11 yrs
- KS3 = 11-14 yrs
- KS4 = 14-16 yrs
- KS5 = 16-18 yrs
I tend to mix & match as appropriate to each class, searching by topic first and selecting a puzzle appropriate t0 their ability next.