5 Quick Maths Activities about your Classroom

For numeracy week we are going to be looking at the following questions related to our classroom.  They are simple activities that have a great deal of maths to them and are pretty much suitable to any age group. 

Remember some activities can be measured informally then using formal units of measurement. There is lots of estimation involved and students really need time to ponder this. Can you imagine a prep answering, how high is the ceiling? ‘Well about the height of a giraffe!’

Enjoy

How many students (an arm’s width apart) fit around the inside edge (perimeter)of your classroom?

What is the perimeter of your classroom to the nearest metre?

How many students could stand on the classroom floor if the space was clear?

What is the area of your classroom to the nearest square metre?

How many years old is your classroom?

 What is the main view from your classroom?

What is special about your classroom?

Hundreds of Fun maths Activities - With Solutions

I came across a great collection of challenging maths tasks for students of all ages and ability.  There are literally hundreds to choose from and the best thing is there are also detailed solutions provided too.  Fun Math Facts is located here.

Online Spelling Bee Challenges your students will love

I have a couple of students in my grade that are really great spellers and are keen to partake in a spelling bee to test out their ability.  I have found a few online sites for them to try to sharpen their skills that you might like to try with your own students.

Interactives Spelling bee has challenges for all year levels and is a great starting point.

The Times Spelling Bee Challenge is a bit of a step up in difficulty and will even challenge English Teachers.

Spelling Bee the Game - Based on the movie and is a great interactive challenge for the kids.  This is for your freakishly good spellers only.

Anyhow Good luck and let me know if you come across any others.

Weekly Maths Extension Tasks for Upper Students

I am currently trying to find a good series of maths tasks that I can give to my upper maths students to really challenge them at home and am not really having a great deal of luck.  I did however come across a great site here that has some extension activities correlated to everyday maths curriculum. 

Hold the Phone I just found 2 more good ones

mathschallenge.net

University of Washington Challenge of the week

And here are 2 more additions

http://mathematicsstarters.wordpress.com/challenges/

http://mathbits.com/caching/mathcachedirectionsopen.html

I would love to hear of any that you know of and will definitely share them here.

Maths Magic: What is the sum of all numbers 1 thru 100 inclusive?

I heard this on the radio tonight and thought what a great maths activity for my kids tomorrow.  Give it some thought and then click this link for the answer.  Seems ridiculously easy once you see it done.

Tutpup - Live Online Maths and Spelling Comps

For those of you who have been involved with mathletics and  seen the great competive elements it brings out in kids to master number facts against others from around the world then Tutpup is a prodct in a simialr vein allowing you to register your students to compete in a range of maths and spelling comptitions live.  This is a great site for younger students and those who struggle with basic number facts and there is even an algebra challenge for the older and hopefully wiser student.  It is available here.