Multiply, Add, Subtract and Divide

A Maths Starter of The Day

This is a difficult Starter so there is a prize if you can complete it. The prize fund currently stands at 14 pounds.

For each pair of numbers subtract the sum from the product then divide the result by 20 ... without a calculator.

5,6
 8,9
 13,14
 12,15
18,11
 14,12
 18,13.5
 12.5,12.5

No Calculator           No Calculator           No Calculator

 

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Keywords: Starter | Mental Methods

  • Louise, Brixham
  • Monday, June 18, 2007
  • "The 14 pounds was a great motivator - after the lesson I discovered 14 pounds is a stone hahaha. I shall use this motivation again although obviously it will only work once with each group
    A good starter to get the kids working through all 4 rules of number"
  • Tony Leach, Rickmansworth
  • Friday, June 27, 2008
  • "Good challenge, and I am looking forward to receiving a heavy parcel soon!"
  • Tom Lashland, Australia
  • Monday, June 15, 2009
  • "Well, that was a surprise! I was thinking I could get easy cash but...
    I got a stone."
  • P McGinn, Kent
  • Monday, September 21, 2009
  • "The "prize" joke at the end did not go down at all well ... for a difficult starter (that can take some time) seeing a joke when promised something else can take the wind out of the sails..."

How did you use this starter? Can you suggest how teachers could present or develop this resource? Do you have any comments? It is always useful to receive feedback and helps make this free resource even more useful for Maths teachers anywhere in the world.
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Excellent, I would like to see more like this
Good, achieved the results I required
Satisfactory
Didn't really capture the interest of the students
Not for me! I wouldn't use this type of activity.

This starter has scored a mean of 2.6 out of 5 based on 27 votes.

 

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Note to teacher: Doing this activity once with a class helps students develop strategies. It is only when they do this activity a second time that they will have the opportunity to practise those strategies. That is when the learning is consolidated. Click the button above to regenerate another version of this starter from random numbers.
Computer Teacher, do your students have access to computers?
Do you have "Laptops in Lessons"?

Whether your students each have a TabletPC or share a desktop PC, this activity lends itself to eLearning (Engaged Learning).

Laptop

Here is the URL which will take them to a concise version of this page.

Transum.org/go/?Start=June27

Here is the URL which will take them to a student version of this activity.

Transum.org/go/?to=Masad