Abundant Buses

Enyoy doing mathematics with every bus number you see.

Abundent Bus

14

Abundent Bus

14

Challenge

Each time a bus comes into view write down the following about the bus number:

Double it, halve it, square it
then write down its factors.

The challenge is to do all of this before the next bus appears!

[Choose this]

Game

Player 1 doubles the bus number.
Player 2 adds up its factors.

Whoever gets the largest total wins.

Play the game with a friend.

[Choose this]

Drill

Each time a bus comes into view the teacher gives an instruction such as:

"Write down the fifth multiple of this bus number."
"Write down the square root of this bus number."
"Write down one tenth of this bus number."
"Subtract this bus number from one."

[Choose this]

Add-ictive

Keep a running total of the bus numbers in your head!

Stand up as soon as the total exceeds 100 or is equal to a square number.

Do it in silence or chant the totals together.

[Choose this]

A Mathematics Lesson Starter Of The Day

Starter of The Day Transum Mathematics Topics


Topics: Starter | Arithmetic | Factors | Mental Methods | Mixed | Number

  • J F, Soar Valley Leicester
  •  
  • Used this to introduce perfect numbers much more effective than last months version of same topic. it also gave us the opportunity to revise factor trees , rules of divisibility etc
    great .
    Worked well with both year 7 and year 8.
  • Transum,
  •  
  • The idea for this activity came from a personal learning experience that worked brilliantly. When I first moved to Thailand to teach at a British international school, I set myself the task of mastering Thai numbers. Whenever I was stuck in Bangkok traffic, or travelling as a passenger in a taxi or bus, I would look out for passing buses and say their numbers in Thai. It turned otherwise wasted time into focused practice, gave me something useful to concentrate on, and, over time, it worked ... I became pretty good at Thai numbers.

    Could this approach transfer to mathematics and numeracy? Today’s Starter tries exactly that. It serves up an endless stream of bus numbers and invites you to run short, repeatable routines on them. The focus is on quick mathematical operations that build fluency and number sense, turning idle moments into meaningful practice.

    Why this works: Turning spare moments into micro-practice helps build automaticity. Short, frequent repetitions strengthen recall and confidence, and the changing numbers keep attention fresh without needing long explanations.

    Try it now: Glance at any two or three-digit number you can see around you and choose a quick routine: add the digits, find the difference between the largest and smallest digit, check for divisibility by 3, or square the last digit and add it to the rest. Time yourself for 60 seconds and see how many you can do, then challenge yourself to beat that score later in the day.

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.
Click here to enter your comments.

Previous Day | This starter is for 28 April | Next Day

Answers

Bus
Number		 Double Factors Sum of Factors Winner
1 2 1 1 Player 1
2 4 1 2 3 Player 1
3 6 1 3 4 Player 1
4 8 1 2 4 7 Player 1
5 10 1 5 6 Player 1
6 12 1 2 3 6 12 Draw
7 14 1 7 8 Player 1
8 16 1 2 4 8 15 Player 1
9 18 1 3 9 13 Player 1
10 20 1 2 5 10 18 Player 1
11 22 1 11 12 Player 1
12 24 1 2 3 4 6 12 28 Player 2
13 26 1 13 14 Player 1
14 28 1 2 7 14 24 Player 1
15 30 1 3 5 15 24 Player 1
16 32 1 2 4 8 16 31 Player 1
17 34 1 17 18 Player 1
18 36 1 2 3 6 9 18 39 Player 2
19 38 1 19 20 Player 1
20 40 1 2 4 5 10 20 42 Player 2
21 42 1 3 7 21 32 Player 1
22 44 1 2 11 22 36 Player 1
23 46 1 23 24 Player 1
24 48 1 2 3 4 6 8 12 24 60 Player 2
25 50 1 5 25 31 Player 1

It is better to be Player 1! It is much easier to double a number than work out the factors and add them up and as you can see Player 1 is more likely to win.

Player 2 will only win when the bus number is an "abundant number". What is the next abundant number after 24?

List of solutions up to 1000

Extension

Imagine you are the driver of a bus that begins its route with twelve passengers.

At the first stop one person gets off the bus and five people get on.

At the second stop two people get off the bus and seven people get on.

At the third stop nine people get off the bus and six people get on.

At the fourth stop one third of the passengers get off.

What is the name of the bus driver?

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Laptops In Lessons

Teacher, do your students have access to computers such as tablets, iPads or Laptops?  This page was really designed for projection on a whiteboard but if you really want the students to have access to it here is a concise URL for a version of this page without the comments:

Transum.org/go/?Start=April28

However it would be better to assign one of the student interactive activities below.

Laptops In Lessons

Here is the URL which will take them to a great game which reinforces similar numeracy skills.

Transum.org/go/?to=remainder

Student Activity

Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

Extension Answer

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