A function machine interactive whiteboard resource.  Children seem to enjoy the concept of the numbers going through a process to be converted on a function machine.  Borrowing a graphical style from computer games this function machine IWB resource lets you set one or two function machines.  Click on the number and it will go through the function machine conversion process.  If the number is on the left it will move right going through the process to become the output.  If it is on the right the process will be reversed to go back to the input number.

The single blue button brings up a control panel.  From here you can determine the input numbers’ start value.  The number of functions lets you toggle between one or two function machines.  The hide details lets you disguise the the functions, input numbers and operations.  Of course, this means that while you can hide all of this from your class you’ll have to count your clicks to know what you are entering.  The numbers are also reset by opening and closing the panel.

To enable the whole class to work along with the IWB resource there are a couple of printable resources in a similar style.  On these the students can enter the start numbers and then the finish numbers after the process is complete and try to predict what the functions are.

On a technical note the particle effects in this resource may be a strain for older computers especially on larger numbers which don’t really suit the resource but are possible as outputs.  While the resource is new please check that any combination of numbers you wish to use in lesson work okay as there is quite a lot going on behind the scenes of this resource and it is impossible for all of the combinations of numbers and actions to be checked for bugs.  If you notice any problems or graphical glitches please comment with problem, the numbers that the problem was caused by, an if you know it, your screen resolution.  Other comments are welcome too.

Go to interactive whiteboard resource.

Single function machine printable resource.

Double function machine printable resource.

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An excellent book for finding interesting maths challenges for students is Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities.  They can be used for setting tasks that combine areas of maths knowledge and they also highlight to students that maths questions aren’t solved in seconds but require devising strategies to solve them.  They are superb for developing deeper thinking skills.

One task in the book is called New Merology originally developed by Lee Sallows.  The interactive whiteboard resource here supports demonstrating this puzzle to students.    The challenge is to find a unique value for each of the letters in the spellings  of the words zero to twelve so  that when added up they equal the value of the word in which they are in.  So the number chosen for the letter “O” added to the number chosen for the letter “N” added to the letter chosen for the letter “E” must add up to 1.  Of course the letters appear in other words so by picking a value for “N” you also have an impact on the sum of the letters in “T+E+N”. 

The resource allows you to chose a letter then select its value by dragging the red marker across the top. If any of the values you have chosen are duplicated a warning will show.  The resource will also sum the values for each word.  While this resource could be used to aid in the solving of the problem a more effective use is to just use it to demonstrate the problem to the class and to use it to discuss different approaches to the problem as it avoids lengthy recalculations when a value is changed.  The student’s maths skills will be improved more if they work at the puzzle manually.  This puzzle will then give them a practical application for their skills in adding negative numbers as well as the deeper thinking skills involved.  A printable resource is also available below to give a structure to the puzzle.  It may be useful to laminate the print out so that students can use non-permanent markers to to write with and rub out as they change values.

The solution will not be included here as it is available in the book  Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities
and the intention here isn’t to take anything away from the book but rather support its use in the classroom.  The range of values used in the solution is from -7 to 11 as shown in the resource.

Go to interactive whiteboard resource.

Get printable resource.

To help you flesh out a lesson using this resouce and the benefits it has on learning there is a supprting article on teacherledplus.com.

Report any problems in the comments.  Also, do you find resources such as this interesting  or are the more usual teaching resources more useful?

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A number line designed for the interactive whiteboard.   Scroll along the number line by dragging the bottom bar.  Give it a flick and the physics will help get you to where you want, taking the chore out of a long scrolling number line.  This can also be used to select a random part of the number line as it will bounce back when it gets to the end.

Two number lines can be on screen to assist with teaching functions and number mapping.  The instructions can be selected by the teacher to give the class a visual reference when taking part in class questioning.  The number lines can be annotated with the built in screen writer and they will move along with the number lines.  Tap on an annotation to remove it click clear to remove all of the annotations.  Use the 1 or 2 button to select whether to show 1 or 2 number lines.

This is resource is as much an attempt to gauge how popular the physics driven interface on the IWB is as anything else.  It seems more natural to have real world responses on an interface you can drive by touch.  Think how you would find a country on a large globe.  Please leave comments and suggestions about the resource and regarding how you found the interface on an IWB.

Go to interactive whiteboard resource.

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This learning resource allows the teacher to demonstrate algebraic substitution.  Different values for n can be chosen.  Students can then be asked to come to the interactive whiteboard to input an answer.  The answer can be immediately checked by the resource.

Go to learning resource

Get instructions

Buttons
Keypad: To allow entry from the interactive whiteboard the keypad can be used to enter answers.  The computer keyboard can also be used.
n=:  Click the empty rectangle next to n= to select the textbox to enter the value of n to be used.  Clicking this also clears all answers entered so far.
Empty Rectangles: Below each expression is an empty rectangle.  Click this to select which answer to attempt.  Clicking it will clear whatever is already in the box.
Check: After entering an answer the student can click this button to see if the answer was correct.  The cross or tick will illuminate to give the result.

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Three teaching resources for maths lessons teaching graphs and coordinates.  Mark coordinates and join them with lines using the interactive whiteboard.  A one quadrant, two quadrant and four quadrant graph.  Choose one of the three following links for the different resources.

Go to one quadrant graph

Go to two quadrant graph

Go to four quadrant graph

Get instructions

Click any whole number coordinate to mark it with a cross. 
If the Draw Line button is not highlighted tapping a cross will remove it.  If the Draw Line button is highlighted tapping a cross will turn it red.  This is the beginning point of a line.  Tap another cross for a line to be drawn to connect them.  Once a line has been drawn it can be removed by tapping it.
Clear All removes all lines and crosses.

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