Comparing and ordering numbers

problem
Giants

Age

16 to 18

Challenge level

Which is the bigger, 9^10 or 10^9 ? Which is the bigger, 99^100 or 100^99 ?
problem
Greetings

Age

11 to 14

Challenge level

From a group of any 4 students in a class of 30, each has exchanged Christmas cards with the other three. Show that some students have exchanged cards with all the other students in the class. How many such students are there?
problem
Birthday cakes

Age

5 to 7

Challenge level

Jack's mum bought some candles to use on his birthday cakes and when his sister was born, she used them on her cakes too. Can you use the information to find out when Kate was born?
problem
Making sticks

Age

5 to 7

Challenge level

Kimie and Sebastian were making sticks from interlocking cubes and lining them up. Can they make their lines the same length? Can they make any other lines?
problem
Missing middles

Age

5 to 7

Challenge level

Can you work out the domino pieces which would go in the middle in each case to complete the pattern of these eight sets of three dominoes?
problem
Fair exchange

Age

5 to 7

Challenge level

In your bank, you have three types of coins. The number of spots shows how much they are worth. Can you choose coins to exchange with the groups given to make the same total?
problem
Buzzy bee

Age

5 to 7

Challenge level

Buzzy Bee was building a honeycomb. She decorated the honeycomb with a pattern using numbers. Can you discover Buzzy's pattern and fill in the empty cells for her?
problem
Worms

Age

7 to 11

Challenge level

Place this "worm" on the 100 square and find the total of the four squares it covers. Keeping its head in the same place, what other totals can you make?
article
Lucky numbers

This article for pupils explores what makes numbers special or lucky, and looks at the numbers that are all around us every day.
article
Calendar activities

Don't get rid of your old calendars! You can get a lot more mathematical mileage out of them before they are thrown away. These activities, using cut up dates from the calendar, provide numbers to practise skills that may be in need of review after a holiday break.