Mental calculations

This group activity will encourage you to share calculation strategies and to think about which strategy might be the most efficient.

What happens when you add the digits of a number then multiply the result by 2 and you keep doing this? You could try for different numbers and different rules.

Tom and Ben visited Numberland. Use the maps to work out the number of points each of their routes scores.

Can you use the information to find out which cards I have used?

In this game the winner is the first to make the total 37. Is this a fair game?

Can you complete this calculation by filling in the missing numbers? In how many different ways can you do it?

Can you work out some different ways to balance this equation?

Have a go at balancing this equation. Can you find different ways of doing it?

Can you match these calculation methods to their visual representations?

Can you put these four calculations into order of difficulty? How did you decide?