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Systematic Listing Strategies

Apply systematic listing strategies to find the number of combinations and permutations of choices.

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 Exam-Style Description Help More...

This is level 1: practical listing activities.

The activities are listed roughly in order of difficulty. Click on the image to start the activity.

Snake Sort

Snake Sort

Sort the coloured snakes in a logical order. This activity introduces systematic listing.

Ice-cream Combinations

Ice-cream Combinations

How many two-scoop ice creams can you make from the given flavours?

Misfits

Misfits

A Misfit is a character with a head, body and legs. How many different Misfits can you create?

Take Baht

Take Baht

How many different ways can you make a given total with Thai coins?

Six Keys

Six Keys

Use just six keys on your calculator to make a given total. How many different ways can it be done?

How Many Triangles?

How Many Triangles?

A self marking step by step approach to calculating the number of triangles in a design.

Striped Sweets

Striped Sweets

Learn how to be systematic by colouring the sweet wrappers so that no two are the same.

Xmas Tree Trim

Xmas Tree Trim

Use the lights provided to decorate each of the Christmas trees so that no two trees are the same.

This is Systematic Listing Strategies level 1. You can also try:
Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7

Instructions

Try your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help.

When you have got all of the questions correct you may want to print out this page and paste it into your exercise book. If you keep your work in an ePortfolio you could take a screen shot of your answers and paste that into your Maths file.

Why am I learning this?

Mathematicians are not the people who find Maths easy; they are the people who enjoy how mystifying, puzzling and hard it is. Are you a mathematician?

Comment recorded on the 19 October 'Starter of the Day' page by E Pollard, Huddersfield:

"I used this with my bottom set in year 9. To engage them I used their name and favorite football team (or pop group) instead of the school name. For homework, I asked each student to find a definition for the key words they had been given (once they had fun trying to guess the answer) and they presented their findings to the rest of the class the following day. They felt really special because the key words came from their own personal information."

Comment recorded on the 8 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Mr Smith, West Sussex, UK:

"I am an NQT and have only just discovered this website. I nearly wet my pants with joy.
To the creator of this website and all of those teachers who have contributed to it, I would like to say a big THANK YOU!!! :)."

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Featured Activity

Strategy Games

Strategy Games

We have collected together lots of strategy games for you to enjoy. Many of them have mathematical principles involved in their design so would make a good activity for a Mathematics lesson.

Answers

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Go Maths

Learning and understanding Mathematics, at every level, requires learner engagement. Mathematics is not a spectator sport. Sometimes traditional teaching fails to actively involve students. One way to address the problem is through the use of interactive activities and this web site provides many of those. The Go Maths page is an alphabetical list of free activities designed for students in Secondary/High school.

Maths Map

Are you looking for something specific? An exercise to supplement the topic you are studying at school at the moment perhaps. Navigate using our Maths Map to find exercises, puzzles and Maths lesson starters grouped by topic.

Teachers

If you found this activity useful don't forget to record it in your scheme of work or learning management system. The short URL, ready to be copied and pasted, is as follows:

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Description of Levels

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Level 1 - Practical listing activities

Level 2 - Find missing items and errors

Level 3 - The product rule for counting

Level 4 - Find the number of arrangements

Level 5 - Standard permutation questions

Level 6 - Standard combinations questions

Level 7 - Mixed combinatorics questions

Exam Style questions are in the style of GCSE or IB/A-level exam paper questions and worked solutions are available for Transum subscribers.

More on this topic including lesson Starters, visual aids and investigations.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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Example

You may also want to use a calculator to check your working. See Calculator Workout skill 14.

Don't wait until you have finished the exercise before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

Log in Sign up

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