Using A Calculator

There are 366 different Starters of The Day, many to choose from. You will find below some starters on the topic of Using A Calculator. A lesson starter does not have to be on the same topic as the main part of the lesson or the topic of the previous lesson. It is often very useful to revise or explore other concepts by using a starter based on a totally different area of Mathematics.

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Using A Calculator Starters:

Balloon Bursting Buttons

Use only the 1, 5 and 0 keys on a calculator to make given totals.

Big Order

Estimate or calculate then put the large numbers in order of size.

Breathe Easily

How many breaths have you taken in your lifetime?

Broken Calculator (3 and 4)

Some keys are missing from this calculator. Just how useful is it?

Calc-A-Hundred

A game for two players requiring a calculator and thinking skills.

Calculator Nim

A game in which players take turns to add a single-digit number to what is already in the calculator. The winner is the player who makes the display show 30.

Digital Lights

Questions about the Small LEDs used to make up the digits on a calculator display.

Divided Age

How old is a person if when her age is divided by certain numbers, the calculator display ending are as shown.

Faulty Button

Find out which of the calculator keys is faulty from the given information. A mathematical puzzle requiring good problem solving strategies.

Four Gone

An activity involving a broken calculator which is missing the four button. Can you evaluate the given expressions without using the four?

Inbetweens

Find fractions between two given values.

Noodlewhack

Divide one whole number by another on your calculator. If the answer has one digit repeated but no other digits you have a Noodlewhack.

Only One Number

Find other numbers that can be changed to 1 on a calculator using only the 4 key and any operation.

Recurring Decimal

Use your calculator to find which whole number divided by another whole number gives a recurring decimal.

Render Digitful

Find a calculation for the current year which uses all of the digits 1 to 9.

Six Discrimination

An activity involving a calculator which is missing the six button. Can you evaluate the given expressions without using the six?

Six Keys

Use just six calculator keys to make a total of 20. In how many different ways can it be done?

Top Transfer

Beginning with 100 on your calculator, what is the largest and smallest totals you can end up with after travelling through each of the possible routes.

 

Exercises

Animated Calculator

Animated Calculator

A visual aid calculator for projection onto a whiteboard or use in remote teaching.

BIDMAS

BIDMAS

A self marking exercise testing the application of BIDMAS, an acronym describing the order of operations used when evaluating expressions.

Broken Calculator

Broken Calculator

Some of the buttons are missing from this calculator. Can you make the totals from 1 to 20?

Calculator Words

Calculator Words

Turn your calculator upside down to make words out of the answers to these questions.

Calculator Workout

Calculator Workout

An animated guide to using a scientific calculator for Secondary and High School students.

Compound Interest Calculator

Compound Interest Calculator

A customised online calculator for quickly finding the solutions to compound interest problems.

Consecutive Numbers

Consecutive Numbers

Find the consective numbers that are added or multiplied to give the given totals

Inverse Trig Calculator

Inverse Trig Calculator

This calculator is designed to find all of the angles for a given trigonometric ratio and show them on a graph.

Make 1000

Make 1000

Use the numbers on the strange calculator to make a total of 1000

Make an expression

Make an expression

Use the digits given to form an expression equivalent to the given total.

Normal Distribution Calculator

Normal Distribution Calculator

A customised online calculator for quickly finding areas under the normal distribution curve.

Six Discrimination

Six Discrimination

The six button has dropped off! How could these calculations be done using this calculator?

Six Keys

Six Keys

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

TI-Nspire Essential Skills

TI-Nspire Essential Skills

Learn a skill a day for 20 days in order to get the most out of this graphic display calculator.

Triangle Solver

Triangle Solver

Provide and three measurements for a triangle and this application will work out the remaining sides, angles and area.

Using A Calculator

Using A Calculator

Questions to test your ability to use a basic calculator, scientific calculator and a graphic display calculator.

 

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