Transum Maths Software

Combinations

There are 366 different Starters of The Day, many to choose from. You will find in the left column below some starters on the topic of Combinations. In the right column below are links to related online activities, videos and teacher resources.

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.

Main Page

Combinations Starters:

Bus Stop: How many different ways can four people stand in line?

How Many Squares? 2: How many squares can be found by joining four dots on the grid?

How Many Triangles? 1: How many Triangles can you find in the diagram?

How Many Triangles? 2: How many triangles are hidden in the pattern? What strategy might you use to count them all to ensure you don't miss any out?

How Many Triangles? 3: Find a systematic way of counting the number of triangles in the given diagram.

Ice Cream: How many different ice cream cones can be made by choosing two scoops from six flavours?

Noughts and Crosses: In how many different ways can the first X and O by placed on the grid?

Snowman and Woman: How many different ways can you spell out the word snowman by moving from snowflake to snowflake.

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

Tran's Hats: In how many different ways might Tran decide to wear his hats in one week?

 

Small images of these Starters ::  Index of Starters


Combinations Advanced Starters:

Back To The Factory: Find all the numbers below 1000 which have exactly 20 factors

Nine Digit Numbers: How many different nine digit numbers are their that contain each of the digits from one to nine?

Restrained Flea: How many different places could the flea find itself after 8 foot-long jumps either north, south, east or west?

Vowel Code: How many ways can you create a code for the vowels by assigning to each vowel a different vowel?

Index of Advanced Starters


Suggested

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.

The short web address is:

Transum.org/go/?to=xmastrim

 

Curriculum for Combinations:

Year 6

Pupils should be taught to enumerate possibilities of combinations of two variables. more...

Years 10 and 11

Pupils should be taught to apply systematic listing strategies, {including use of the product rule for counting} more...

Years 12 and 13

Pupils should be taught to understand and use the binomial expansion of (a + bx)n for positive integer n; the notations n! and nCr link to binomial probabilities. Extend to any rational n, including its use for approximation more...

Exam-Style Questions:

There are almost a thousand exam-style questions unique to the Transum website.

Feedback:

Comment recorded on the 2 April 'Starter of the Day' page by Mrs Wilshaw, Dunsten Collage,Essex:

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"An absolutely brilliant resource. Only recently been discovered but is used daily with all my classes. It is particularly useful when things can be saved for further use. Thank you!"

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"This is an excellent website. We all often use the starters as the pupils come in the door and get settled as we take the register."

Comment recorded on the 18 September 'Starter of the Day' page by Mrs. Peacock, Downe House School and Kennet School:

"My year 8's absolutely loved the "Separated Twins" starter. I set it as an optional piece of work for my year 11's over a weekend and one girl came up with 3 independant solutions."

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"I have used your starters for 3 years now and would not have a lesson without one! Fantastic way to engage the pupils at the start of a lesson."

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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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"This is a great memory aid which could be used for formulae or key facts etc - in any subject area. The PICTURE is such an aid to remembering where each number or group of numbers is - my pupils love it!
Thanks"

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"Excellent. Thank you very much for a fabulous set of starters. I use the 'weekenders' if the daily ones are not quite what I want. Brilliant and much appreciated."

Comment recorded on the 1 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Phil Anthony, Head of Maths, Stourport High School:

"What a brilliant website. We have just started to use the 'starter-of-the-day' in our yr9 lessons to try them out before we change from a high school to a secondary school in September. This is one of the best resources on-line we have found. The kids and staff love it. Well done an thank you very much for making my maths lessons more interesting and fun."

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."

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Best wishes from Inger Kisby"

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"Very good starters, help pupils settle very well in maths classroom."

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I love you website I use it every maths lesson I have with every year group! I don't know were I would turn to with out you!"

Comment recorded on the 10 April 'Starter of the Day' page by Mike Sendrove, Salt Grammar School, UK.:

"A really useful set of resources - thanks. Is the collection available on CD? Are solutions available?"

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"I think this is a brilliant website as all the students enjoy doing the puzzles and it is a brilliant way to start a lesson."

Comment recorded on the 1 February 'Starter of the Day' page by Terry Shaw, Beaulieu Convent School:

"Really good site. Lots of good ideas for starters. Use it most of the time in KS3."

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Thanks again"

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Comment recorded on the 12 July 'Starter of the Day' page by Miss J Key, Farlingaye High School, Suffolk:

"Thanks very much for this one. We developed it into a whole lesson and I borrowed some hats from the drama department to add to the fun!"

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"I am thankful for providing such wonderful starters. They are of immence help and the students enjoy them very much. These starters have saved my time and have made my lessons enjoyable."

Comment recorded on the 19 November 'Starter of the Day' page by Lesley Sewell, Ysgol Aberconwy, Wales:

"A Maths colleague introduced me to your web site and I love to use it. The questions are so varied I can use them with all of my classes, I even let year 13 have a go at some of them. I like being able to access Starters for the whole month so I can use favourites with classes I see at different times of the week. Thanks."

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Comment recorded on the 2 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Angela Lowry, :

"I think these are great! So useful and handy, the children love them.
Could we have some on angles too please?"

Comment recorded on the s /Coordinate 'Starter of the Day' page by Greg, Wales:

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Comment recorded on the 26 March 'Starter of the Day' page by Julie Reakes, The English College, Dubai:

"It's great to have a starter that's timed and focuses the attention of everyone fully. I told them in advance I would do 10 then record their percentages."

Comment recorded on the 11 January 'Starter of the Day' page by S Johnson, The King John School:

"We recently had an afternoon on accelerated learning.This linked really well and prompted a discussion about learning styles and short term memory."

Notes:

"A combination is a way of selecting several things out of a larger group, where (unlike permutations) order does not matter. In smaller cases it is possible to count the number of combinations. For example given three fruit, say an apple, orange and pear, there are three combinations of two that can be drawn from this set: an apple and a pear; an apple and an orange; or a pear and an orange." - Wikipedia

In Primary school pupils should practise sorting and grouping items noting similarities and differences. They should develop strategies for finding all the ways a small number of items can be arranged so that missing or duplicates can be found quickly.

By the end of Secondary school pupils will have learnt the formulas for combinations and permutations and apply them when solving probability problems.

Combinations Teacher Resources:

Ice-cream Combinations: How many two-scoop ice creams can you make from the given flavours?

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

Combinations Activities:

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

Ice-cream Combinations: How many two-scoop ice creams can you make from the given flavours?

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

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

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

How Many Triangles?: A self marking step by step approach to calculating the number of triangles in a design.

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

Triplets: Find as many sets of three of the available numbers as possible which add up to the given total.

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

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

Scouts in Boats: Arrange a rota for the Scouts to travel in boats so that they are with different people each day.

Combinations Investigations:

Egg Box Investigation: In how many different ways can two eggs be arranged in an egg box?

Design a badge: How many different badges can you make using three different coloured squares put together to make a rectangle?

Transum Club: How many different colour schemes can you devise for the Transum Club Badge.

Traffic Jams: How many ways can three cars be lined up in a traffic jam?

House Painting: The houses in Mathsland are all three storeys tall. Each storey is painted using one colour. How many ways can the houses be painted?

Odd Dice: Take three dice. How many ways can they be turned so that they show only odd numbers on top?

Combinations Videos:

Combinations video
Transum's Combinations Video


Listing Strategies: Making a list in a logical order will help you avoid repetition and omission when finding combinations and permutations.

Permutations: A video lesson on Permutations, calculating them using the counting principle and the nPr formula.

Combinations and Permutations: Learn how to tell the difference between permutations and combinations and use the formulae to answer questions.

The Counting Principle: The Counting Principle, Permutations, and Combinations. A fast paced, clearly illustrated video.

Combinations Worksheets/Printables:

Snowman Worksheet: This printable may help pupils work out how many different ways there are to spell snowman on the snow flake grid.

Combinations External Links:

Links to other websites containing resources for Combinations are provided for those logged into 'Transum Mathematics'. Subscribing also opens up the opportunity for you to add your own links to this panel. You can sign up using one of the buttons below:

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Suggested

Scouts in Boats

Scouts in Boats

Arrange a rota for the Scouts to travel in boats so that they are with different people each day.

The short web address is:

Transum.org/go/?to=scoutboat

 

Teaching Notes:

Many Transum activities have notes for teachers suggesting teaching methods and highlighting common misconceptions. There are also solutions to puzzles, exercises and activities available on the web pages when you are signed in to your Transum subscription account. If you do not yet have an account and you are a teacher, tutor or parent you can apply for one by completing the form on the Sign Up page.

A Transum subscription also gives you access to the 'Class Admin' student management system, downloadable worksheets, many more teaching resources and opens up ad-free access to the Transum website for you and your pupils.

Comments

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Cecilia Calvo, Twitter

Saturday, September 18, 2021

Whitney Edmondson, Linkedin

Thursday, January 26, 2023

"I recently told my students I want the lesson title "Maths" to be changed to "Logic and Problem Solving".

In our recent Grade 9 Unit of Probability the students had to investigate different ways to list all the outcomes and then make connections and predictions. This looks an easy task but the difficult part for applying the communication skills to the problem solving.

I always notice that boys in-particular will write the first couple of outcomes in a jumbled order and then end up missing or repeating.

Thank you John Tranter for making Transum.org with these wonderful interactive tools to help with listing outcomes of events and logical ordering.

I think the favourite was the Ice Cream task!

All my students loved these resources and it was wonderful to see them ordering them in different ways but still showing a clear method and logic with their thinking. #notonerightanswer"

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