Into the classroom

Tasks to try in your classroom

You can find support materials for the three suggested classroom tasks here. These include big-print versions of the problems (useful for whiteboards) and any software you need Choose the task you are using on the bottom left of the screen. Press "play" to have the task read out. If you need to install the Body Mass Index software on classroom computers, see the Resources index

Organising a table tennis tournament

Planning and organising

You have the job of organising a table tennis league.

• 7 players will take part
• All matches are singles.
• Every player has to play each of the other players once.
• There are four tables at the club.
• Games will take up to half an hour.
• The first match will start at 1.00pm.

Plan how to organise the league, so that the tournament will take the shortest possible time. Put all the information on a poster so that the players can easily understand what to do.

Designing a box for 18 sweets

Designing and testing

You work for a design company and have been asked to design a box that will hold 18 sweets. Each sweet is 2 cm in diameter and 1 cm thick. The box must be made from a single sheet of A4 card with as little cutting as possible. Compare two possible designs for the box and say which is best and why. Make your box.

Calculating Body Mass Index

Exploring and discovering

This calculator shown is used on websites to help an adult decide if he or she is overweight. What values of the BMI indicate whether an adult is underweight, overweight, obese, or very obese? Investigate how the calculator works out the BMI from the height and weight. Important: the index is intended for adults and is not useful for young people who are still growing - pupils should not use this to compare their own BMI scores!