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What is it?
I’ll be honest – I am no longer a big fan of using word-searches in lessons. In the past I have used them to try to get students to consolidate their knowledge of key mathematical terms, such as parts of a circle or different types of statistical diagrams. And the abundance of free word-search generators on the internet makes the production of such an activity dead easy. However, is trying to find such vocab amongst a muddled up grid an efficient way of helping students remember such terms and their meanings? I don’t think so. So, just as I was about to face up to the fact that I may have used my last ever word-search in mathematics, I stumbled upon this little beauty. It is a wordsearch with a difference. For a start, there are no words to find. Instead, students must look for combinations of fractions, decimals and percentages that sum to 1. And it comes with answers!

How can it be used?
This activity is ideal to use at the end of a teaching unit on fraction, decimal and percentage conversions, or as a nice way of revising the topic. Students need to be systematic in their searching, and the different presentation of the activity means they may well get through more mathematics than if this was presented as a worksheet with 20 calculations to check. In addition, once students have finished, their is the opportunity to challenge them to create their own such activities, which can then be used to test their friends. Addition of fractions, negative numbers and collecting like terms all lend themselves very well to a structure such as this. This is a lovely resource.

Thanks so much for sharing
Craig Barton

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