Junior Mini Mathematical Murder Mysteries: 16 activities to stretch and engage ages 8-11

Here's a chance for students to turn detective and apply their mathematical knowledge to solve some murder mysteries. Each of the 16 activities is intended to be a consolidation exercise covering topics such as arithmetic, algebra, shapes and simple graphs and charts. For teachersApart from the obvious use as homework activities, the activities can play a great role in generating mathematical discussion too. Students often work well in pairs on this sort of activity as they are able to discuss their methods and combine forces when coordinating several features of a problem. Some of the tasks require a reasonable level of logical thinking and students need to understand mathematical terms such as product, factor, prime etc. The benefits to the students will be greatly improved if their knowledge of such mathematical language has been reinforced before attempting these murder mysteries. Success through this type of activity can increase student's confidence and make them eager to progress. Some of the tasks included here reflect wider topics met in the primary school curriculum and there is an element of general knowledge evident. Further investigative work could be generated from these, for example, in "Water" - can you find a river whose length would fit between the Severn and the Thames ? In Romans - can you find an emperor who reigned for less than 10 years ? For parentsThese murder mysteries use mathematical skills learnt at school but will both reinforce knowledge and stretch students who crave a challenge. It is important to check that students have covered and understand the topic before using them. The exercises are intended to be entertaining, as children love using their mathematical skills to find out "whodunnit." Contents1.Mixed Arithmetic 12.Mixed Arithmetic 23.Number and Algebra 14.Number and Algebra 25.Number and Angle Mix6.Money7.Coordinates8.Shape9.Charts10.Family11.Sports 12.Music13.Europe14.The Romans15.Water16.Missing Pieces