Guides & tips

for students:

Looking For Interesting Homework Activities On Maths

Many students find that they dislike or even hate mathematics, particularly if they can’t understand difficult equations. In fact, one of the most hated forms of mathematics is algebra, as people will often find it difficult to grasp the concept of using letters instead of numbers. Nevertheless, whilst there are many things that individuals may dislike about the subject, there are plenty of ways of making maths fun and exciting. In fact, by completing interesting homework activities based around the subject of maths, students can actually develop an interest in the subject. Therefore, it is important to try and make maths as exciting as possible. After all, it is one of the most important and valuable skills that students learn during their education, and will often be used throughout the rest of their life, both in terms of a career, but also simply in day-to-day life.

Number puzzles and brainteasers

A really fun and exciting way to make homework interesting when it comes to mathematics is to do number puzzles and brainteasers. Even people that don’t necessarily see themselves as being especially good at mathematics can enjoy number puzzles and brainteasers, especially if they are relatively straightforward. In many ways, you can find number puzzles that are similar to crosswords and other word-based puzzles. However, rather than testing your language abilities, they test your numeric knowledge instead, and are therefore a great way to learn more about maths while having fun.

Some further activities to consider

The following provides a list of different mathematical activities that you may wish to look at as part of your homework. Alternatively, if you are teacher and you’re looking for fun ideas for homework activities to set your students, then the following suggestions may be really useful for you too. In fact, you may even wish to take two or more of the ideas listed below and adapt them to create a new activity.

  • An analysis of famous number sequences
  • The use of pi in mathematics
  • Should tau be used instead of pi?
  • Using trigonometry to work out angles
  • How is maths used to work out the height of mountains and other natural features?
  • How is maths used to work out the circumference of the planet?
  • Using mean, mode and median to work out averages
  • Card tricks that are based on maths
  • Dice probability
  • A comparison of mathematical probabilities against odds offered by lotteries