The Times Table Spreadsheet Challenges

Overview

This training course focuses on how teachers can use spreadsheets in a creative way to create mathematical quizzes that can support learning in maths. The lessons also focus on key skills that students need in understanding spreadsheets. These skills include:

The use of cells, columns and rows
Copying down of cells
Central aligning
Using single quote to enter special characters as text
Basic formula
Using the Dollar sign to fix a formula position
Number sentence formula
The asterisk as a multiplication symbol
Conditions using the IF Function
Hiding columns
Embedded functions with other functions
Formating cells with the fill option
Colouring cells based on conditions

As a teacher you can use this course with your students. I have used this with students as young as 8 and 9 years all the way up to students aged 13 and 14. The final lessons explores how you can adapt the times table lesson to create more complex algebraic equations.

Demo

What your Times Table Quiz will look like.

Learning Objectives

Use basic functions (eg, SUM, AVERAGE etc)
Build a simple table using interrelated functions/formulae
Change inputs & formulae in a spreadsheet model and predict consequences
Use formulae & functions to solve (mathematical) problems

Lesson Preparation

Make a copy of the spreadsheet below. Change the name to "Times Table Quiz"

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PjdGauwXUHp380sTxg3jCWH4HiUlY1XwAAW2sY3uEh4/copy

Create an Assignment in Google Classroom and add the spreadsheet to the assignment.

Ensure the assignment is set up so that all students have a copy.

Take a look at the video opposite to understand the Time Table Quiz Challenges.

The Times Table Challenges

Challenge 1

This lesson will teach you how to create a times table in a spreadsheet using simple and basic formula.

Challenge 2

After this lesson you will be able to use this spreadsheet to test your times table knowledge.

Challenge 3

During this lesson you will embed two functions with the same formula. Both these functions will be the IF statement. You will understand more fully how the IF statement works.

Challenge 4

This lesson will focus on formatting. You will find out how to format the spreadsheet with different colours. This is a good teaching strategy for teaching younger children. This lesson will also expand on the conditions used from previous lessons by looking at conditional formatting. This changes the colour of a cell depending on a condition.

Challenge 5

Using this timestable method within a spreadsheet you can teach some concepts of algebraic equations by using the spreadsheet to substitute. You could make these as complex as possible getting students to develop a number sentence in the spreadsheet based on the equation.

Report abuse