Extension Activity of the Week - 9

This week: Puzzling

This is a good one for gauging the level members of your classes are working at early on, when data might be scarce (oh, that such a situation should ever exist!) and your knowledge of the pupils somewhat lacking.

Set a puzzle based on some information from the textbook they are working with, or from anything you have on display. The puzzle should involve the pupils looking over the information and drawing conclusions from it. Offer a reward for those whose answers are best.

This extension activity has the double advantage of being both a way of stretching the top end, and a way of encouraging the class to complete their tasks.

For example, from a double page spread in a Geography textbook, which contained maps and information demonstrating why the southwest is warmer in both the summer and the winter, I set year 7 pupils the following extension question:

Why is the southwest the best place to live?

The weakest students came up with the answer, “The weather is good.”

The middle ability students came up with the answer, “The weather is warmer in the summer because we are nearer the equator in the southwest.”

The brightest students were able to add to this, by explaining how the mid-Atlantic drift worked.