Risps: Rich Starting Points for A Level Core Mathematics

This collection of forty starting activites for A level mathematics provided by RISPs is intended to enrich the lives of mathematics students in lots of A Level classrooms. All the risps presented here tackle topics from AS/A2 Core (Pure) Mathematics syllabus.

Additionally every risp here leads directly into the A Level Mathematics syllabus. It is hoped these risps will enrich lessons without being tangential to the main business of the classroom. If a risp does not practise key elements of the syllabus, it has not been included.

These activities are available as a complete collection, presented in ebook, or by topics suitable for AS or A2 level students. The ebook is in two parts: part one immediately gives all the risps together with their teachers' notes, indexed by topic. Part two tells the story of how these activities came about, and offers a philosophy as to how they might best be used.

Broadly speaking, a risp may be used in three ways:
• to introduce a topic
• to consolidate a topic
• to revise a topic, or a number of topics.

An introductory risp is specifically designed to give a pathway into new theory. The hope is that by starting to ask for themselves some of the questions that the theory is intended to answer, students will be prepared for the exposition that is to follow.

A consolidation risp provides good practice in the use of skills whilst attempting to answer some wider question. This type of risp will assume some relevant theory to have been previously studied. A consolidation risp will generally be a good revision risp as well. A revision risp is akin to a consolidation risp, but is likely to be more synoptic, drawing together bits of theory from a range of topic areas.

The teachers' notes always begin with a suggestion about the most appropriate use for each risp.

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