Calculator questions KS3 – Skills revision lesson

What's included?

PowerPoint and Word docs

Key Stage

KS3

Age

Years 7-9

Subjects

Maths

Boost your students’ calculator skills with this comprehensive KS3 calculator questions revision lesson pack.

This resource is designed to support both Higher and Foundation level students. It equips you with everything you need to teach calculator essentials in an engaging and effective way.

Calculator skills PowerPoint

The included PowerPoint presentation walks students through essential calculator functions in a structured, step-by-step approach. It dives into crucial basics such as resetting.

It provides insights into the directional pad, showing how to navigate within calculations on both the Casio FX83GT Plus and Sharp EL 520W models.

This includes using the directional pad to move out of fraction and square root boxes, essential for smooth, error-free calculations.

Students will also learn about:

the Shift/2nd function key for accessing secondary functions
fractions and roots
squaring and cubing numbers
other calculations requiring brackets

A series of “try-it-yourself” exercises encourage students to apply their learning immediately, making the session interactive and practical.

By the end of the PowerPoint, students will be adept at putting everything together, with an engaging example problem that combines several calculator skills.

The PowerPoint closes with helpful exam tips, including the importance of resetting calculators before exams to ensure they are in the correct mode.

KS3 calculator questions

Once students grasp the basics, you can reinforce their learning with a Tarsia puzzle. This hands-on activity, adapted from Brian Dye’s work on mathsnet.net, transforms calculator skills practice into an interactive and enjoyable experience.

Students will apply their knowledge to solve and match up problems, encouraging teamwork, critical thinking, and engagement with their peers.

To cap off the session, a set of past paper questions with answer booklets provides an opportunity for students to apply their skills in exam-style scenarios.

Covering questions frequently seen in past KS3 exams, this booklet helps students master the content while familiarising themselves with calculator-based problem-solving.

Aligned with the KS3 maths curriculum, this lesson helps students improve their ability to use calculators and interpret results accurately.

Clarissa Grandi is a secondary maths teacher and experienced PD Lead accredited with the NCETM. Find more of her resources on her website artfulmaths.com and her TES page. Follow her on X at c0mplexnumber. Download more KS3 maths worksheets.