Addition with surds
I can appreciate the structure that underpins addition of surds.
Addition with surds
I can appreciate the structure that underpins addition of surds.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- An unknown value is represented by a letter.
- An unevaluated surd can be thought of as an unknown value.
- Each simplified surd has a unique value.
- Surds can therefore be grouped in the same way as like terms.
Keywords
Surd - A surd is an irrational number expressed as the root of a rational number.
Radical - The root sign is the radical symbol.
Radicand - The radicand is the value inside the radical symbol.
Common misconception
Pupils may think like surds need both the radicand and the coefficient to be the same.
Remind them of the distributive law: a(b+c) = ab + ac.
To help you plan your year 10 maths lesson on: Addition with surds, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 maths lesson on: Addition with surds, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 maths lessons from the Surds unit, dive into the full secondary maths curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
