Prime numbers worksheet

This worksheet is designed to engage KS2 students with the fascinating world of prime numbers through a series of interactive activities. The first activity requires a multiplication square and coloured pencils to utilise the Sieve of Eratosthenes, an ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to a certain limit. This visual and hands-on approach helps students to understand how prime numbers are distinguished from composite numbers.

In the second activity, students delve into the realm of mathematical conjecture by investigating Goldbach's conjecture. This famous hypothesis suggests that every even number greater than 4 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers. Students are challenged to test this conjecture with even numbers ranging from 6 to 50, to discover if there are multiple solutions for some numbers, and to consider why odd numbers were excluded from Goldbach's conjecture. Finally, the third activity presents a grid puzzle where students must fill in the cells with prime numbers so that the sum of each row, column, and diagonal equals 111. This task not only reinforces their understanding of prime numbers but also develops their problem-solving skills. The worksheet aims to ensure that students can identify prime numbers up to 100 and recall prime numbers up to 19, while also familiarising them with the related vocabulary.