Building Block Lessons of the Week

Get taught maths the right way with these FREE lessons. Pat Murray shows you the fundamental building blocks of high school maths.

Our maths lessons and worksheets are delivered using Adobe Flash Player.
Click here to download and install the latest version.

Pat Murray's Building Block Lessons

"Every maths student, struggling or otherwise, needs a rock-solid understanding of a number of core lessons that are the 'building blocks’ of high school maths."

Each week our maths teacher Pat Murray will introduce two new core lessons that are the "building blocks" of high school mathematics. These crucial lessons are the basis of a solid foundation in maths. Understand these lessons and you will see that maths really can be easy to learn, once you get the basics right.

Access Your First "Building Block" Lessons Now

Note: you only need to submit your email to us once. Then each week we'll automatically send you a link to the latest building block lessons.

Note to Paying Members: These weekly building block lessons are included in your online membership. In addition you will receive worksheets, worked solutions and summary sheets with each lesson. Members can access these lessons using the link under each of the lesson images below.

Lessons of the Week

Lessons of the Week

Monday 21st May, 2007: Year 7 and 8 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 7 and 8 > Number > Problem Solving > Solving a Simpler Problem First

Solving A Simpler Problem First

If there are 10 people in a room and everybody shakes hands with everybody else, how many handshakes are there altogether? Often when we see a problem that looks tricky, we need to try to look at it in a much simpler way first. In this tutorial, Pat shows you how to break down a tough question into a simpler one, then to look for patterns that enable us to get the required solution.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 21st May, 2007: Year 9 and 10 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 9 and 10 > Measurement & Space > Geometry I > Reasoning In Geometry

Reasoning In Geometry

The topic that a lot of students dread the most is Geometry and, more specifically, questions that require reasoning to be shown. In this tutorial, Pat shows you that it doesn't have to be too bad if you follow some simple steps first.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 14th May, 2007: Year 7 and 8 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 7 and 8 > Probability & Statistics > Statistics > The Mean

Regular Polygons

What's a circle got to do with a hexagon? Plenty. In this tutorial, Pat shows you how to construct some great looking regular shapes inside a circle.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 14th May, 2007: Year 9 and 10 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 9 and 10 > Algebra > Quadratic Equations > Problem Solving Using Graphs

Problem Solving Using Graphs

Want to work on a farm? Or maybe just like eating bacon? Whatever the case, in this tutorial Pat will show you how using a parabola can help determine the best way to build that pig pen.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 7th May, 2007: Year 7 and 8 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 7 and 8 > Probability & Statistics > Statistics > The Mean

The Mean

Why do a lot of students find these sort of questions so hard? You will be wondering why yourself after Pat shows you how easy these sort of questions really are.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 7th May, 2007: Year 9 and 10 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 9 and 10 > Algebra >Linear Functions II > Distance Between Points

Distance Between Points

How do you find the distance between two points. Well a good start is to draw a line connecting them, add a bit of Pythagoras, and hey presto, you've got your answer. In this tutorial, Pat shows you the way to clearly see the way and to avoid common pitfalls.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 30th April, 2007: Year 7 and 8 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 7 and 8 > Measurement & Space > Measurement & the Circle > Area of a Sector

Area Of A Sector

Can you remember the formula for finding a circle's area? In this tutorial, Pat shows you that with a slight adjustment of that formula, you can easily find how much cheese is covering that slice of pizza.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 30th April, 2007: Year 9 and 10 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 9 and 10 > Number > Surds > Addition & Subtraction

Addition And Subtraction Of Surds

In this tutorial, Pat shows you how adding and subtracting terms with that funny square root sign really is quite straight forward once you follow some simple rules.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 23rd April, 2007: Year 7 and 8 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 7 and 8 > Number > Ratio > Dividing Quantities In A Given Ratio

Dividing Quantities In A Given Ratio

Sometimes we need to split something up in parts that are not equal. In this tutorial, Pat shows you a simple technique that allows you to divide up quantities in a given ratio.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 23rd April, 2007: Year 9 and 10 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 9 and 10 > Number > Standard Form > Significant Figures

Significant Figures

In this tutorial, Pat explains how the accuracy of a measurement is reliant on the number of significant figures the measurement has.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 16th April, 2007: Year 7 and 8 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 7 and 8 > Number > Integers > Using The Number Line

Using The Number Line

You've probably mastered adding and subtracting numbers that involve positive answers. But what about numbers that require you to go below zero? In this tutorial, Pat shows you two simple techniques that make these questions easy. And you get to see which way works best for you. Is it left-to-right or is it up-and-down?

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 16th April, 2007: Year 9 and 10 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 9 and 10 > Algebra > Equations and Inequations > Solving Problems Using Equations

Solving Problems Using Equations

Remember when you had to solve problems using the guess-and-check method. Well in this tutorial, Pat shows you how to use equations to get on top of some of those tricky little problems.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 9th April, 2007: Year 7 and 8 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 7 and 8 > Number > Percentages > Fractions & Decimals As Percentages

Fractions And Decimals As Percentages

What's better: getting a 30% discount or getting a third off the price? Well stop wondering and watch this tutorial. In this lesson, Pat shows you how to easily change fractions and decimals to percentages.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 9th April, 2007: Year 9 and 10 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 9 and 10 > Algebra > Algebraic Fractions > Addition & Subtraction I

Addition And Subtraction Of Algebraic Fractions

Addition and subtraction involving algebraic fractions is just like the fractions you've been doing since Year 6 - except that there are some letters floating around. In this tutorial, Pat shows that you don't need to be a genius to master what for many students remains a mystery.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 2nd April, 2007: Year 7 and 8 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 7 and 8 > Number > The Number System II > Prime Factor Decomposition

Factor Trees

Factor trees are used to break down numbers so that they can be written as a product of the prime factors. In this tutorial, Pat unlocks the mystery of factor trees with a simple technique not often seen.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Monday 2nd April, 2007: Year 9 and 10 Building Block Lesson

Members: login and find this lesson at
Year 9 and 10 > Algebra > Algebraic Expansions > Binomial Expansions I

Binomial Expansions

One of the basic building blocks in mastering the more advanced algebra works is seen in this tutorial. Pat shows you a simple technique that will allow you to lay the foundation well for your future work.

	Fully animated and narrated
	You control the pace of the lesson
	SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THIS LESSON NOW

Got a question? Call us now on 1300 88 20 45