Tornado Multiplication Worksheet

About this resource

What's inside this resource

This resource is a Tornado printables/worksheets/worksheets-by-subject/math-worksheets/multiplication-and-division-worksheets/multiplication-worksheets">Multiplication Worksheet.

Students will:

- Choose one factor from the tornado on the left and write it on the first line
- Choose another factor from the tornado on the right and write it on the second line
- Multiply to find the product
- Cross out the numbers in the tornadoes as they use them.
They must use each number once.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Multiply pairs of whole numbers drawn from two fixed sets and record each as a complete equation
Multiply by 0, 1, 2, 10 and 11, which are the only values the right-hand tornado offers
Multiply larger numbers such as 44, 75 and 200 by a small factor on the second sheet
Plan which pairings to make, given that every number must be used exactly once
Keep track of what has already been used by crossing numbers out of the tornadoes

Teaching tips

Point out the crossing-out rule before students start; it is what turns the page from a list of sums into a planning task
The right tornado holds only 0, 1, 2, 10 and 11, so this practises the friendly multipliers rather than the full tables - pair it with something else if the aim is table recall
Use the first sheet with the whole class and hold the second back; its factors run to 200, which is a different calculation altogether
There is no key, so ask students to check a partner's page against the crossed-out tornadoes - a number used twice shows up immediately
The zero in each tornado guarantees one product of nought, which is worth discussing rather than letting it pass as a freebie

Skills covered

Multiplying with a constraint - each number may be used only once and is crossed off as it goes, so students plan their pairings rather than working straight down a list.
Multiplying by 0, 1, 2, 10 and 11 - the right-hand tornado is built entirely from these, so every product on both sheets tests one of the friendly multipliers.
Multiplying larger numbers by a small factor - the second sheet raises the left tornado to 13, 20, 44, 75 and 200, which takes the work past single-digit recall.
Writing multiplication in standard form - each answer goes into a printed frame reading factor times factor equals product, with labels naming which tornado each factor came from.
Tracking used values - crossing numbers out of both tornadoes as they are taken is part of the printed instructions and is what makes the last few equations solvable.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What makes the last equations on a sheet harder than the first?

The choice runs out. Every number must be used exactly once and is crossed off as it goes, so by the final lines students are pairing whatever remains. Anyone who takes the comfortable pairings early is left with the awkward ones at the end.

In Tornado Multiplication Worksheet, how do the two sheets differ?

By the size of the left-hand factors. The first draws from 0 to 10; the second uses 8, 9, 10, 13, 20, 44, 75 and 200. The right tornado is unchanged, so the second sheet is really about multiplying larger numbers by zeros, ones, twos, tens and elevens.

Where do the factors come from on the page?

From two funnel-shaped clusters of numbers under the word TORNADO, one on each side of the sheet. The instruction is to take the first factor from the left tornado and the second from the right, and the labels under every equation frame repeat which side each number comes from.