Casio fx-CG50 lessons: calculator skills in 12 lessons

A free series of 12 lessons that teach one thing: how to use the Casio fx-CG50 quickly and accurately in a maths exam. No new maths in any of them. Each lesson is about 55 minutes, with the exact key presses, a picture of the screen after every step, a worked exam-style example, practice tasks with answers, the common mistakes and a 1-minute quick check.

• 12 lessons
• About 55 minutes each
• Free, no sign-in
• Printable

The lessons

1. Lesson 1: Setup, exam mode, angle mode and Ans

   Set up the fx-CG50 for an exam and move around it without getting lost: menus, SET UP, exam mode, angle mode, exact or decimal answers, the history and Ans.

   Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

2. Lesson 2: Run-Matrix: storing values and avoiding rounding errors

   Store values in the letters A to Z in RUN-MATRIX, use them in later calculations, and see how rounding too early changes an answer to 3 significant figures.

   Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

3. Lesson 3: The Graph menu: View Window, Zoom and Trace

   Draw any function on the fx-CG50 and choose a View Window that shows the part the question is about, using V-Window, Zoom and Trace.

   Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

4. Lesson 4: G-Solve: roots, intersections, maximum and minimum

   Use G-Solve to find roots, turning points, intercepts and intersections accurately, step to the next solution with ▶, and carry the result into the next part without rounding.

   Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

5. Lesson 5: The Equation menu: polynomials and simultaneous equations

   Solve polynomial equations up to degree 6 and systems of up to 6 linear equations in the Equation app, entering every coefficient correctly.

   Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

6. Lesson 6: SolveN, Solve and the Solver

   Solve equations you cannot rearrange, and find an unknown parameter in a formula, without drawing a graph.

   Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

7. Lesson 7: Tables of values, sign changes and sequences

   Use TABLE and RECURSION to produce values quickly, check algebra, locate a root by sign change, and find the first term that passes a value.

   Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

8. Lesson 8: Derivatives, integrals and areas

   Find gradients, definite integrals and areas between curves numerically, quickly and to full accuracy, in radians.

   Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

9. Lesson 9: Sequences, series and finance (TVM)

   Add up a sequence in one line, find the first n that passes a value, and solve compound interest and loan questions in the Financial app with the right signs.

   Suits: IB AI (SL and HL) mainly; Σ and RECURSION also IB AA and A Level

10. Lesson 10: Statistics: lists, 1-VAR, 2-VAR and regression

    Enter data into lists and get the summary statistics, the regression line, r and a prediction quickly, with the right settings every time.

    Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL), A Level

11. Lesson 11: Distributions: normal, binomial, Poisson, tests and intervals

    Find any normal, binomial or Poisson probability, and any inverse normal value, in under a minute, with the parameters in the right order; then run a χ² goodness of fit test and a t-interval.

    Suits: IB AA and AI (SL and HL); steps 6–7 AI HL; A Level

12. Lesson 12: Matrices, Markov chains and complex numbers

    Store matrices and use them for determinants, inverses, systems of equations and Markov chains; switch to complex mode and find the modulus, argument, conjugate and polar form of a complex number.

    Suits: IB AI HL (matrices and complex numbers), IB AA HL (complex numbers)

How to use the series

• In order, early in the course. Lessons 1 to 4 (setup, Run-Matrix, graphs, G-Solve) are used in almost every calculator question, so teach them first. The rest can go next to the topic they support.
• One calculator each. Students follow the key presses on their own fx-CG50 while you model them. Every step has a picture of the screen they should see, so a student who is lost can find their place.
• Exam habits every time. Each lesson says what to write down, how to keep full accuracy, and the setting that most often costs marks (degrees or radians, the View Window, σ before μ).
• Print or project. Every page prints cleanly, with the answers in boxes you can open or leave closed.

Which courses

The IB allows one approved graphic display calculator in AA Papers 2 and 3 and in every AI paper, in Examination Mode (for IB). UK A Level and Edexcel IAL allow a graphic calculator without CAS in every paper. Each lesson lists the courses it suits; lesson 9 (finance) is mainly for AI, and the tests in lesson 11 are AI HL. Casio lists vector calculations among the functions Examination Mode (for IB) turns off, so lesson 12 uses vectors only for checking practice work.

Each lesson has

• A short objective and what students can do by the end.
• “Your turn” tasks straight after the key presses, so students check their own understanding.
• The key presses with the real key and F-key labels, and a screen picture for each step.
• Exam efficiency tips: checking, storing values, what to write.
• A worked exam-style example, 4 to 6 practice tasks with answers, the common mistakes and a 1-minute quick check.
• A 55-minute teaching plan.

Every number in the lessons, on the screen pictures as well as in the answers, is worked out again independently before the page is published. The screens are our own drawings, not photos.

More for the fx-CG50

• The same lessons for the TI-84 Plus CE
• Calculator lessons: both series
• Casio fx-CG50 guide: every menu on one page
• Calculator skills, topic by topic (fx-CG50, TI-84 Plus CE and TI-Nspire)
• Teaching GDC skills: a suggested order by course
• How to put the calculator in exam mode
• Free IB Maths lessons, one per topic