Printable flashcard templates for key terms, equations and quotes

What each template is for

A blank card lets you write anything on it, and that is the problem: a heading on the front and a paragraph on the back gives you nothing to answer. Each prompt here turns a card into a question with one right answer, which is what lets you mark yourself.

• Key terms, cards 1 to 4: definitions both ways round. Cards 1 and 2 ask what a word means; cards 3 and 4 give the same meanings and ask for the word, because exam questions come at a key term from either side.
• Equations, cards 5 to 8: the equation on the back, with what each symbol stands for and its unit. A Maths formula works the same way: “Which formula gives the area of a trapezium?”
• Quotes, cards 1 to 4 of the second set: a theme or character on the front and the quote on the back, then the same two quotes the other way round.
• Why-or-how questions, cards 5 to 8 of the second set: anything you would have to explain, from limiting factors in photosynthesis to the causes of a war.

Four cards, filled in

Each of these is short enough to say out loud in a few seconds, and each has an answer you can mark right or wrong.

• Key term. Front: “What is osmosis?” Back: “The diffusion of water from a dilute solution to a more concentrated one, through a partially permeable membrane.”
• Equation. Front: “Which equation links force, mass and acceleration?” Back: “Force = mass × acceleration. Force in newtons (N), mass in kilograms (kg), acceleration in metres per second squared (m/s²).”
• Quote. Front: “Which quote shows Macbeth knows his ambition could ruin him?” Back: “Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself”, said by Macbeth alone in Act 1 Scene 7, as he weighs up killing Duncan.
• Why or how. Front: “Why does more light stop speeding up photosynthesis after a point?” Back: “Something else becomes the limiting factor, usually the carbon dioxide concentration or the temperature.”

Printing only the cards you need

The pages come in two sets: pages 1 and 2 make the key-term and equation cards, pages 3 and 4 the quote and why-or-how cards. To print one set, choose pages 1-2 or 3-4 in the print dialog, with double-sided printing on and flipping on the long edge. For more cards of one kind, print the same set again.

A single-sided printer works too. Print both pages of a set, hold them up to a window to line the grids up, and glue them back to back before you cut.

Then test yourself properly

A template makes a good card; testing yourself on it is what makes it stick. Answer each front out loud or on paper before you turn it over, mark yourself strictly against the back, and keep a card in your pile until you have got it right on three different days.