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6 Beads printable sheet

If you put three beads onto a tens and ones abacus you can make the numbers 3, 30, 12 or 21.

The first abacus shows 0 tens and 3 ones; the second abacus shows 3 tens and 0 ones; the third abacus shows 1 ten and 2 ones; the fourth abacus shows 2 tens and 1 one.

 

Explore the numbers you can make using six beads.
 
Six loose beads are shown next to an empty abacus with spaces for tens and ones.

Can you find all the ways of using six beads?

How do you know you have found them all?

If you would like to try another task which involves finding all possible solutions, you could look at Three Ball Line Up.