List

Appreciating Different Approaches

In the feature Learning from Other People's Starting Points, we offer a group of tasks, each with some children's starting points.  We challenge you to continue the methods to a full solution so you get chance to really appreciate different ways to solve the task. 

Below we offer three more tasks.  Have a go at each one and then take a look at the published solutions (click on the 'Solution' tab to the left of the problem title).  

  • Which was like yours?
  • Find something you like in one of the others.  Why do you like it?
  • Which solution do you think is most elegant?  Why?
  • If you were given another task like this in the future, would you change the way you solved it?  Why or why not?
Two Dice
problem
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Two Dice

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Find all the numbers that can be made by adding the dots on two dice.
6 Beads
problem
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6 Beads

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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If you put three beads onto a tens/ones abacus you can make the numbers 3, 30, 12 or 21. What numbers can be made with six beads?

Eggs in Baskets
problem
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Eggs in Baskets

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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There are three baskets, a brown one, a red one and a pink one, holding a total of 10 eggs. How many eggs are in each basket?