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Resources tagged with Practical Activity similar to Caterpillars:

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Broad Topics > Using, Applying and Reasoning about Mathematics > Practical Activity

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Creating Cubes

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Arrange 9 red cubes, 9 blue cubes and 9 yellow cubes into a large 3 by 3 cube. No row or column of cubes must contain two cubes of the same colour.

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Tangram Tangle

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

If you split the square into these two pieces, it is possible to fit the pieces together again to make a new shape. How many new shapes can you make?

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Map Folding

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Take a rectangle of paper and fold it in half, and half again, to make four smaller rectangles. How many different ways can you fold it up?

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Tricky Triangles

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Use the three triangles to fill these outline shapes. Perhaps you can create some of your own shapes for a friend to fill?

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Two by One

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

An activity making various patterns with 2 x 1 rectangular tiles.

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Two on Five

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Take 5 cubes of one colour and 2 of another colour. How many different ways can you join them if the 5 must touch the table and the 2 must not touch the table?

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Sticks and Triangles

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Using different numbers of sticks, how many different triangles are you able to make? Can you make any rules about the numbers of sticks that make the most triangles?

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Four Colours

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Kate has eight multilink cubes. She has two red ones, two yellow, two green and two blue. She wants to fit them together to make a cube so that each colour shows on each face just once.

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Sort Them Out (2)

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice? How could you sort the cards?

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Putting Two and Two Together

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

In how many ways can you fit two of these yellow triangles together? Can you predict the number of ways two blue triangles can be fitted together?

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3 Sets of Cubes, 2 Surfaces

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

How many models can you find which obey these rules?

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Egyptian Rope

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

The ancient Egyptians were said to make right-angled triangles using a rope with twelve equal sections divided by knots. What other triangles could you make if you had a rope like this?

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Cuboid-in-a-box

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

What is the smallest cuboid that you can put in this box so that you cannot fit another that's the same into it?

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Escher Tessellations

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

This practical investigation invites you to make tessellating shapes in a similar way to the artist Escher.

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Little Boxes

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

How many different cuboids can you make when you use four CDs or DVDs? How about using five, then six?

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Brush Loads

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

How can you arrange the 5 cubes so that you need the smallest number of Brush Loads of paint to cover them? Try with other numbers of cubes as well.

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Two-digit Targets

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

You have a set of the digits from 0 – 9. Can you arrange these in the 5 boxes to make two-digit numbers as close to the targets as possible?

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Tri.'s

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

How many triangles can you make on the 3 by 3 pegboard?

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Making Longer, Making Shorter

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Ahmed is making rods using different numbers of cubes. Which rod is twice the length of his first rod?

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Baked Bean Cans

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Is there a best way to stack cans? What do different supermarkets do? How high can you safely stack the cans?

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Cereal Packets

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

How can you put five cereal packets together to make different shapes if you must put them face-to-face?

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Repeating Patterns

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Try continuing these patterns made from triangles. Can you create your own repeating pattern?

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Making Cuboids

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Let's say you can only use two different lengths - 2 units and 4 units. Using just these 2 lengths as the edges how many different cuboids can you make?

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Shaping Up

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Are all the possible combinations of two shapes included in this set of 27 cards? How do you know?

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Order the Changes

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Can you order pictures of the development of a frog from frogspawn and of a bean seed growing into a plant?

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Seven Flipped

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.

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Square Corners

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

What is the greatest number of counters you can place on the grid below without four of them lying at the corners of a square?

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Cutting Corners

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Can you make the most extraordinary, the most amazing, the most unusual patterns/designs from these triangles which are made in a special way?

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A City of Towers

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many different ways can they build their houses?

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Pairs of Numbers

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

If you have ten counters numbered 1 to 10, how many can you put into pairs that add to 10? Which ones do you have to leave out? Why?

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Dienes' Logiblocs

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

This problem focuses on Dienes' Logiblocs. What is the same and what is different about these pairs of shapes? Can you describe the shapes in the picture?

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Advent Calendar 2006

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

NRICH December 2006 advent calendar - a new tangram for each day in the run-up to Christmas.

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Four Layers

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Can you create more models that follow these rules?

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Sports Equipment

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

If these balls are put on a line with each ball touching the one in front and the one behind, which arrangement makes the shortest line of balls?

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Making Maths: Happy Families

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Here is a version of the game 'Happy Families' for you to make and play.

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Two Squared

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

What happens to the area of a square if you double the length of the sides? Try the same thing with rectangles, diamonds and other shapes. How do the four smaller ones fit into the larger one?

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Little Man

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

The Man is much smaller than us. Can you use the picture of him next to a mug to estimate his height and how much tea he drinks?

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Fit These Shapes

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

What is the largest number of circles we can fit into the frame without them overlapping? How do you know? What will happen if you try the other shapes?

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Double Your Popcorn, Double Your Pleasure

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

We went to the cinema and decided to buy some bags of popcorn so we asked about the prices. Investigate how much popcorn each bag holds so find out which we might have bought.

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Advent Calendar 2008

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Our 2008 Advent Calendar has a 'Making Maths' activity for every day in the run-up to Christmas.

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How Many?

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

This project challenges you to work out the number of cubes hidden under a cloth. What questions would you like to ask?

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It's a Fence!

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

In this challenge, you will work in a group to investigate circular fences enclosing trees that are planted in square or triangular arrangements.

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The Numbers Give the Design

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Make new patterns from simple turning instructions. You can have a go using pencil and paper or with a floor robot.

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Seven Sticks

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Explore the triangles that can be made with seven sticks of the same length.

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Polydron

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

This activity investigates how you might make squares and pentominoes from Polydron.

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Counter Ideas

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Here are some ideas to try in the classroom for using counters to investigate number patterns.

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Square Tangram

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

This was a problem for our birthday website. Can you use four of these pieces to form a square? How about making a square with all five pieces?

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Halving

Stage: 1 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

These pictures show squares split into halves. Can you find other ways?

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How Tall?

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

A group of children are discussing the height of a tall tree. How would you go about finding out its height?

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A Patchwork Piece

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Follow the diagrams to make this patchwork piece, based on an octagon in a square.


The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice. More information on many of our other activities can be found here.
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