Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
This practical challenge invites you to investigate the different squares you can make on a square geoboard or pegboard.
Investigate all the different squares you can make on this 5 by 5 grid by making your starting side go from the bottom left hand point. Can you find out the areas of all these squares?
Are all the possible combinations of two shapes included in this set of 27 cards? How do you know?
Can you find all the different triangles on these peg boards, and find their angles?
Use the interactivity to find all the different right-angled triangles you can make by just moving one corner of the starting triangle.
Can you help the children find the two triangles which have the lengths of two sides numerically equal to their areas?
What is the smallest number of tiles needed to tile this patio? Can you investigate patios of different sizes?
These rectangles have been torn. How many squares did each one have inside it before it was ripped?
How many ways can you find of tiling the square patio, using square tiles of different sizes?
A thoughtful shepherd used bales of straw to protect the area around his lambs. Explore how you can arrange the bales.
Find out what a "fault-free" rectangle is and try to make some of your own.
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?
How many triangles can you make on the 3 by 3 pegboard?
The challenge here is to find as many routes as you can for a fence to go so that this town is divided up into two halves, each with 8 blocks.
Place the 16 different combinations of cup/saucer in this 4 by 4 arrangement so that no row or column contains more than one cup or saucer of the same colour.
You cannot choose a selection of ice cream flavours that includes totally what someone has already chosen. Have a go and find all the different ways in which seven children can have ice cream.
This activity investigates how you might make squares and pentominoes from Polydron.
If we had 16 light bars which digital numbers could we make? How will you know you've found them all?
How have "Warmsnug" arrived at the prices shown on their windows? Which window has been given an incorrect price?
What can you say about these shapes? This problem challenges you to create shapes with different areas and perimeters.
An investigation that gives you the opportunity to make and justify predictions.
How many different triangles can you make on a circular pegboard that has nine pegs?
Can you draw a square in which the perimeter is numerically equal to the area?
How many DIFFERENT quadrilaterals can be made by joining the dots on the 8-point circle?
When newspaper pages get separated at home we have to try to sort them out and get things in the correct order. How many ways can we arrange these pages so that the numbering may be different?
Cut differently-sized square corners from a square piece of paper to make boxes without lids. Do they all have the same volume?
If you have three circular objects, you could arrange them so that they are separate, touching, overlapping or inside each other. Can you investigate all the different possibilities?
Draw some isosceles triangles with an area of $9$cm$^2$ and a vertex at (20,20). If all the vertices must have whole number coordinates, how many is it possible to draw?
An activity making various patterns with 2 x 1 rectangular tiles.
Ana and Ross looked in a trunk in the attic. They found old cloaks and gowns, hats and masks. How many possible costumes could they make?
Cut four triangles from a square as shown in the picture. How many different shapes can you make by fitting the four triangles back together?
Can you order the digits from 1-6 to make a number which is divisible by 6 so when the last digit is removed it becomes a 5-figure number divisible by 5, and so on?
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of rabbit there are in these pens?
When you throw two regular, six-faced dice you have more chance of getting one particular result than any other. What result would that be? Why is this?
These activities lend themselves to systematic working in the sense that it helps if you have an ordered approach.
Building up a simple Celtic knot. Try the interactivity or download the cards or have a go on squared paper.
Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.
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?
In this challenge, buckets come in five different sizes. If you choose some buckets, can you investigate the different ways in which they can be filled?
There are 44 people coming to a dinner party. There are 15 square tables that seat 4 people. Find a way to seat the 44 people using all 15 tables, with no empty places.
Your challenge is to find the longest way through the network following this rule. You can start and finish anywhere, and with any shape, as long as you follow the correct order.
This task depends on groups working collaboratively, discussing and reasoning to agree a final product.
Lolla bought a balloon at the circus. She gave the clown six coins to pay for it. What could Lolla have paid for the balloon?
How many rectangles can you find in this shape? Which ones are differently sized and which are 'similar'?
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?
Can you find which shapes you need to put into the grid to make the totals at the end of each row and the bottom of each column?
How could you put eight beanbags in the hoops so that there are four in the blue hoop, five in the red and six in the yellow? Can you find all the ways of doing this?
On a digital clock showing 24 hour time, over a whole day, how many times does a 5 appear? Is it the same number for a 12 hour clock over a whole day?
Place eight queens on an chessboard (an 8 by 8 grid) so that none can capture any of the others.