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Resources tagged with Working systematically similar to A Square in a Circle:

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Broad Topics > Using, Applying and Reasoning about Mathematics > Working systematically

Triangles to Tetrahedra

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Starting with four different triangles, imagine you have an unlimited number of each type. How many different tetrahedra can you make? Convince us you have found them all.

Waiting for Blast Off

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

10 space travellers are waiting to board their spaceships. There are two rows of seats in the waiting room. Using the rules, where are they all sitting? Can you find all the possible ways?

When Will You Pay Me? Say the Bells of Old Bailey

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Use the interactivity to play two of the bells in a pattern. How do you know when it is your turn to ring, and how do you know which bell to ring?

Single Track

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

What is the best way to shunt these carriages so that each train can continue its journey?

Shunting Puzzle

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

Can you shunt the trucks so that the Cattle truck and the Sheep truck change places and the Engine is back on the main line?

Map Folding

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Square Corners

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

You Owe Me Five Farthings, Say the Bells of St Martin's

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

Use the interactivity to listen to the bells ringing a pattern. Now it's your turn! Play one of the bells yourself. How do you know when it is your turn to ring?

Cover the Tray

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

These practical challenges are all about making a 'tray' and covering it with paper.

Display Boards

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

Design an arrangement of display boards in the school hall which fits the requirements of different people.

Street Party

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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.

Ice Cream

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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.

Counters

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

Hover your mouse over the counters to see which ones will be removed. Click to remover them. The winner is the last one to remove a counter. How you can make sure you win?

Tetrafit

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

A tetromino is made up of four squares joined edge to edge. Can this tetromino, together with 15 copies of itself, be used to cover an eight by eight chessboard?

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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.

Paw Prints

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

A dog is looking for a good place to bury his bone. Can you work out where he started and ended in each case? What possible routes could he have taken?

Two on Five

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Sticks and Triangles

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Newspapers

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Isosceles Triangles

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

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?

Squares in Rectangles

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

A 2 by 3 rectangle contains 8 squares and a 3 by 4 rectangle contains 20 squares. What size rectangle(s) contain(s) exactly 100 squares? Can you find them all?

Making Squares

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Geoboards

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

This practical challenge invites you to investigate the different squares you can make on a square geoboard or pegboard.

Red Even

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

You have 4 red and 5 blue counters. How many ways can they be placed on a 3 by 3 grid so that all the rows columns and diagonals have an even number of red counters?

Putting Two and Two Together

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Fence It

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

If you have only 40 metres of fencing available, what is the maximum area of land you can fence off?

Celtic Knot

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

Building up a simple Celtic knot. Try the interactivity or download the cards or have a go on squared paper.

Knight's Swap

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

Swap the stars with the moons, using only knights' moves (as on a chess board). What is the smallest number of moves possible?

Three Sets of Cubes, Two Surfaces

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

How many models can you find which obey these rules?

My New Patio

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

What is the smallest number of tiles needed to tile this patio? Can you investigate patios of different sizes?

3 Rings

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Cuboid-in-a-box

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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

Tiles on a Patio

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

How many ways can you find of tiling the square patio, using square tiles of different sizes?

Halloween Investigation

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Counting Cards

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

A magician took a suit of thirteen cards and held them in his hand face down. Every card he revealed had the same value as the one he had just finished spelling. How did this work?

Calcunos

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

If we had 16 light bars which digital numbers could we make? How will you know you've found them all?

Hexpentas

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level:

How many different ways can you find of fitting five hexagons together? How will you know you have found all the ways?

Tetrahedra Tester

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

An irregular tetrahedron is composed of four different triangles. Can such a tetrahedron be constructed where the side lengths are 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 units of length?

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

How many DIFFERENT quadrilaterals can be made by joining the dots on the 8-point circle?

Two by One

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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

Four Triangles Puzzle

Stage: 1 and 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Teddy Town

Stage: 1, 2 and 3 Challenge Level:

There are nine teddies in Teddy Town - three red, three blue and three yellow. There are also nine houses, three of each colour. Can you put them on the map of Teddy Town according to the rules?

Egyptian Rope

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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?

Arranging the Tables

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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.

Polydron

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

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

Eight Queens

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

Place eight queens on an chessboard (an 8 by 8 grid) so that none can capture any of the others.

One to Fifteen

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

Can you put the numbers from 1 to 15 on the circles so that no consecutive numbers lie anywhere along a continuous straight line?

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

This problem is based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Investigate the different numbers of people and rats there could have been if you know how many legs there are altogether!

A Square of Numbers

Stage: 2 Challenge Level:

Can you put the numbers 1 to 8 into the circles so that the four calculations are correct?

More Magic Potting Sheds

Stage: 3 Challenge Level:

The number of plants in Mr McGregor's magic potting shed increases overnight. He'd like to put the same number of plants in each of his gardens, planting one garden each day. How can he do it?