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 article introduces the idea of generic proof for younger children and illustrates how one example can offer a proof of a general result through unpacking its underlying structure.
Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.
What happens when you add three numbers together? Will your answer be odd or even? How do you know?
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?
Is it possible to place 2 counters on the 3 by 3 grid so that there is an even number of counters in every row and every column? How about if you have 3 counters or 4 counters or....?
Can you put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?
You can trace over all of the diagonals of a pentagon without lifting your pencil and without going over any more than once. Can the same thing be done with a hexagon or with a heptagon?
Help share out the biscuits the children have made.
Four bags contain a large number of 1s, 3s, 5s and 7s. Pick any ten numbers from the bags above so that their total is 37.
If there are 3 squares in the ring, can you place three different numbers in them so that their differences are odd? Try with different numbers of squares around the ring. What do you notice?
Look at what happens when you take a number, square it and subtract your answer. What kind of number do you get? Can you prove it?
Can you place the numbers from 1 to 10 in the grid?
Try grouping the dominoes in the ways described. Are there any left over each time? Can you explain why?
This activity is best done with a whole class or in a large group. Can you match the cards? What happens when you add pairs of the numbers together?
Becky created a number plumber which multiplies by 5 and subtracts 4. What do you notice about the numbers that it produces? Can you explain your findings?
Arrange the numbers 1 to 6 in each set of circles below. The sum of each side of the triangle should equal the number in its centre.
This investigates one particular property of number by looking closely at an example of adding two odd numbers together.
This problem looks at how one example of your choice can show something about the general structure of multiplication.
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?
This problem challenges you to find out how many odd numbers there are between pairs of numbers. Can you find a pair of numbers that has four odds between them?
Daisy and Akram were making number patterns. Daisy was using beads that looked like flowers and Akram was using cube bricks. First they were counting in twos.
Mr Gilderdale is playing a game with his class. What rule might he have chosen? How would you test your idea?
Yasmin and Zach have some bears to share. Which numbers of bears can they share so that there are none left over?
Choose four of the numbers from 1 to 9 to put in the squares so that the differences between joined squares are odd.
Use the interactivity to sort these numbers into sets. Can you give each set a name?
Pat counts her sweets in different groups and both times she has some left over. How many sweets could she have had?
Use cubes to continue making the numbers from 7 to 20. Are they sticks, rectangles or squares?
How many different sets of numbers with at least four members can you find in the numbers in this box?
Try to stop your opponent from being able to split the piles of counters into unequal numbers. Can you find a strategy?
Think of a number, square it and subtract your starting number. Is the number you’re left with odd or even? How do the images help to explain this?
Can you find the chosen number from the grid using the clues?
An odd version of tic tac toe
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?
A game for 2 people using a pack of cards Turn over 2 cards and try to make an odd number or a multiple of 3.
Use the interactivities to complete these Venn diagrams.
How would you create the largest possible two-digit even number from the digit I've given you and one of your choice?
How many legs do each of these creatures have? How many pairs is that?
Follow the clues to find the mystery number.
There are ten children in Becky's group. Can you find a set of numbers for each of them? Are there any other sets?
I am less than 25. My ones digit is twice my tens digit. My digits add up to an even number.
Each child in Class 3 took four numbers out of the bag. Who had made the highest even number?
Investigate which numbers make these lights come on. What is the smallest number you can find that lights up all the lights?
A game for 2 or more people. Starting with 100, subratct a number from 1 to 9 from the total. You score for making an odd number, a number ending in 0 or a multiple of 6.
Are these domino games fair? Can you explain why or why not?
Use the interactivities to fill in these Carroll diagrams. How do you know where to place the numbers?
How have the numbers been placed in this Carroll diagram? Which labels would you put on each row and column?
There is a clock-face where the numbers have become all mixed up. Can you find out where all the numbers have got to from these ten statements?
These red, yellow and blue spinners were each spun 45 times in total. Can you work out which numbers are on each spinner?
In how many different ways can you break up a stick of 7 interlocking cubes? Now try with a stick of 8 cubes and a stick of 6 cubes.
Four of these clues are needed to find the chosen number on this grid and four are true but do nothing to help in finding the number. Can you sort out the clues and find the number?