Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Euler discussed whether or not it was possible to stroll around Koenigsberg crossing each of its seven bridges exactly once. Experiment with different numbers of islands and bridges.
Can you find all the 4-ball shuffles?
This problem is about investigating whether it is possible to start at one vertex of a platonic solid and visit every other vertex once only returning to the vertex you started at.
You have 27 small cubes, 3 each of nine colours. Use the small cubes to make a 3 by 3 by 3 cube so that each face of the bigger cube contains one of every colour.
These formulae are often quoted, but rarely proved. In this article, we derive the formulae for the volumes of a square-based pyramid and a cone, using relatively simple mathematical concepts.
A tilted square is a square with no horizontal sides. Can you devise a general instruction for the construction of a square when you are given just one of its sides?
Start with any number of counters in any number of piles. 2 players take it in turns to remove any number of counters from a single pile. The winner is the player to take the last counter.
A game for 2 players. Can be played online. One player has 1 red counter, the other has 4 blue. The red counter needs to reach the other side, and the blue needs to trap the red.
A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.
Semi-regular tessellations combine two or more different regular polygons to fill the plane. Can you find all the semi-regular tessellations?
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?
You can move the 4 pieces of the jigsaw and fit them into both outlines. Explain what has happened to the missing one unit of area.
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?
A circle rolls around the outside edge of a square so that its circumference always touches the edge of the square. Can you describe the locus of the centre of the circle?
A and B are two interlocking cogwheels having p teeth and q teeth respectively. One tooth on B is painted red. Find the values of p and q for which the red tooth on B contacts every gap on the. . . .
Try entering different sets of numbers in the number pyramids. How does the total at the top change?
Do you know how to find the area of a triangle? You can count the squares. What happens if we turn the triangle on end? Press the button and see. Try counting the number of units in the triangle now. . . .
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?
Match the cards of the same value.
Can you discover whether this is a fair game?
Triangle numbers can be represented by a triangular array of squares. What do you notice about the sum of identical triangle numbers?
What are the areas of these triangles? What do you notice? Can you generalise to other "families" of triangles?
Here is a solitaire type environment for you to experiment with. Which targets can you reach?
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?
The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of moves.
We can show that (x + 1)² = x² + 2x + 1 by considering the area of an (x + 1) by (x + 1) square. Show in a similar way that (x + 2)² = x² + 4x + 4
Slide the pieces to move Khun Phaen past all the guards into the position on the right from which he can escape to freedom.
Match pairs of cards so that they have equivalent ratios.
A game for 2 players that can be played online. Players take it in turns to select a word from the 9 words given. The aim is to select all the occurrences of the same letter.
Experiment with the interactivity of "rolling" regular polygons, and explore how the different positions of the red dot affects the distance it travels at each stage.
This article gives you a few ideas for understanding the Got It! game and how you might find a winning strategy.
Investigate how the four L-shapes fit together to make an enlarged L-shape. You could explore this idea with other shapes too.
Use the interactivity to investigate what kinds of triangles can be drawn on peg boards with different numbers of pegs.
What is the greatest number of squares you can make by overlapping three squares?
Experiment with the interactivity of "rolling" regular polygons, and explore how the different positions of the red dot affects its speed at each stage.
What is the relationship between the angle at the centre and the angles at the circumference, for angles which stand on the same arc? Can you prove it?
Can you locate the lost giraffe? Input coordinates to help you search and find the giraffe in the fewest guesses.
Use the sightings of the lion to guess the location of its lair.
Can you find a reliable strategy for choosing coordinates that will locate the robber in the minimum number of guesses?
An environment that enables you to investigate tessellations of regular polygons
Practise your diamond mining skills and your x,y coordination in this homage to Pacman.
Can you make a right-angled triangle on this peg-board by joining up three points round the edge?
Learn how to use the Shuffles interactivity by running through these tutorial demonstrations.
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in the squares below so that the difference between joined squares is odd. How many different ways can you do this?
Our 2008 Advent Calendar has a 'Making Maths' activity for every day in the run-up to Christmas.
Use Excel to explore multiplication of fractions.
Can you spot the similarities between this game and other games you know? The aim is to choose 3 numbers that total 15.
A red square and a blue square overlap so that the corner of the red square rests on the centre of the blue square. Show that, whatever the orientation of the red square, it covers a quarter of the. . . .
Can you beat Piggy in this simple dice game? Can you figure out Piggy's strategy, and is there a better one?
A game for 1 or 2 people. Use the interactive version, or play with friends. Try to round up as many counters as possible.