Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
To avoid losing think of another very well known game where the patterns of play are similar.
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.
Can you discover whether this is a fair game?
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.
Try entering different sets of numbers in the number pyramids. How does the total at the top change?
Show that for any triangle it is always possible to construct 3 touching circles with centres at the vertices. Is it possible to construct touching circles centred at the vertices of any polygon?
The opposite vertices of a square have coordinates (a,b) and (c,d). What are the coordinates of the other vertices?
Find the vertices of a pentagon given the midpoints of its sides.
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.
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
Match pairs of cards so that they have equivalent ratios.
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.
A right-angled isosceles triangle is rotated about the centre point of a square. What can you say about the area of the part of the square covered by the triangle as it rotates?
If you continue the pattern, can you predict what each of the following areas will be? Try to explain your prediction.
Charlie likes tablecloths that use as many colours as possible, but insists that his tablecloths have some symmetry. Can you work out how many colours he needs for different tablecloth designs?
Use Excel to explore multiplication of fractions.
There are 27 small cubes in a 3 x 3 x 3 cube, 54 faces being visible at any one time. Is it possible to reorganise these cubes so that by dipping the large cube into a pot of paint three times you. . . .
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. . . .
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?
An environment that enables you to investigate tessellations of regular polygons
The interactive diagram has two labelled points, A and B. It is designed to be used with the problem "Cushion Ball"
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?
Can you make a right-angled triangle on this peg-board by joining up three points round the edge?
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. . . .
Can you give the coordinates of the vertices of the fifth point in the patterm on this 3D grid?
On the 3D grid a strange (and deadly) animal is lurking. Using the tracking system can you locate this creature as quickly as possible?
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.
Can you beat Piggy in this simple dice game? Can you figure out Piggy's strategy, and is there a better one?
Can you find all the 4-ball shuffles?
Can you beat the computer in the challenging strategy game?
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
Match the cards of the same value.
This set of resources for teachers offers interactive environments to support work on loci at Key Stage 4.
This game challenges you to locate hidden triangles in The White Box by firing rays and observing where the rays exit the Box.
A collection of our favourite pictorial problems, one for each day of Advent.
This resource contains interactive problems to support work on number sequences at Key Stage 4.
When number pyramids have a sequence on the bottom layer, some interesting patterns emerge...
Triangle numbers can be represented by a triangular array of squares. What do you notice about the sum of identical triangle numbers?
Slide the pieces to move Khun Phaen past all the guards into the position on the right from which he can escape to freedom.
This resource contains a range of problems and interactivities on the theme of coordinates in two and three dimensions.
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.
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.
This is an interactivity in which you have to sort the steps in the completion of the square into the correct order to prove the formula for the solutions of quadratic equations.
What are the areas of these triangles? What do you notice? Can you generalise to other "families" of triangles?
Place a red counter in the top left corner of a 4x4 array, which is covered by 14 other smaller counters, leaving a gap in the bottom right hand corner (HOME). What is the smallest number of moves. . . .
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 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.
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.
A group of interactive resources to support work on percentages Key Stage 4.
Use Excel to investigate the effect of translations around a number grid.