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This article describes investigations that offer opportunities for children to think differently, and pose their own questions, about shapes.
This is the first article in a series which aim to provide some insight into the way spatial thinking develops in children, and draw on a range of reported research. The focus of this article is the. . . .
This task develops spatial reasoning skills. By framing and asking questions a member of the team has to find out what mathematical object they have chosen.
A farmer has a flat field and two sons who will each inherit half of the field. The farmer wishes to build a stone wall to divide the field in two so each son inherits the same area. Stone walls are. . . .
This task requires learners to explain and help others, asking and answering questions.
This task depends on groups working collaboratively, discussing and reasoning to agree a final product.
Arranging counters activity for adult and child.
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. . . .
'What Shape?' activity for adult and child.
Make an eight by eight square, the layout is the same as a chessboard. You can print out and use the square below. What is the area of the square? Divide the square in the way shown by the red dashed. . . .
A task which depends on members of the group working collaboratively to reach a single goal.
We're excited about this new program for drawing beautiful mathematical designs. Can you work out how we made our first few pictures and, even better, share your most elegant solutions with us?
Imagine you have six different colours of paint. You paint a cube using a different colour for each of the six faces. How many different cubes can be painted using the same set of six colours?
This article gives an wonderful insight into students working on the Arclets problem that first appeared in the Sept 2002 edition of the NRICH website.
A rectangular field has two posts with a ring on top of each post. There are two quarrelsome goats and plenty of ropes which you can tie to their collars. How can you secure them so they can't. . . .
The whole set of tiles is used to make a square. This has a green and blue border. There are no green or blue tiles anywhere in the square except on this border. How many tiles are there in the set?
Imagine you are suspending a cube from one vertex (corner) and allowing it to hang freely. Now imagine you are lowering it into water until it is exactly half submerged. What shape does the surface. . . .
Introducing a geometrical instrument with 3 basic capabilities.
A simple visual exploration into halving and doubling.
Find all the ways to cut out a 'net' of six squares that can be folded into a cube.
This problem explores the shapes and symmetries in some national flags.
How many necklaces can you make that fit the rule? How do you know you've got them all?
Did you know mazes tell stories? Find out more about mazes and make one of your own.
Try this interactive strategy game for 2
How many different ways can I lay 10 paving slabs, each 2 foot by 1 foot, to make a path 2 foot wide and 10 foot long from my back door into my garden, without cutting any of the paving slabs?
This article looks at levels of geometric thinking and the types of activities required to develop this thinking.
A description of some experiments in which you can make discoveries about triangles.
What shape and size of drinks mat is best for flipping and catching?
Making a scale model of the solar system