Visualising - October 2009, Stage 2&3

This month, our problems involve visualisation, inviting you to reflect on how you "see" mathematics. Everyone imagines a problem in a different way. By sharing our personal visualisations it can deepen our own understanding of the mathematics within a problem, and help us to make sense of someone else's route to a solution.

Problems

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Colour Wheels

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Imagine a wheel with different markings painted on it at regular intervals. Can you predict the colour of the 18th mark? The 100th mark?

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Paw Prints

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

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?

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Odd Squares

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

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?

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A Square in a Circle

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

What shape has Harry drawn on this clock face? Can you find its area? What is the largest number of square tiles that could cover this area?

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Picturing Triangle Numbers

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Triangle numbers can be represented by a triangular array of squares. What do you notice about the sum of identical triangle numbers?

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Mystic Rose

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Use the animation to help you work out how many lines are needed to draw mystic roses of different sizes.

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Handshakes

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you find an efficient method to work out how many handshakes there would be if hundreds of people met?

Elsewhere...