Open Spaces

Open Spaces

Do you enjoy exploring maths?  In this feature, we have chosen a task from the Open Spaces pathway on wild.maths.org as well as some NRICH problems, all of which give you some starting points for mathematical investigation.  What can you discover?

Here's how you can send your solutions to the Wild Maths task.


Circles, Circles 

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level
Here are some arrangements of circles. How many circles would I need to make the next size up for each? Can you create your own arrangement and investigate the number of circles it needs?

2 Rings 

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level
The red ring is inside the blue ring in this picture. Can you rearrange the rings in different ways? Perhaps you can overlap them or put one outside another?

Caterpillars 

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level
These caterpillars have 16 parts. What different shapes do they make if each part lies in the small squares of a 4 by 4 square?

Related

The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.
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NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.