Homes

Six new homes are being built! They can be detached, semi-detached or terraced houses. How many different combinations of these can you find?

Number Squares

Start with four numbers at the corners of a square and put the total of two corners in the middle of that side. Keep going... Can you estimate what the size of the last four numbers will be?

I'm Eight

Find a great variety of ways of asking questions which make 8.

Up and Down

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level

Why do this problem?

This activity gives pupils the opportunity to see a number of additions and subtractions taken consecutively and the overall effect.

Possible approach

Introduce the problem to the children orally - you may like to jot down the information on the board so it can be referred to easily. Without saying anything else, allow the group to talk about the problem and how they might solve it.

Share some of these methods before giving time for pairs to work on a solution together. Encourage them to use whatever they need to and to record how they want.

In a plenary, you could ask some children to talk about what they did and what they notice. At this stage, you may want to introduce the number line as another way to picture what is happening.

Key questions

What did you do to get your answer?

Why does this way work?

Possible extension

Pupils could suggest similar questions for each other to solve.

Possible support

It may be appropriate for some children to work with a number line.

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