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Follow the clues to find the mystery number.

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What do the digits in the number fifteen add up to? How many other numbers have digits with the same total but no zeros?

ABC

In the multiplication calculation, some of the digits have been replaced by letters and others by asterisks. Can you reconstruct the original multiplication?

The Thousands Game

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level

The Thousands Game printable sheet

 

Class 3 were playing a game. There were ten cards with the digits $0$ to $9$ on them.

 

digit cards 1 to 9

 

 

 

These cards were put into a bag and players took out four cards and made a number out of them. At first they made the highest number they could. Sinita took out

 
digit cards 3, 8, 2 and 5  and made  8532
 

Then they made the lowest number they could. Jamie took out

digit cards 5, 0, 4 and 7  and made  0457

"You can't put zero at the beginning of a number," objected Paul. The class discussed this and decided that Jamie had made four hundred and fifty-seven.

Next they played to make the highest even number. Jill took out

digit cards 7, 8, 6 and 3

and Vincent took out

digit cards 4, 2, 9 and 1

Who won? Why?

Then they played to make the highest odd number. Belinda took out

digit cards 4, 0, 6 and 9

and Ali took out

digit cards 5, 2, 1 and 7

Who won? Why?

Next they played to make the lowest even number. Rohan took out

digit cards 8, 1, 5 and 4

and Ben took out

digit cards 7, 0, 3 and 9

Who won? Why?

The last game they played was to make the closest number to $5000$. Alice took out

digit cards 7, 8, 4 and 9

and Chloe took out

digit cards 1, 0, 3 and 5

Who won? Why?
 

Play some of the different versions of this game with a friend. Which digits are the most helpful? Why?

Once you've played this game a few times, have a go at playing Nice or Nasty. This game is very similar except you draw and place the digits one at a time, so you'll need to think carefully about where to put each one!