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Being Resilient - Primary Teachers

Being Resilient - Primary is part of our Developing Mathematical Habits of Mind Primary collection

In Developing Students' Resilience, we offer you support and advice on how to encourage your learners to become resilient mathematicians.

We know that good thinkers are resilient, they don't give up easily, and are motivated to work hard and keep going when faced with challenges. Here are some problems that may require similar determination from your learners. You could warn your learners that the solutions may not be immediately obvious, and they may need to persevere. We hope that they will have the opportunity to appreciate that success can be sweeter after a struggle.

Additionally you may find that these tasks support the development of other problem-solving skills and mathematical habits of mind, which you could choose to highlight as and when they arise.

You can browse through the Number, Measures, Geometry or Statistics collections, or scroll down to see the full set of problems below.

Four Triangles Puzzle
problem
Favourite

Four Triangles Puzzle

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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Cut four triangles from a square as shown in the picture. How many different shapes can you make by fitting the four triangles back together?
Robot Monsters
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Robot Monsters

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Use these head, body and leg pieces to make Robot Monsters which are different heights.
Inside Triangles
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Inside Triangles

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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How many different triangles can you draw on the dotty grid which each have one dot in the middle?
Rolling that cube
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Rolling that cube

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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My dice has inky marks on each face. Can you find the route it has taken? What does each face look like?
Mixed-up Socks
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Mixed-up Socks

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Start with three pairs of socks. Now mix them up so that no mismatched pair is the same as another mismatched pair. Is there more than one way to do it?
Make 37 Poster
problem
Favourite

Make 37

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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Four bags contain a large number of 1s, 3s, 5s and 7s. Can you pick any ten numbers from the bags so that their total is 37?

Find the Difference
problem
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Find the Difference

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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Place the numbers 1 to 6 in the circles so that each number is the difference between the two numbers just below it.
Factors and Multiples Game
game
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Factors and Multiples Game

A game in which players take it in turns to choose a number. Can you block your opponent?

Dicey Perimeter, Dicey Area
game
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Dicey Perimeter, Dicey Area

In this game for two players, you throw two dice and find the product. How many shapes can you draw on the grid which have that area or perimeter?
Which Scripts?
problem
Favourite

Which Scripts?

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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There are six numbers written in five different scripts. Can you sort out which is which?
How many Times?
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How many Times?

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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On a digital 24 hour clock, at certain times, all the digits are consecutive. How many times like this are there between midnight and 7 a.m.?
Nine-Pin Triangles
problem
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Nine-Pin Triangles

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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How many different triangles can you make on a circular pegboard that has nine pegs?
Maze 100
problem
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Maze 100

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Can you go through this maze so that the numbers you pass add to exactly 100?
Reach 100
problem
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Reach 100

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Choose four different digits from 1-9 and put one in each box so that the resulting four two-digit numbers add to a total of 100.

Factor Lines
problem
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Factor Lines

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
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Arrange the four number cards on the grid, according to the rules, to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.
Got It
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Got It

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
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A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.

Number Lines in Disguise
problem
Favourite

Number Lines in Disguise

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
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Some of the numbers have fallen off Becky's number line. Can you figure out what they were?
Two and Two
problem
Favourite

Two and Two

Age
7 to 16
Challenge level
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How many solutions can you find to this sum? Each of the different letters stands for a different number.