Good thinkers are resourceful and reflective. They think critically and can explain and justify the choices that they make. They become absorbed in what they are doing and show attention to detail. They look back on what they have done in order to learn from both successes and failures.
How do we help our students to become more resourceful?
These problems require careful consideration. If you allow your students time to immerse themselves in the problems, they may learn to appreciate that the journey is often as important as the destination.
You can browse through the Number, Algebra, Geometry or Statistics collections, or scroll down to see the full set of problems below.
Quadrilaterals game
Dicey operations in line
Funny factorisation
Where can we visit?
Marbles in a box
Attractive tablecloths
In a box
Heads and feet
Twenty divided into six
Triangles to tetrahedra
Sealed solution
Frogs
Shady symmetry
Hexy-metry
Eggs in baskets
The tall tower
The spider and the fly
Cuboids
On the edge
Isosceles triangles
Stars
Two's company
Cosy corner
Substitution cipher
Torn shapes
A chance to win?
Four go
Cows and sheep
Which spinners?
Nice or nasty
How much can we spend?
Sociable cards
Last one standing
What does random look like?
Finding factors
Constructing triangles
Play to 37
Perception versus reality
Wipeout
Box plot match
Forwards add backwards
Unequal averages
Gabriel's problem
Satisfying four statements
Number lines in disguise
Coded hundred square
Repeating patterns
First connect three
Turning man
4 dom
Mystery matrix
Missing multipliers
A little light thinking
Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you make two lights switch on at once? Three lights? All four lights?
Shifting times tables
Can you find a way to identify times tables after they have been shifted up or down?
Multiplication arithmagons
Can you find the values at the vertices when you know the values on the edges of these multiplication arithmagons?
Arithmagons
Can you find the values at the vertices when you know the values on the edges?
Agile algebra
Observe symmetries and engage the power of substitution to solve complicated equations.
Two and two
How many solutions can you find to this sum? Each of the different letters stands for a different number.
Wallpaper
These pieces of wallpaper need to be ordered from smallest to largest. Can you find a way to do it?
The animals' sports day
One day five small animals in my garden were going to have a sports day. They decided to have a swimming race, a running race, a high jump and a long jump.
Through the window
My local DIY shop calculates the price of its windows according to the area of glass and the length of frame used. Can you work out how they arrived at these prices?
Ladybird count
Some children were playing a game. Make a graph or picture to show how many ladybirds each child had.
Property chart
A game in which players take it in turns to try to draw quadrilaterals (or triangles) with particular properties. Is it possible to fill the game grid?
The remainders game
Play this game and see if you can figure out the computer's chosen number.
Special numbers
My two digit number is special because adding the sum of its digits to the product of its digits gives me my original number. What could my number be?
Cut nets
Each of the nets of nine solid shapes has been cut into two pieces. Can you see which pieces go together?
A puzzling cube
Here are the six faces of a cube - in no particular order. Here are three views of the cube. Can you deduce where the faces are in relation to each other and record them on the net of this cube?
Square corners
What is the greatest number of counters you can place on the grid below without four of them lying at the corners of a square?
Sponge sections
You have been given three shapes made out of sponge: a sphere, a cylinder and a cone. Your challenge is to find out how to cut them to make different shapes for printing.
M, M and M
If you are given the mean, median and mode of five positive whole numbers, can you find the numbers?
Seeing squares
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
Poly plug rectangles
The computer has made a rectangle and will tell you the number of spots it uses in total. Can you find out where the rectangle is?
Charlie's delightful machine
Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you develop a strategy to work out the rules controlling each light?
Magic Vs
Can you put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?
Shape times shape
These eleven shapes each stand for a different number. Can you use the number sentences to work out what they are?
Product Sudoku
The clues for this Sudoku are the product of the numbers in adjacent squares.
How old am I?
In 15 years' time my age will be the square of my age 15 years ago. Can you work out my age, and when I had other special birthdays?
Tower of Hanoi
The Tower of Hanoi is an ancient mathematical challenge. Working on the building blocks may help you to explain the patterns you notice.
Eight hidden squares
On the graph there are 28 marked points. These points all mark the vertices (corners) of eight hidden squares. Can you find the eight hidden squares?
Treasure hunt
Can you find a reliable strategy for choosing coordinates that will locate the treasure in the minimum number of guesses?
Shapely pairs
A game in which players take it in turns to turn up two cards. If they can draw a triangle which satisfies both properties they win the pair of cards. And a few challenging questions to follow...
Square it
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
Semi-regular tessellations
Semi-regular tessellations combine two or more different regular polygons to fill the plane. Can you find all the semi-regular tessellations?
Which solids can we make?
Interior angles can help us to work out which polygons will tessellate. Can we use similar ideas to predict which polygons combine to create semi-regular solids?