Being Resourceful - Upper Primary is part of our Being a Good Thinker - Upper Primary collection.
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 can you become more resourceful?
These problems require careful consideration. Immerse yourself in them and appreciate that the journey is often as important as the destination!
You can browse through the Number, Measures, Geometry or Statistics collections, or scroll down to see the full set of problems below.
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 can you become more resourceful?
These problems require careful consideration. Immerse yourself in them and appreciate that the journey is often as important as the destination!
You can browse through the Number, Measures, Geometry or Statistics collections, or scroll down to see the full set of problems below.
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Being resourceful - Upper Primary Number
Number problems for upper primary that will get you thinking.
list
Being resourceful - Upper Primary Measures
Measure problems for upper primary that will get you thinking.
list
Being resourceful - Upper Primary Geometry
Geometry problems for upper primary that will get you thinking.
list
Being resourceful - Upper Primary Statistics
Statistics problems for upper primary that will get you thinking.
problem
Favourite
Rolling that cube
My dice has inky marks on each face. Can you find the route it has taken? What does each face look like?
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Favourite
Shaping It
These pictures were made by starting with a square, finding the half-way point on each side and joining those points up. You could investigate your own starting shape.
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Biscuit Decorations
Andrew decorated 20 biscuits to take to a party. He lined them up and put icing on every second biscuit and different decorations on other biscuits. How many biscuits weren't decorated?
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Favourite
Make 37
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?
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Favourite
Number Differences
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in the squares below so that the difference between joined squares is odd. How many different ways can you do this?
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Favourite
Shape Times Shape
These eleven shapes each stand for a different number. Can you use the number sentences to work out what they are?
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Favourite
First Connect Three
Add or subtract the two numbers on the spinners and try to complete a row of three. Are there some numbers that are good to aim for?
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Cows and Sheep
Use your logical reasoning to work out how many cows and how many
sheep there are in each field.
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Magic Vs
Can you put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?
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Treasure Hunt
Can you find a reliable strategy for choosing coordinates that will locate the treasure in the minimum number of guesses?
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Favourite
Nice or Nasty
There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
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Play to 37
In this game for two players, the idea is to take it in turns to choose 1, 3, 5 or 7. The winner is the first to make the total 37.
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Shape Draw
Use the information on these cards to draw the shape that is being described.
game
Favourite
The Remainders Game
Play this game and see if you can figure out the computer's chosen number.
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Favourite
Cubes
How many faces can you see when you arrange these three cubes in different ways?
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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?
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Favourite
Same or Different?
Anna and Becky put one purple cube and two yellow cubes into a bag
to play a game. Is the game fair? Explain your answer.
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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.
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It's a Tie
Kaia is sure that her father has worn a particular tie twice a week in at least five of the last ten weeks, but her father disagrees. Who do you think is right?
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Four Go
This challenge is a game for two players. Choose two of the numbers to multiply or divide, then mark your answer on the number line. Can you get four in a row?
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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?
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Shapes on the Playground
Sally and Ben were drawing shapes in chalk on the school playground. Can you work out what shapes each of them drew using the clues?
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Mystery Matrix
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
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Factor Lines
Arrange the four number cards on the grid, according to the rules, to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.
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Dice in a Corner
How could you arrange at least two dice in a stack so that the total of the visible spots is 18?
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Two and Two
How many solutions can you find to this sum? Each of the different letters stands for a different number.
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Frogs
How many moves does it take to swap over some red and blue frogs? Do you have a method?
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Favourite
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.
game
Favourite
Dicey Operations
Who said that adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing couldn't be fun?