This activity is suitable for the able pupils from Key stage 1
upwards. I find that because the activity uses only a small amount
of knowledge and skill there is spare resources in pupils' brains
to think at the same time about ways of trying to make sure that
all the ways of rolling the three dice are reached. There can be
interesting discussion about whether 6 5 4 is the same as 4 5 6.
When considering combinations that pupils are often required to
sort out I find that this activity is a good one to start with once
they have had a go at practical ones. If you are doing this with an
ordinary class then year 5's certainly find it a good challenge. It
opens many doors for the children to consider what happens when you
subtract a higher number from a lower one. When working with a
class of year 4's towards the end of the academic year I found that
some pupils simply said that you could not take 5 from three.
Others said you get nothing [zero] and a few said that you need 2
more to be able to do it. Many already realised it would be minus
2. Whatever groups you do this with I would be interested to have
feedback, particularly if you allow freedom in the way that they
record the investigation, and what extensions they devise.