List

Developing Able Young Mathematicians

In December 2012, the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) published a report entitled Raising the Bar: Developing Able Young Mathematicians.  The activities in this collection have been selected because they are particularly good for stimulating those children who might already be high attaining.  They encourage deep mathematical thinking by offering contexts in which to conjecture and generalise.  Before taking a look at the tasks themselves, read Lynne's article which gives an overview of the ACME paper.

 

Plants
problem
Favourite

Plants

Age
5 to 14
Challenge level
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Three children are going to buy some plants for their birthdays. They will plant them within circular paths. How could they do this?
Halving
problem
Favourite

Halving

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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These pictures show squares split into halves. Can you find other ways?

Stop the Clock
problem
Favourite

Stop the Clock

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
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This is a game for two players. Can you find out how to be the first to get to 12 o'clock?

Ip Dip
problem
Favourite

Ip Dip

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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"Ip dip sky blue! Who's 'it'? It's you!" Where would you position yourself so that you are 'it' if there are two players? Three players ...?

Cubes
problem
Favourite

Cubes

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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How many faces can you see when you arrange these three cubes in different ways?
Roll these Dice
problem
Favourite

Roll these Dice

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Roll two red dice and a green dice. Add the two numbers on the red dice and take away the number on the green. What are all the different possible answers?

Got It
problem
Favourite

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.