List

Finding all possibilities Upper Primary

These activities focus on finding all solutions.  Working in a systematic way will ensure no possibilities are left out.
School fair necklaces
problem
Favourite

School fair necklaces

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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How many possible symmetrical necklaces can you find? How do you know you've found them all?
Beads and bags
problem
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Beads and bags

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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How could you put these three beads into bags? How many different ways can you do it? How could you record what you've done?
Half Time
problem
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Half time

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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What could the half time scores have been in these Olympic hockey matches?
Buying a Balloon
problem
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Buying a balloon

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Lolla bought a balloon at the circus. She gave the clown six coins to pay for it. What could Lolla have paid for the balloon?
Fifteen cards
problem
Favourite

Fifteen cards

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Can you use the information to find out which cards I have used?
Cubes Here and There
problem

Cubes here and there

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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How many shapes can you build from three red and two green cubes? Can you use what you've found out to predict the number for four red and two green?
Trebling
problem
Favourite

Trebling

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Can you replace the letters with numbers? Is there only one solution in each case?

problem
Favourite

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.

Sealed Solution
problem
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Sealed solution

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Ten cards are put into five envelopes so that there are two cards in each envelope. The sum of the numbers inside it is written on each envelope. What numbers could be inside the envelopes?
Magic Vs
problem
Favourite

Magic Vs

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Can you put the numbers 1-5 in the V shape so that both 'arms' have the same total?

Greater Than or Less Than?
problem
Favourite

Greater than or less than?

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Use the numbers and symbols to make this number sentence correct. How many different ways can you find?
All the Digits
problem
Favourite

All the digits

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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This multiplication uses each of the digits 0 - 9 once and once only. Using the information given, can you replace the stars in the calculation with figures?

Finding Fifteen
problem
Favourite

Finding fifteen

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Tim had nine cards each with a different number from 1 to 9 on it. How could he have put them into three piles so that the total in each pile was 15?
Button-Up Some More
problem
Favourite

Button-up some more

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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How many ways can you find to do up all four buttons on my coat? How about if I had five buttons? Six ...?

This Pied Piper of Hamelin
problem
Favourite

This Pied Piper of Hamelin

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Investigate the different numbers of people and rats there could have been if you know how many legs there are altogether!

Reach 100
problem
Favourite

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.

5 on the clock
problem
Favourite

5 on the clock

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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On a digital clock showing 24 hour time, over a whole day, how many times does a 5 appear? Is it the same number for a 12 hour clock over a whole day?
Nine-Pin Triangles
problem
Favourite

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?

Inky Cube
problem
Favourite

Inky cube

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
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This cube has ink on each face which leaves marks on paper as it is rolled. Can you work out what is on each face and the route it has taken?