KS4 Roadshow

game

Two stones

This game is known as Pong hau k'i in China and Ou-moul-ko-no in Korea. Why not challenge a friend to play it with you?

problem

Air nets

Age

7 to 18

Challenge level

Can you visualise whether these nets fold up into 3D shapes? Watch the videos each time to see if you were correct.

game

Favourite

Factors and multiples game

A game in which players take it in turns to choose a number. Can you block your opponent?

game

Dominoes

Everthing you have always wanted to do with dominoes! Some of these games are good for practising your mental calculation skills, and some are good for your reasoning skills.

game

Pentanim

A game for 2 players with similarities to NIM. Place one counter on each spot on the games board. Players take it is turns to remove 1 or 2 adjacent counters. The winner picks up the last counter.

game

Low go

A game for 2 players. Take turns to place a counter so that it occupies one of the lowest possible positions in the grid. The first player to complete a line of 4 wins.

problem

Prime magic

Age

7 to 16

Challenge level

Place the numbers 1, 2, 3,..., 9 one on each square of a 3 by 3 grid so that all the rows and columns add up to a prime number. How many different solutions can you find?

problem

Colour in the square

Age

7 to 16

Challenge level

Can you put the 25 coloured tiles into the 5 x 5 square so that no column, no row and no diagonal line have tiles of the same colour in them?

game

Domino magic rectangle

An ordinary set of dominoes can be laid out as a 7 by 4 magic rectangle in which all the spots in all the columns add to 24, while those in the rows add to 42. Try it! Now try the magic square...

problem

Eight dominoes

Age

7 to 16

Challenge level

Using the 8 dominoes make a square where each of the columns and rows adds up to 8

problem

Favourite

Two and two

Age

7 to 16

Challenge level

How many solutions can you find to this sum? Each of the different letters stands for a different number.

problem

Favourite

Are we nearly there?

Age

11 to 16

Can you describe the route followed by the arrows?

problem

Age

11 to 16

Challenge level

In this game the winner is the first to complete a row of three. Are some squares easier to land on than others?

problem

Crossing the bridge

Age

11 to 18

Challenge level

Four friends must cross a bridge. How can they all cross it in just 17 minutes?

game

Last biscuit

Can you find a strategy that ensures you get to take the last biscuit in this game?

problem

Who's who?

Age

11 to 16

Challenge level

Can you solve the clues to find out who's who on the friendship graph?

problem

Favourite

Marbles in a box

Age

11 to 16

Challenge level

How many winning lines can you make in a three-dimensional version of noughts and crosses?

problem

Favourite

Take three from five

Age

11 to 16

Challenge level

Caroline and James pick sets of five numbers. Charlie tries to find three that add together to make a multiple of three. Can they stop him?

game

One, three, five, seven

A game for 2 players. Set out 16 counters in rows of 1,3,5 and 7. Players take turns to remove any number of counters from a row. The player left with the last counter looses.

problem

Instant insanity

Age

11 to 18

Challenge level

Given the nets of 4 cubes with the faces coloured in 4 colours, build a tower so that on each vertical wall no colour is repeated, that is all 4 colours appear.

problem

Times right

Age

11 to 16

Challenge level

Using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, mulitply a two two digit numbers are multiplied to give a four digit number, so that the expression is correct. How many different solutions can you find?

problem

Favourite

Nine colours

Age

11 to 16

Challenge level

Can you use small coloured cubes to make a 3 by 3 by 3 cube so that each face of the bigger cube contains one of each colour?

article

Some circuits in graph or network theory

Eulerian and Hamiltonian circuits are defined with some simple examples and a couple of puzzles to illustrate Hamiltonian circuits.

problem

Equal equilateral triangles

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

Can you make a regular hexagon from yellow triangles the same size as a regular hexagon made from green triangles ?

problem

Favourite

Iffy logic

Age

14 to 18

Challenge level

Can you rearrange the cards to make a series of correct mathematical statements?

problem

Favourite

Curvy areas

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

Have a go at creating these images based on circles. What do you notice about the areas of the different sections?

problem

Favourite

How old am I?

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

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?

problem

Favourite

Pair products

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

Choose four consecutive whole numbers. Multiply the first and last numbers together. Multiply the middle pair together. What do you notice?

problem

Favourite

Warmsnug double glazing

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

How have "Warmsnug" arrived at the prices shown on their windows? Which window has been given an incorrect price?

problem

Favourite

Kite in a square

Age

14 to 18

Challenge level

Can you make sense of the three methods to work out what fraction of the total area is shaded?

problem

Favourite

Square number surprises

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

There are unexpected discoveries to be made about square numbers...

problem

Favourite

Doesn't add up

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

In this problem we are faced with an apparently easy area problem, but it has gone horribly wrong! What happened?

problem

Favourite

What's possible?

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

Many numbers can be expressed as the difference of two perfect squares. What do you notice about the numbers you CANNOT make?

problem

Favourite

Why 24?

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

Take any prime number greater than 3 , square it and subtract one. Working on the building blocks will help you to explain what is special about your results.

problem

Favourite

Pick's theorem

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

Polygons drawn on square dotty paper have dots on their perimeter (p) and often internal (i) ones as well. Find a relationship between p, i and the area of the polygons.

problem

Favourite

2-digit square

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

A 2-Digit number is squared. When this 2-digit number is reversed and squared, the difference between the squares is also a square. What is the 2-digit number?

problem

Favourite

Compare areas

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

Which has the greatest area, a circle or a square, inscribed in an isosceles right angle triangle?

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Advanced mathematics

For younger learners

KS4 Roadshow