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Being Curious - Upper Primary Students

Being Curious - Upper Primary is part of our Being a Good Thinker - Upper Primary collection.

Good thinkers are curious and ask good questions. They are excited by new ideas and are keen to explore and investigate them.

Want to become a more curious mathematician?

These problems will exploit your natural curiosity and encourage you to ask good mathematical questions.

You can browse through the Number, Measures, Geometry or Statistics collections, or scroll down to see the full set of problems below.

If the World Were a Village
problem
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If the World Were a Village

Age
5 to 11
Challenge level
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This activity is based on data in the book 'If the World Were a Village'. How will you represent your chosen data for maximum effect?

Tricky Track
problem

Tricky Track

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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In this game you throw two dice and find their total, then move the appropriate counter to the right. Which counter reaches the purple box first?
Brush Loads
problem
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Brush Loads

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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How can you arrange the 5 cubes so that you need the smallest number of Brush Loads of paint to cover them? Try with other numbers of cubes as well.

Torn Shapes
problem
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Torn Shapes

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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These rectangles have been torn. How many squares did each one have inside it before it was ripped?
Cows and Sheep
problem

Cows and Sheep

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Use your logical reasoning to work out how many cows and how many sheep there are in each field.
Coded hundred square
problem
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Coded hundred square

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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This 100 square jigsaw is written in code. It starts with 1 and ends with 100. Can you build it up?
Nice or Nasty
problem
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Nice or Nasty

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
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There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
National Flags
problem
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National Flags

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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This problem explores the shapes and symmetries in some national flags.
How many Times?
problem
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How many Times?

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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On a digital 24 hour clock, at certain times, all the digits are consecutive. How many times like this are there between midnight and 7 a.m.?
A Puzzling Cube
problem
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A Puzzling Cube

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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Here are the six faces of a cube - in no particular order. Here are three views of the cube. Can you deduce where the faces are in relation to each other and record them on the net of this cube?
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?
Two Clocks
problem
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Two Clocks

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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These clocks have only one hand, but can you work out what time they are showing from the information?

Three neighbours
problem
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Three neighbours

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
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Take three consecutive numbers and add them together. What do you notice?
Dice in a Corner
problem
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Dice in a Corner

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
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How could you arrange at least two dice in a stack so that the total of the visible spots is 18?
Dicey Operations
game
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Dicey Operations

Who said that adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing couldn't be fun?