We realised at the beginning of the investigation that one bag had to contain 1pence. Firstly, you would not be able to make 1p without it and secondly, 15 is an odd number and we knew we would need at least one odd number.
We then realised that we needed a bag that contained 2pence because it would be the only way to make 3pence.
Later on in the investigation, we realised that you could not have two bags with the same amount inside them because that would be a waste of a bag.
We made sure that our total was always 15. We found that the bags were worth 1p,2p,8p and 4p. At the end, we found that you could only make each number one way.
Here are some top tips:
- draw the bags for every try
- Clearly organise your work - you could use a tick sheet with the numbers 1-15 on it.
- tick the numbers as you go along.
- It sometimes good to work with a learning partner because you can share and check your answers.
- You must write out the number sentences to make sure that you have tried every combination and it is clear.
- Check you work (you could use the inverse operation).
We really enjoyed this investigation and are looking forward to your response.
Kind regards,
3M, Milton Road Primary School, Cambridge