Other tags that relate to En-counters for Two
Addition & subtraction. Questioning. Team-building. Dice. Practical Activity. Properties of numbers. Making and proving conjectures. Visualising. Working systematically. Investigations.There are 155 results
Broad Topics > Thinking Mathematically > Practical Activity
Purposeful Paper Folding
Age 5 to 11
In this article for primary teachers, Fran describes her passion for paper folding as a springboard for mathematics.
It's a Fence!
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
In this challenge, you will work in a group to investigate circular fences enclosing trees that are planted in square or triangular arrangements.
Pairs of Numbers
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
If you have ten counters numbered 1 to 10, how many can you put into pairs that add to 10? Which ones do you have to leave out? Why?
Dice Stairs
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you make dice stairs using the rules stated? How do you know you have all the possible stairs?
Putting Two and Two Together
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
In how many ways can you fit two of these yellow triangles together? Can you predict the number of ways two blue triangles can be fitted together?
Cereal Packets
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
How can you put five cereal packets together to make different shapes if you must put them face-to-face?
Triangle Relations
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
What do these two triangles have in common? How are they related?
Tricky Triangles
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Use the three triangles to fill these outline shapes. Perhaps you can create some of your own shapes for a friend to fill?
Two by One
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
An activity making various patterns with 2 x 1 rectangular tiles.
Shaping Up
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Are all the possible combinations of two shapes included in this set of 27 cards? How do you know?
Seven Flipped
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.
Making Maths: Birds from an Egg
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you make the birds from the egg tangram?
Baked Bean Cans
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Is there a best way to stack cans? What do different supermarkets do? How high can you safely stack the cans?
Cutting Corners
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you make the most extraordinary, the most amazing, the most unusual patterns/designs from these triangles which are made in a special way?
Making Sticks
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Kimie and Sebastian were making sticks from interlocking cubes and lining them up. Can they make their lines the same length? Can they make any other lines?
Sticks and Triangles
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Using different numbers of sticks, how many different triangles are you able to make? Can you make any rules about the numbers of sticks that make the most triangles?
Triangle Shapes
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
This practical problem challenges you to create shapes and patterns with two different types of triangle. You could even try overlapping them.
Making Cuboids
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Let's say you can only use two different lengths - 2 units and 4 units. Using just these 2 lengths as the edges how many different cuboids can you make?
Two on Five
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Take 5 cubes of one colour and 2 of another colour. How many different ways can you join them if the 5 must touch the table and the 2 must not touch the table?
Making Longer, Making Shorter
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Ahmed is making rods using different numbers of cubes. Which rod is twice the length of his first rod?
Little Boxes
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
How many different cuboids can you make when you use four CDs or DVDs? How about using five, then six?
Building Patterns
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you deduce the pattern that has been used to lay out these bottle tops?
Little Man
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
The Man is much smaller than us. Can you use the picture of him next to a mug to estimate his height and how much tea he drinks?
Move Those Halves
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
For this task, you'll need an A4 sheet and two A5 transparent sheets. Decide on a way of arranging the A5 sheets on top of the A4 sheet and explore ...
Fit These Shapes
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
What is the largest number of circles we can fit into the frame without them overlapping? How do you know? What will happen if you try the other shapes?
Cover the Tray
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
These practical challenges are all about making a 'tray' and covering it with paper.
How Tall?
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
A group of children are discussing the height of a tall tree. How would you go about finding out its height?
Sports Equipment
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
If these balls are put on a line with each ball touching the one in front and the one behind, which arrangement makes the shortest line of balls?
Order the Changes
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you order pictures of the development of a frog from frogspawn and of a bean seed growing into a plant?
Three Sets of Cubes, Two Surfaces
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
How many models can you find which obey these rules?
The Numbers Give the Design
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Make new patterns from simple turning instructions. You can have a go using pencil and paper or with a floor robot.
Making Maths: Happy Families
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Here is a version of the game 'Happy Families' for you to make and play.
How Many?
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
This project challenges you to work out the number of cubes hidden under a cloth. What questions would you like to ask?
Sort Them Out (2)
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice? How could you sort the cards?
Map Folding
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Take a rectangle of paper and fold it in half, and half again, to make four smaller rectangles. How many different ways can you fold it up?
A City of Towers
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many different ways can they build their houses?
Egyptian Rope
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
The ancient Egyptians were said to make right-angled triangles using a rope with twelve equal sections divided by knots. What other triangles could you make if you had a rope like this?
Two-digit Targets
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
You have a set of the digits from 0 – 9. Can you arrange these in the five boxes to make two-digit numbers as close to the targets as possible?
Halving
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
These pictures show squares split into halves. Can you find other ways?
Chairs and Tables
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
Make a chair and table out of interlocking cubes, making sure that the chair fits under the table!
Square Corners
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
What is the greatest number of counters you can place on the grid below without four of them lying at the corners of a square?
Dienes' Logiblocs
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
This problem focuses on Dienes' Logiblocs. What is the same and what is different about these pairs of shapes? Can you describe the shapes in the picture?
Four Colours
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Kate has eight multilink cubes. She has two red ones, two yellow, two green and two blue. She wants to fit them together to make a cube so that each colour shows on each face just once.
Fencing
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Arrange your fences to make the largest rectangular space you can. Try with four fences, then five, then six etc.
Polydron
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
This activity investigates how you might make squares and pentominoes from Polydron.
Escher Tessellations
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
This practical investigation invites you to make tessellating shapes in a similar way to the artist Escher.
Tangram Tangle
Age 5 to 7 Challenge Level:
If you split the square into these two pieces, it is possible to fit the pieces together again to make a new shape. How many new shapes can you make?
Counter Ideas
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Here are some ideas to try in the classroom for using counters to investigate number patterns.
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.