Other tags that relate to Playground Snapshot
Generalising. Pythagoras' theorem. Mathematical reasoning & proof. Interactivities. 2D shapes and their properties. Maths Supporting SET. Technology. STEM - physical world. Visualising. Regular polygons and circles.There are 148 results
Broad Topics > Thinking Mathematically > Generalising
2001 Spatial Oddity
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
With one cut a piece of card 16 cm by 9 cm can be made into two pieces which can be rearranged to form a square 12 cm by 12 cm. Explain how this can be done.
Tilted Squares
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
It's easy to work out the areas of most squares that we meet, but what if they were tilted?
Tourism
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
If you can copy a network without lifting your pen off the paper and without drawing any line twice, then it is traversable. Decide which of these diagrams are traversable.
Mindreader
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A little bit of algebra explains this 'magic'. Ask a friend to pick 3 consecutive numbers and to tell you a multiple of 3. Then ask them to add the four numbers and multiply by 67, and to tell you. . . .
Shear Magic
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Explore the area of families of parallelograms and triangles. Can you find rules to work out the areas?
Dotty Triangles
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Imagine an infinitely large sheet of square dotty paper on which you can draw triangles of any size you wish (providing each vertex is on a dot). What areas is it/is it not possible to draw?
Go Forth and Generalise
Age 11 to 14
Spotting patterns can be an important first step - explaining why it is appropriate to generalise is the next step, and often the most interesting and important.
Frogs
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
How many moves does it take to swap over some red and blue frogs? Do you have a method?
Handshakes
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you find an efficient method to work out how many handshakes there would be if hundreds of people met?
Christmas Chocolates
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
How could Penny, Tom and Matthew work out how many chocolates there are in different sized boxes?
Picturing Square Numbers
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Square numbers can be represented as the sum of consecutive odd numbers. What is the sum of 1 + 3 + ..... + 149 + 151 + 153?
Picturing Triangular Numbers
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Triangular numbers can be represented by a triangular array of squares. What do you notice about the sum of identical triangle numbers?
Games Related to Nim
Age 5 to 16
This article for teachers describes several games, found on the site, all of which have a related structure that can be used to develop the skills of strategic planning.
Sum Equals Product
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
The sum of the numbers 4 and 1 [1/3] is the same as the product of 4 and 1 [1/3]; that is to say 4 + 1 [1/3] = 4 � 1 [1/3]. What other numbers have the sum equal to the product and can this be so. . . .
Magic Letters
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Charlie has made a Magic V. Can you use his example to make some more? And how about Magic Ls, Ns and Ws?
Enclosing Squares
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you find sets of sloping lines that enclose a square?
Adding in Rows
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
List any 3 numbers. It is always possible to find a subset of adjacent numbers that add up to a multiple of 3. Can you explain why and prove it?
Finding 3D Stacks
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Can you find a way of counting the spheres in these arrangements?
Steps to the Podium
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
It starts quite simple but great opportunities for number discoveries and patterns!
Hidden Rectangles
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Rectangles are considered different if they vary in size or have different locations. How many different rectangles can be drawn on a chessboard?
Squares, Squares and More Squares
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you dissect a square into: 4, 7, 10, 13... other squares? 6, 9, 12, 15... other squares? 8, 11, 14... other squares?
Taking Steps
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
In each of the pictures the invitation is for you to: Count what you see. Identify how you think the pattern would continue.
Special Sums and Products
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Find some examples of pairs of numbers such that their sum is a factor of their product. eg. 4 + 12 = 16 and 4 × 12 = 48 and 16 is a factor of 48.
Winning Lines
Age 7 to 16
An article for teachers and pupils that encourages you to look at the mathematical properties of similar games.
Searching for Mean(ing)
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
If you have a large supply of 3kg and 8kg weights, how many of each would you need for the average (mean) of the weights to be 6kg?
More Number Pyramids
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
When number pyramids have a sequence on the bottom layer, some interesting patterns emerge...
Cuboid Challenge
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
What's the largest volume of box you can make from a square of paper?
Circles, Circles
Age 5 to 11 Challenge Level:
Here are some arrangements of circles. How many circles would I need to make the next size up for each? Can you create your own arrangement and investigate the number of circles it needs?
Sliding Puzzle
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of moves.
Keep it Simple
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can all unit fractions be written as the sum of two unit fractions?
Partitioning Revisited
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
We can show that (x + 1)² = x² + 2x + 1 by considering the area of an (x + 1) by (x + 1) square. Show in a similar way that (x + 2)² = x² + 4x + 4
Egyptian Fractions
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
The Egyptians expressed all fractions as the sum of different unit fractions. Here is a chance to explore how they could have written different fractions.
Cubes Within Cubes Revisited
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Imagine starting with one yellow cube and covering it all over with a single layer of red cubes, and then covering that cube with a layer of blue cubes. How many red and blue cubes would you need?
Beach Huts
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you figure out how sequences of beach huts are generated?
Number Pyramids
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Try entering different sets of numbers in the number pyramids. How does the total at the top change?
Arithmagons
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you find the values at the vertices when you know the values on the edges?
More Twisting and Turning
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
It would be nice to have a strategy for disentangling any tangled ropes...
Seven Squares - Group-worthy Task
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Choose a couple of the sequences. Try to picture how to make the next, and the next, and the next... Can you describe your reasoning?
Sums of Pairs
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
Jo has three numbers which she adds together in pairs. When she does this she has three different totals: 11, 17 and 22 What are the three numbers Jo had to start with?”
How Much Can We Spend?
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A country has decided to have just two different coins, 3z and 5z coins. Which totals can be made? Is there a largest total that cannot be made? How do you know?
Got It
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.
Konigsberg Plus
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Euler discussed whether or not it was possible to stroll around Koenigsberg crossing each of its seven bridges exactly once. Experiment with different numbers of islands and bridges.
One, Three, Five, Seven
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
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.
Make 37
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
Four bags contain a large number of 1s, 3s, 5s and 7s. Pick any ten numbers from the bags above so that their total is 37.
Train Spotters' Paradise
Age 11 to 16
Dave Hewitt suggests that there might be more to mathematics than looking at numerical results, finding patterns and generalising.
Nim-7
Age 5 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?
...on the Wall
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Explore the effect of reflecting in two intersecting mirror lines.
Who Is the Fairest of Them All ?
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Explore the effect of combining enlargements.
Squares in Rectangles
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A 2 by 3 rectangle contains 8 squares and a 3 by 4 rectangle contains 20 squares. What size rectangle(s) contain(s) exactly 100 squares? Can you find them all?
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.