Other tags that relate to Thank Your Lucky Stars
Mathematical reasoning & proof. Games. Interactivities. Visualising. Experimental probability. Theoretical probability. Probability. Creating and manipulating expressions and formulae. Permutations. Generalising.There are 53 results
Broad Topics > Thinking Mathematically > Mathematical modelling
Twenty20
Age 7 to 16 Challenge Level:
Fancy a game of cricket? Here is a mathematical version you can play indoors without breaking any windows.
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.
Buses
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
A bus route has a total duration of 40 minutes. Every 10 minutes, two buses set out, one from each end. How many buses will one bus meet on its way from one end to the other end?
Flight of the Flibbins
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Blue Flibbins are so jealous of their red partners that they will not leave them on their own with any other bue Flibbin. What is the quickest way of getting the five pairs of Flibbins safely to. . . .
Königsberg
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you cross each of the seven bridges that join the north and south of the river to the two islands, once and once only, without retracing your steps?
Learning Mathematics Through Games Series: 4. from Strategy Games
Age 5 to 14
Basic strategy games are particularly suitable as starting points for investigations. Players instinctively try to discover a winning strategy, and usually the best way to do this is to analyse. . . .
Chocolate 2010
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to eat chocolate. Multiply this number by 2...
Spot the Card
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
It is possible to identify a particular card out of a pack of 15 with the use of some mathematical reasoning. What is this reasoning and can it be applied to other numbers of cards?
Fixing the Odds
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
You have two bags, four red balls and four white balls. You must put all the balls in the bags although you are allowed to have one bag empty. How should you distribute the balls between the two. . . .
Scratch Cards
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
To win on a scratch card you have to uncover three numbers that add up to more than fifteen. What is the probability of winning a prize?
Crossing the Atlantic
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Every day at noon a boat leaves Le Havre for New York while another boat leaves New York for Le Havre. The ocean crossing takes seven days. How many boats will each boat cross during their journey?
Circuit Training
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Mike and Monisha meet at the race track, which is 400m round. Just to make a point, Mike runs anticlockwise whilst Monisha runs clockwise. Where will they meet on their way around and will they ever. . . .
The Legacy
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Your school has been left a million pounds in the will of an ex- pupil. What model of investment and spending would you use in order to ensure the best return on the money?
Master Minding
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Your partner chooses two beads and places them side by side behind a screen. What is the minimum number of guesses you would need to be sure of guessing the two beads and their positions?
Where to Land
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Chris is enjoying a swim but needs to get back for lunch. If she can swim at 3 m/s and run at 7m/sec, how far along the bank should she land in order to get back as quickly as possible?
Lap Times
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you find the lap times of the two cyclists travelling at constant speeds?
On Time
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
On a clock the three hands - the second, minute and hour hands - are on the same axis. How often in a 24 hour day will the second hand be parallel to either of the two other hands?
Problem Solving, Using and Applying and Functional Mathematics
Age 5 to 18 Challenge Level:
Problem solving is at the heart of the NRICH site. All the problems give learners opportunities to learn, develop or use mathematical concepts and skills. Read here for more information.
Pattern of Islands
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
In how many distinct ways can six islands be joined by bridges so that each island can be reached from every other island...
Quick Times
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
32 x 38 = 30 x 40 + 2 x 8; 34 x 36 = 30 x 40 + 4 x 6; 56 x 54 = 50 x 60 + 6 x 4; 73 x 77 = 70 x 80 + 3 x 7 Verify and generalise if possible.
Shaping the Universe II - the Solar System
Age 11 to 16
The second in a series of articles on visualising and modelling shapes in the history of astronomy.
Bell Ringing
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Suppose you are a bellringer. Can you find the changes so that, starting and ending with a round, all the 24 possible permutations are rung once each and only once?
Shaping the Universe I - Planet Earth
Age 11 to 16
This article explores ths history of theories about the shape of our planet. It is the first in a series of articles looking at the significance of geometric shapes in the history of astronomy.
Slippage
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A ladder 3m long rests against a wall with one end a short distance from its base. Between the wall and the base of a ladder is a garden storage box 1m tall and 1m high. What is the maximum distance. . . .
Stringing it Out
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Explore the transformations and comment on what you find.
Truth Tables and Electronic Circuits
Age 11 to 18
Investigate circuits and record your findings in this simple introduction to truth tables and logic.
Investigating Epidemics
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
Simple models which help us to investigate how epidemics grow and die out.
In Constantly Passing
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
A car is travelling along a dual carriageway at constant speed. Every 3 minutes a bus passes going in the opposite direction, while every 6 minutes a bus passes the car travelling in the same. . . .
Friday 13th
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Can you explain why every year must contain at least one Friday the thirteenth?
Football Crazy Hockey Mad
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
In a league of 5 football teams which play in a round robin tournament show that it is possible for all five teams to be league leaders.
Concrete Calculation
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
The builders have dug a hole in the ground to be filled with concrete for the foundations of our garage. How many cubic metres of ready-mix concrete should the builders order to fill this hole to. . . .
Escalator
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
At Holborn underground station there is a very long escalator. Two people are in a hurry and so climb the escalator as it is moving upwards, thus adding their speed to that of the moving steps. . . .
Rule of Three
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
If it takes four men one day to build a wall, how long does it take 60,000 men to build a similar wall?
Celtic Knotwork Patterns
Age 7 to 14
This article for pupils gives an introduction to Celtic knotwork patterns and a feel for how you can draw them.
Tree Tops
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you make sense of information about trees in order to maximise the profits of a forestry company?
Drawing Doodles and Naming Knots
Age 7 to 18
This article for students introduces the idea of naming knots using numbers. You'll need some paper and something to write with handy!
Troublesome Triangles
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
Many natural systems appear to be in equilibrium until suddenly a critical point is reached, setting up a mudslide or an avalanche or an earthquake. In this project, students will use a simple. . . .
Stemnrich - the Physical World
Age 11 to 16 Challenge Level:
PhysNRICH is the area of the StemNRICH site devoted to the mathematics underlying the study of physics
Rocking Chairs, Railway Games and Rayboxes
Age 5 to 18
In this article for teachers, Alan Parr looks at ways that mathematics teaching and learning can start from the useful and interesting things can we do with the subject, including. . . .
Straw Scaffold
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
Build a scaffold out of drinking-straws to support a cup of water
Plaiting and Braiding
Age 7 to 14
This article for students gives some instructions about how to make some different braids.
Shaping the Universe III - to Infinity and Beyond
Age 11 to 16
The third installment in our series on the shape of astronomical systems, this article explores galaxies and the universe beyond our solar system.
Bionrich
Age 14 to 18 Challenge Level:
bioNRICH is the area of the stemNRICH site devoted to the mathematics underlying the study of the biological sciences, designed to help develop the mathematics required to get the most from your. . . .
Chemnrich
Age 14 to 18 Challenge Level:
chemNRICH is the area of the stemNRICH site devoted to the mathematics underlying the study of chemistry, designed to help develop the mathematics required to get the most from your study. . . .
Triathlon and Fitness
Age 11 to 14 Challenge Level:
The triathlon is a physically gruelling challenge. Can you work out which athlete burnt the most calories?
Observing the Sun and the Moon
Age 7 to 14 Challenge Level:
How does the time of dawn and dusk vary? What about the Moon, how does that change from night to night? Is the Sun always the same? Gather data to help you explore these questions.
Elastic Maths
Age 14 to 18
How do you write a computer program that creates the illusion of stretching elastic bands between pegs of a Geoboard? The answer contains some surprising mathematics.
Guessing the Graph
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Can you suggest a curve to fit some experimental data? Can you work out where the data might have come from?
Bus Stop
Age 14 to 16 Challenge Level:
Two buses leave at the same time from two towns Shipton and Veston on the same long road, travelling towards each other. At each mile along the road are milestones. The buses' speeds are constant. . . .
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.