Explaining, convincing and proving

  • The Better Choice
    problem
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    The better choice

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Here are two games you can play. Which offers the better chance of winning?

  • Where is the dot?
    problem
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    Where is the dot?

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    A dot starts at the point (1,0) and turns anticlockwise. Can you estimate the height of the dot after it has turned through 45 degrees? Can you calculate its height?

  • Making sixty
    problem
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    Making sixty

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Why does this fold create an angle of sixty degrees?

  • Curvy areas
    problem
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    Curvy areas

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Have a go at creating these images based on circles. What do you notice about the areas of the different sections?

  • circles in quadrilaterals
    problem
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    Circles in quadrilaterals

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Explore when it is possible to construct a circle which just touches all four sides of a quadrilateral.

  • A little light thinking
    problem
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    A little light thinking

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you make two lights switch on at once? Three lights? All four lights?

  • Last one standing
    problem
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    Last one standing

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Imagine a room full of people who keep flipping coins until they get a tail. Will anyone get six heads in a row?

  • Finding factors
    problem
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    Finding factors

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Can you find the hidden factors which multiply together to produce each quadratic expression?

  • Generating Triples
    problem
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    Generating triples

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
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    Sets of integers like 3, 4, 5 are called Pythagorean Triples, because they could be the lengths of the sides of a right-angled triangle. Can you find any more?