This article looks at levels of geometric thinking and the types of
activities required to develop this thinking.
Take it in turns to place a domino on the grid. One to be placed horizontally and the other vertically. Can you make it impossible for your opponent to play?
Make one big triangle so the numbers that touch on the small triangles add to 10. You could use the interactivity to help you.
What does the overlap of these two shapes look like? Try picturing it in your head and then use the interactivity to test your prediction.
Use the three triangles to fill these outline shapes. Perhaps you can create some of your own shapes for a friend to fill?
This second article in the series refers to research about levels
of development of spatial thinking and the possible influence of
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 ...
How many different cuboids can you make when you use four CDs or
DVDs? How about using five, then six?
Find your way through the grid starting at 2 and following these
operations. What number do you end on?
This task, written for the National Young Mathematicians' Award 2016, involves open-topped boxes made with interlocking cubes. Explore the number of units of paint that are needed to cover the boxes. . . .
10 space travellers are waiting to board their spaceships. There
are two rows of seats in the waiting room. Using the rules, where
are they all sitting? Can you find all the possible ways?
Swap the stars with the moons, using only knights' moves (as on a
chess board). What is the smallest number of moves possible?
Investigate how the four L-shapes fit together to make an enlarged L-shape. You could explore this idea with other shapes too.
How many different ways can you find of fitting five hexagons
together? How will you know you have found all the ways?
What can you see? What do you notice? What questions can you ask?
This 100 square jigsaw is written in code. It starts with 1 and ends with 100. Can you build it up?
How many DIFFERENT quadrilaterals can be made by joining the dots
on the 8-point circle?
An extension of noughts and crosses in which the grid is enlarged
and the length of the winning line can to altered to 3, 4 or 5.
How many different triangles can you make on a circular pegboard that has nine pegs?
If you can post the triangle with either the blue or yellow colour face up, how many ways can it be posted altogether?
Here you see the front and back views of a dodecahedron. Each
vertex has been numbered so that the numbers around each pentagonal
face add up to 65. Can you find all the missing numbers?
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
Exchange the positions of the two sets of counters in the least possible number of moves
A magician took a suit of thirteen cards and held them in his hand
face down. Every card he revealed had the same value as the one he
had just finished spelling. How did this work?
Investigate the number of paths you can take from one vertex to
another in these 3D shapes. Is it possible to take an odd number
and an even number of paths to the same vertex?
How can the same pieces of the tangram make this bowl before and after it was chipped? Use the interactivity to try and work out what is going on!
In each of the pictures the invitation is for you to: Count what you see. Identify how you think the pattern would continue.
Move just three of the circles so that the triangle faces in the
A variant on the game Alquerque
What happens when you try and fit the triomino pieces into these
Can you cover the camel with these pieces?
Try this interactive strategy game for 2
Can you make a 3x3 cube with these shapes made from small cubes?
Can you shunt the trucks so that the Cattle truck and the Sheep
truck change places and the Engine is back on the main line?
What is the best way to shunt these carriages so that each train
can continue its journey?
A game for 2 players. Given a board of dots in a grid pattern, players take turns drawing a line by connecting 2 adjacent dots. Your goal is to complete more squares than your opponent.
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?
An activity centred around observations of dots and how we visualise number arrangement patterns.
This article introduces the idea of generic proof for younger children and illustrates how one example can offer a proof of a general result through unpacking its underlying structure.
Imagine a pyramid which is built in square layers of small cubes. If we number the cubes from the top, starting with 1, can you picture which cubes are directly below this first cube?
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?
What is the least number of moves you can take to rearrange the
bears so that no bear is next to a bear of the same colour?
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?
Can you see why 2 by 2 could be 5? Can you predict what 2 by 10
Can you work out how many cubes were used to make this open box? What size of open box could you make if you had 112 cubes?
What happens to the area of a square if you double the length of
the sides? Try the same thing with rectangles, diamonds and other
shapes. How do the four smaller ones fit into the larger one?
Design an arrangement of display boards in the school hall which fits the requirements of different people.
Cut four triangles from a square as shown in the picture. How many
different shapes can you make by fitting the four triangles back
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?
A game for two players. You'll need some counters.