Games and Puzzles that Reach the Kids and Teach the Standards
The title of this post is from a conference session at the California Math Council conference at Asilomar in December, 2009. You may download the handout, with instructions for some activities, through the following link: Games and Puzzles that Reach the Kids and Teach the Standards – download file Puzzles and Games are a great [...]
What Are the Odds of Losing Your Lunch? – A Probability Adventure
Here’s a neat problem recently under discussion in our school district: “Four kids, each with their own lunch, go on a trip. When it’s time to eat, the four identical-looking lunches are mixed up and the kids randomly choose one. what is the probability that exactly one kid gets his own lunch?” This problem is [...]
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers – the Teacher’s Best Friend; Part 7, Twins, an Exploration in Congruence and Symmetry
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers are exactly what they sound like: at the end of the week when you and your students are running out of gas, these activities come to the rescue. They are mathematical, engaging, fun, and give the teacher a much-needed break. One way to help kids become better problem solvers is to pose [...]
KenKen News – Will Shortz Adds Puzzle to Daily New York Times Puzzle Page
The New York Times has added KenKen to its Puzzle Page, next to their crossword puzzle, and publish it daily Monday-Saturday. This puzzle launch is accompanied by an article by the NYTimes Puzzle Editor, Will Shortz. Here are some excerpts from Will’s article: “KenKen, which starts in The New York Times today next to the [...]
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers – the Teacher’s Best Friend; Part 4, A Knight’s Tour
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers are exactly what they sound like: at the end of the week when you and your students are running out of gas, these activities come to the rescue. They are mathematical, engaging, fun, and give the teacher a much-needed break. A Knight’s Tour is a motivating activity/puzzle that works with both over [...]
KenKen Puzzles – Six New Puzzles for You Each Day from 4×4 to 9×9
I just received word that new daily KenKen puzzles are now available at this kenken.com website. You can choose from small puzzles, such as the 4×4, all the way to the mega-size 9×9 for real KenKen enthusiasts. All the puzzles are rated Medium. This serves as a nice companion to the New York Times KenKen [...]
KenKen Conundrum – How Many Possible Puzzles Are There?
On the way to school yesterday an interesting question occurred to me. How many ways are there to arrange the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 in a 4×4 grid according to KenKen rules? After driving a few more miles, I came up with “the answer” of 288. I shared this with my first class of [...]
Rubik’s Cube – Dr. Jessica Fridrich and the Mathematics Behind the Popular Puzzle
Dr. Jessica Fridrich likes to tackle problems that might seem impossible to others. Rubik’s Cube is an example. She has created what is possibly the world’s most common strategy for speed-solving the popular puzzle, and is the subject of a YouTube video. httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwojxzhSlWA The Fridrich Method deals with more than 50 algorithms, which are rotations [...]
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