Friday Afternoon Lifesavers – the Teacher’s Best Friend; Part 5, Leonhard Euler’s 8×8 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. Here’s another Knight’s Tour; this one was created by the famous Swiss [...]
KenKen Construction – Building Puzzles in the Classroom
My classes spent part of the today creating their own KenKen puzzles. The enthusiasm and results exceeded my expectations. Here is the five-step process we used: 1. Draw a 4×4 grid. You can use a 5-1/2” x 8-1/2” scratch paper (1/2 normal size) and have kids create a 4″ square. Then subdivide this into sixteen [...]
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 [...]
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers – the Teacher’s Best Friend; Part 3 Solution, Pythagorean Theorem Cut-Up
Shown in the graphic above is the solution to the Pythagorean Theorem Cut-Up problem posed last week as a Friday Afternoon Lifesaver. This puzzle gives teachers a chance to talk about the theorem and its applications. After printing the puzzle, you can talk about how the five pieces must fit so that one edge of [...]
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers – the Teacher’s Best Friend; Part 3, Pythagorean Theorem Cut-Up
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. Here’s a puzzle that works anytime, but works especially well if your [...]
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 – Solution of Permutations on a 4×4 Grid
We have the solution to the KenKen Conundrum posed recently. I asked my students to solve the following problem, and several of them succeeded. The original question was, “How many different arrangements (permutations) of the integers 1, 2, 3, 4 are possible in a 4×4 grid such as KenKen? Several people commented to the post, [...]
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