This task is intended to help model a concrete situation with geometry. Placing the seven pennies in a circular pattern is a concrete and fun experiment which leads to a genuine mathematical question: does the physical model with pennies give insight into what happens with seven circles in the plane?

In this activity students try to visualize 3-D shapes from given 2-D silhouettes (projections). Students can describe, draw, model or relate their ideas to objects in their environment. With several possible answers for each silhouette, students become more familiar with using the terms and describing the properties of solid figures. The Teachers' Notes page includes suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, ideas for extension and support. A warmup activity called "Skeleton Shapes" is offered (cataloged separately). [Note: "torch" in the UK = "flashlight" in the US.]

This problem helps children become familiar with the idea of a symbol (in this case a shape) representing a number. Students also have an opportunity to see the multiplication properties of one and zero in a challenging puzzle. By studying the twelve multiplication equations which use eleven different colored shapes, students are to determine each shape's unique number value from a list of 0 to 12. The Teachers' Notes page offers rationale, suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, support with down loadable handouts and a link to an extension activity, What's It Worth? (cataloged separately).

This activity provides students with an opportunity to recognize arithmetic sequences and at the same time reinforces identifying multiples. The interactivity displays five numbers and the student must discover the times table pattern and the numerical shift. On Levels 1 and 2, the first five numbers in the sequence are given and on Levels 3 and 4, the numbers given could be any five numbers in the sequence. The Teachers' Notes page offers rationale, suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, ideas for extension and support.

The Big6 is a six-stage model to help anyone solve problems or make decisions by using information. Students can use this model to guide them through the research process. This resource is a lesson plan that uses music to help students learn the Big6 model.

This shunting puzzle asks students to use a siding to allow two trains to pass one another on a single track. The difficulty is that the siding length is limited. Teaching suggestions, a printable page, and a solution are included.

This activity gives students an opportunity to explore some of the common 3-D shapes and their names and properties. After discussion and an example, it asks students to count the required number of edges and vertices (corners) to build each of 5 given shapes. The Teachers' Notes page includes suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, ideas for extension and support, and a printable recording sheet (pdf).

This interactive Flash version of the classic slider puzzle helps develop spatial reasoning and strategic thinking. It asks solvers to move a green square from the upper right of a grid to the lower left in as few moves as possible by shifting squares one at a time into the empty space. Students are encouraged to develop a general strategy by starting with the default 2 by 2 grid and gradually increasing the grid size. The page contains a link to a similar puzzle with scaffolding questions to guide one's thinking.

In this activity, students investigate the possible sizes and orientations of squares in a 4 by 4 grid. They are to place as many counters as they can on the grid and avoid making the four corners of any square. Solutions require working systematically. Ideas for implementation, extension and support are included along with printable worksheets of grids (.doc)

This interactive Flash game, played on a dot grid, offers an opportunity to practice visualizing squares and angles and also encourages students to use systematic strategies. The object is to select the four corners of a square in some size and orientation. The student can play against the computer or with another student. The dimensions of the grid can be adjusted. The student can opt to see the outline of a square once formed. The Teachers' Notes page offers suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, ideas for extension and support, and links to related activities.

This problem asks students to visualize a square drawn on a clock face and estimate and calculate its area. The problem can be solved without use of the Pythagorean Theorem. Ideas for implementation, extension and support are included along with printable sheets of clock faces.

In this investigation students work systematically and keep organized records as they explore forming triangles from unit sticks. Learners look for patterns and trends in the number of triangles possible with a given integer perimeter. Ideas for implementation, extension and support are included along with a printable sheet of the problem.

This interactive Flash game gives students practice in telling time on an analog clock while also developing strategic thinking. Students take turns advancing the clock by 1/4, 1/2, or 1 hour. The winner is the player who moves the hands of the clock to exactly midnight. This activity can merely familiarize students with the clock and time intervals, or it can challenge older students to find the strategy that always wins.

This problem offers a simple context to begin an exploration of the properties of numbers and to make conjectures about those properties. Learners explore the sums of consecutive numbers and whether all positive numbers from 1-30 can be written as the sum of two or more consecutive numbers. The Teachers' Notes page offers suggestions for implementation, key discussion questions, ideas for extension and support.

In this version of a Sumo wrestling bout, players use mathematical skills to move their opponent's counter beyond the track and "out of the ring." Learners reveal playing cards and the player with the large value card pushes their counter a number of spaces equal to the difference between the two card values multiplied by the lower of the two card values. Learners can also explore what happens when a zero card is added to the mix.

The Big6 is a six-stage model to help anyone solve problems or make decisions by using information. Students can use this model to guide them through the research process. The Super3 is a simplified version of the model for younger students. This resources is a slide share introducing the Super3.

The Big6 is a six-stage model to help anyone solve problems or make decisions by using information. Students can use this model to guide them through the research process. The Super3 is a simplified version of the model for younger students. This resources is a slide presentation that uses dinosaurs to teach the Super3.

The Big6 is a six-stage model to help anyone solve problems or make decisions by using information. Students can use this model to guide them through the research process. The Super3 is a simplified version of the model for younger students. This lesson plan uses the familiar Flat Stanley project to guide students through the Super3.

The Big6 is a six-stage model to help anyone solve problems or make decisions by using information. Students can use this model to guide them through the research process. The Super3 is a simplified version of the model for younger students. This resource includes three posters about the Super3 model.

The Big6 is a six-stage model to help anyone solve problems or make decisions by using information. Students can use this model to guide them through the research process. The Super3 is a simplified version of the model for younger students. This worksheet is a writing checklist that utilized the Super3 model.