The Word documents linked on this web page identify resources from the NRICH collection that have been mapped to the strands (Number, Algebra, Shape and Space, and Handling Data) of the framework for teaching mathematics in the United Kingdom. These resources promote the development of content knowledge as well as mathematical thinking and problem-solving (process) skills. The stage 1 mapping is most useful for K-2, while the stage 2 document is for grades 3-6.

This activity asks students to recognize differences in shapes and sort them. They are given a set of 15 shape cards that they can sort by the criteria of color, size and shape. Ideas for implementation, extension and support are included along with a printable sheet of the cards.

In this article the author suggests three ways teachers can support learners to become confident and competent problem solvers. Each suggestion is discussed in detail with links to NRICH tasks and articles to provide further understanding of this complex process. The article can also be downloaded as a PDF.

This article offers advice to educators on developing learners' collaboration skills through problem solving. The author presents six categories of tasks, each of which addresses a set of teamwork skills (e.g. listening, sharing, reflecting) and includes several tasks which could serve as the vehicle. Links to the tasks, printable materials, and other resources are included.

This 13-page article presents eight aspects to consider when creating a classroom culture that supports problem solving. The article identifies each of the eight aspects and then goes into more detail suggesting activities that can be done in the classroom to promote more student discourse and problem solving. Throughout the article are links to supportive math activities, research articles and professional development activities.

This article helps educators answer questions about geometric thinking and the activities that develop it. It outlines the 3 levels of thinking about shape and space and the 5 phases of activities known as the van Hiele model. The tangram puzzle provides a vehicle for describing these phases and the types of thinking students achieve in each one. The article concludes with a suggestion about followup activity.

This problem demonstrates the power of the 100 square (Hundred Chart) in helping children to recognize number properties and in beginning to reason carefully and form conjectures. Students look at sums of numbers located in a certain configuration within squares of the grid. There is a link to a printable hundred chart.

This collection of 6 games develops place value, operation sense and fluency, estimation, and strategic thinking. It is played on paper with a 6- or 9-sided die (printable pdf game sheets included). Players choose a game grid with empty cells representing the digits of a computation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division). They take turns rolling a die and placing the resulting number in a cell on their own grids. The goal is to create a sum/difference/product/quotient that is closest to a target number. Variations include using a decimal point and scoring options. Teachers' Notes include suggestions for introducing the game, discussion questions, support suggestions, and a link to a more challenging extension (Countdown, cataloged separately).

This activity gives students an opportunity to discuss the quantities involved in statements about measurements or statistics and may involve estimation, calculation and/or research. Ideas for implementation, extension and support are included.

This problem provides students practice in fractions (tenths) and challenges students' addition and subtraction skills. Students are given a cake with the numbers zero to nine on it. They are asked to cut the cake into three pieces with three cuts so that the numbers on each piece add to the same total. The Teachers' Notes page offers rationale, discussion questions, ideas for extension and support, and a printable (pdf) worksheet of the problem.

This game for two or more players tests students' knowledge of the uses of various measuring tools. An interactive spinner picturing 8 tools that measure the attributes of length, weight, volume, angle and time determines the players' movement on a game board. Students must explain their reasoning about their choices of tool applications. A printable page is available.

This web page describes two challenges that build fact and computational fluency as well as flexibility and reasoning. Each activity uses uses an ordinary set of double-6 dominoes, which students try to arrange into a magic rectangle and a magic square, according to given conditions. The page provides links to an interactive Dominoes Environment and a page of other domino activities (both cataloged separately).

This problem helps learners become more familiar with odd and even numbers and addition facts within five. By challenging them to justify their findings, it also develops reasoning and communication skills. The problem displays 9 dominoes and asks the student to sort them according to parity, and then into pairs totaling 5 pips. It poses questions that stimulate thinking about basic number concepts. The Teachers' Notes page offers suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, ideas for extension and support, and a link to an interactive Dominoes Environment (cataloged separately).

This web page describes several games and puzzles that build number sense, fact and computational fluency, flexibility, and reasoning. Each activity uses an ordinary set of double-6 dominoes. After describing dominoes generally, the page provides rules for the basic domino game and a variation, and proposes several other challenges involving addition, multiplication and prime numbers. The page includes a link to an interactive Dominoes Environment (cataloged separately).

This interactive Flash applet provides a customizable set of dominoes that users can manipulate to play games or solve puzzles. It can be used with an interactive whiteboard to facilitate group work. Users can determine the size of a set (up to double-9), remove individual dominoes, rotate and move them, and change their size. The Teachers' Notes page includes a link to page containing domino games and challenges (cataloged separately).

This dice game combines practice with basic number facts with strategic thinking. Students first are challenged to determine the rules of the game by watching a video of a game being played. The game is accompanied by a Teachers' Resource page that includes suggestions for approaching the problem, questions, extension ideas, and tips for support.

This problem requires students to have a good understanding of fractions and challenges children to visualize 3D shapes. Students are asked how to divide a doughnut into eight equal pieces using only three cuts. The Teachers' Notes page includes rationale, suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, and ideas for extension with a link to a worksheet and support.

This article describes the progression from halves, to thirds and fourths, as well as fair sharing as a means of teaching more abstract fractions to young students. Throughout the article activities are suggested to support the learning, as well as a link to a six-minute video which shows two children working on a difficult sharing situation practically with a teacher who questions appropriately to get the thinking going. Two of the activities mentioned in the article, "Happy Halving" and "Bowl of Fruit" are cataloged separately.

In this problem students practice basic addition and subtraction skills along with logical reasoning to satisfy three interdependent conditions. Solvers use the clues provided to determine the number of eggs in each of three baskets. The Teachers' Notes page offers rationale, suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, ideas for extension and support, a PowerPoint presentation, and vocabulary cards (pdf).

This Flash game for one or two players gives students practice in estimating the size of angles. A circle and a radius pointing in a random direction are given. The student activates a second sweeping radius, which can move in either direction, and tries to stop it at the specified measure. Three difficulty levels control the range of angle measures. Points are awarded based on closeness of the estimate. The Teachers' Notes page includes suggestions for implementation, discussion questions, ideas for extension and support.