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For younger learners

  • Early Years Foundation Stage

Number Patterns and Infinity

Mathematicians seek and find patterns in a variety of situations.

The Number Patterns and Infinity pathway on wild.maths.org invites students to explain patterns, explore their underlying structure, and make sense of infinity...

The collection of related NRICH tasks below are ideal for teachers who want to promote creativity in the classroom. They are designed for classroom use, with accompanying Teachers' Notes and Resources.


Summing Consecutive Numbers

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star

15 = 7 + 8 and 10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4. Can you say which numbers can be expressed as the sum of two or more consecutive integers?

Number Pyramids

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star

Try entering different sets of numbers in the number pyramids. How does the total at the top change?

Odds, Evens and More Evens

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star

Alison, Bernard and Charlie have been exploring sequences of odd and even numbers, which raise some intriguing questions...

Magic Letters

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star

Charlie has made a Magic V. Can you use his example to make some more? And how about Magic Ls, Ns and Ws?

Crossed Ends

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star

Crosses can be drawn on number grids of various sizes. What do you notice when you add opposite ends?

Frogs

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow star

How many moves does it take to swap over some red and blue frogs? Do you have a method?

Tower of Hanoi

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

The Tower of Hanoi is an ancient mathematical challenge. Working on the building blocks may help you to explain the patterns you notice.

Always a Multiple?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Think of a two digit number, reverse the digits, and add the numbers together. Something special happens...

Where Can We Visit?

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Charlie and Abi put a counter on 42. They wondered if they could visit all the other numbers on their 1-100 board, moving the counter using just these two operations: x2 and -5. What do you think?

Route to Infinity

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Can you describe this route to infinity? Where will the arrows take you next?

Triangle Numbers

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Take a look at the multiplication square. The first eleven triangle numbers have been identified. Can you see a pattern? Does the pattern continue?

Differences

Age 11 to 14
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star

Can you guarantee that, for any three numbers you choose, the product of their differences will always be an even number?

Marbles in a Box

Age 11 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

How many winning lines can you make in a three-dimensional version of noughts and crosses?

Pair Products

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow star

Choose four consecutive whole numbers. Multiply the first and last numbers together. Multiply the middle pair together. What do you notice?

Steel Cables

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow star

Some students have been working out the number of strands needed for different sizes of cable. Can you make sense of their solutions?

Mystic Rose

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Use the animation to help you work out how many lines are needed to draw mystic roses of different sizes.

Painted Cube

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Imagine a large cube made from small red cubes being dropped into a pot of yellow paint. How many of the small cubes will have yellow paint on their faces?

Attractive Tablecloths

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Charlie likes tablecloths that use as many colours as possible, but insists that his tablecloths have some symmetry. Can you work out how many colours he needs for different tablecloth designs?

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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