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Cube Drilling

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star
  • Problem
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This activity is all about imagining, like you might when you listen to a story or poem.

There is no need to write or draw anything

BUT
talking about it could be good!


imagine!



Imagine a 4 by 4 by 4 cube hanging in front of you with just the front face facing you.
The cube is made up of 4x4x4, 64 cubes.
You drill a hole through the four corner cubes, that are facing you, all the way through to the back.

Drilling



A friend looks down on the cube, from above, and they also drill four holes through their four corner cubes all the way through to the bottom.
You and your friend examine all the 64 small cubes.

How many will not have holes drilled through them?

What if the same kind of activity happened with a new 4 by 4 by 4 cube but, this time, you drill holes through the four centre cubes that are facing you and your friend drills holes through the four centre cubes that are facing them.
You and your friend examine all the 64 small cubes.
How many will not have holes drilled through them?

Please do send in your solutions, describing how you worked them out.


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Construct-o-straws

Make a cube out of straws and have a go at this practical challenge.

Matchsticks

Reasoning about the number of matches needed to build squares that share their sides.

Little Boxes

How many different cuboids can you make when you use four CDs or DVDs? How about using five, then six?

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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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