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  • Early Years Foundation Stage

Journeys in Numberland

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
Primary curriculum
  • Problem
  • Getting Started
  • Student Solutions
  • Teachers' Resources

Tom and Ben were in Numberland in the county of Addition.
They had a map which looked like this:
map

They were at point B and they began their journey with ten points.
For every square they walk to the right on the map, they add five.
For every square they walk to the left on the map, they take away five.
If they go North (up on the map), they added two for every square, and if they go South (down on the map), they take away two for each square.


First they made these journeys:
 map

The blue line shows Tom's journey and the green line shows Ben's.
How many points did they have each when they reached E?
Do you notice anything?

Here is a different grid for you to make up some journeys of your own, beginning at B and ending at E.
map
You can download and print off this sheet which has two copies of the grid map.
What do you notice about your different journeys?
Can you explain your observations?


After they had explored in the county of Addition in Numberland, Tom and Ben went on to the county of Multiply.
Here they had a new map which looked like this (here are two copies of the map):
map


They explored here too. Each time they started at B with $10$ points and made their way to E. Try lots of journeys yourself.

What do you notice about the journeys this time?
Can you explain why this happens?

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Inky Cube

This cube has ink on each face which leaves marks on paper as it is rolled. Can you work out what is on each face and the route it has taken?

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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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