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For younger learners

  • Early Years Foundation Stage

Transformations - Short Problems


This is part of our collection of Short Problems.

You may also be interested in our longer problems on Transformations.

Printable worksheets containing selections of these problems are available here.

Grid Without Lines

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow star

Can you remove the least number of points from this diagram, so no three of the remaining points are in a straight line?

Symmetriangle

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow star

Weekly Problem 35 - 2012
How many more triangles need to be shaded to make the pattern have a line of symmetry?

Flag-tastic

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow star

How many different flags can you make?

Peri the Winkle

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow star

Weekly Problem 31 - 2014
Peri the winkle starts at the origin and slithers around some semicircles. Where does she end her expedition?

Flagged Up

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow star

Weekly Problem 31 - 2008
The flag is given a half turn anticlockwise about the point O and is then reflected in the dotted line. What is the final position of the flag?

Potatoes

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow star

Weekly Problem 19 - 2009
When I looked at the greengrocer's window I saw a sign. When I went in and looked from the other side, what did I see?

Grid Symmetry

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow star

How many ways can Mathias solve this symmetry challenge?

Turning N Over

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

A card with the letter N on it is rotated through two different axes. What does the card look like at the end?

Reading from Behind

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Can you find the time between 3 o'clock and 10 o'clock when my digital clock looks the same from both the front and back?

Reflected Back

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Imagine reflecting the letter P in all three sides of a triangle in turn. What is the final result?

Semaphore

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

I am standing behind five pupils who are signalling a five-digit number to someone on the opposite side of the playground. What number is actually being signalled?

Doubly Symmetric

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

What is the smallest number of additional squares that must be shaded so that this figure has at least one line of symmetry and rotational symmetry of order 2?

Kangaroo Hops

Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star

Weekly Problem 11 - 2011
Kanga hops ten times in one of four directions. At how many different points can he end up?

Photocopied Map

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

What will the scale on this map be after it has been photocopied?

Climbing Ropes

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Given how much this 50 m rope weighs, can you find how much a 100 m rope weighs, if the thickness is different?

Growing Triangle

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

If the base and height of a triangle are increased by different percentages, what happens to its area?

Similar Perimeter

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

What are the possible perimeters of the larger triangle?

Pendants

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

What proportion of each of these pendants will be made of gold?

Rotation and Area

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Point A is rotated to point B. Can you find the area of the triangle that these points make with the origin?

Back in Time

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow star

How many times a day does a 24 hour digital clock look the same when reflected in a horizontal line?

Coloured Black

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star

An ink stamp draws out a shape when it is rotated. What is its area?

Half Area

Age 14 to 16
ShortChallenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star

The horizontal red line divides this equilateral triangle into two shapes of equal area. How long is the red line?

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Dopey Measurement

How does Snow White need to change her result after the mix-up?

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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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