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Dicey

Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star
  • Problem
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Dicey


A game has a special dice with a colour patch on each face.

These three pictures show different views of the same dice.

What colour is opposite Blue?


Why do this problem?

This activity can offer different possibilities for pupils according to their capabilities. It can be presented with the idea of challenging pupils to find ways of solving the problem, but at a higher level, pupils could be challenged to visualise the whole problem without the use of resources.

Possible approach

At the "earlier level" you could start by showing just one view, from only two sides and the top:

1 Dice
Explain that there are six different colours altogether - blue, green, yellow, red, orange and purple - and discuss where the colours might go. Then present the challenge in full.
 
For the more advanced pupils then nothing more than what is written in the problem will be needed.
 

Key questions

How do you know that colour goes there?
Tell me about the colours you've decided on.

Possible extension

Encourage the pupils to ask the question, "I wonder what would happen if ... ( I changed one of the things about this challenge)?"

Possible support

You could provide pupils with blank small cubes and coloured stickers, and skeletal drawings of blank cubes, to help with possible recording methods:


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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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