These activities focus on finding all possible solutions so working in a systematic way will ensure none are left out.
These activities lend themselves to systematic working in the sense that it helps to have an ordered approach.
Find all the numbers that can be made by adding the dots on two dice.
My coat has three buttons. How many ways can you find to do up all
How many trains can you make which are the same length as Matt's,
using rods that are identical?
Use the number weights to find different ways of balancing the equaliser.
Use these head, body and leg pieces to make Robot Monsters which
are different heights.
Can you find the chosen number from the grid using the clues?
Use the interactivity to help get a feel for this problem and to find out all the possible ways the balls could land.
If you put three beads onto a tens/ones abacus you could make the
numbers 3, 30, 12 or 21. What numbers can be made with six beads?
In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There
are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many
different ways can they build their houses?
How many different ways can you find to join three equilateral
triangles together? Can you convince us that you have found them
In Sam and Jill's garden there are two sorts of ladybirds with 7 spots or 4 spots. What numbers of total spots can you make?
There are three baskets, a brown one, a red one and a pink one, holding a total of 10 eggs. Can you use the information given to find out how many eggs are in each basket?
Ben and his mum are planting garlic. Use the interactivity to help
you find out how many cloves of garlic they might have had.
How many different triangles can you draw on the dotty grid which each have one dot in the middle?
Sweets are given out to party-goers in a particular way. Investigate the total number of sweets received by people sitting in different positions.
How could you put these three beads into bags? How many different ways can you do it? How could you record what you've done?
There are nine teddies in Teddy Town - three red, three blue and three yellow. There are also nine houses, three of each colour. Can you put them on the map of Teddy Town according to the rules?