Last week, I ran across an activity by Frank Tapson called "How Far Can YOU Climb?" (page 34).
The premise of the puzzle is quite simple. Form the longest chain possible by moving horizontally or vertically from one number to an increasing number.
Here are Frank Tapson's instructions:
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| Source: http://www.cleavebooks.co.uk/trol/trolqd.pdf |
I printed off a class set, and we slid them into our handy dry erase pockets (affiliate link). I firmly believe that every classroom in the world could benefit from a set of these dry erase pockets! I've found that the cheapest way to buy them is to order them as "shop ticket holders" (affiliate link). They're the exact same product as the pockets marketed toward teachers - just cheaper!
My students got really into this activity! As students finished their first chains, they called out the scores to the class. When someone realized their score was higher/lower than their peers, there were corresponding shouts of excitement and frustration.
I think this is a fitting task for practicing problem solving strategies with students. Some students would erase their path and start over entirely from scratch if they messed up. Other students would just back up a few steps and test if continuing their path in another direction would result in a larger score.
I got MOST excited when one of my students suggested we should find the highest value on the game board and work backwards towards 1 since that would surely give us the highest score possible.
The student who took that route eventually decided it was impossible to make a route between the lowest number on the board and the highest board. I haven't played around with it enough to know if that is indeed true.
Some students in another class saw these puzzles setting on my podium, and they begged to take one with them. Of course you can take a math-y puzzle with you!
As I was writing this post, I made an exciting discovery. Remember the giant number line poster I have in my classroom?
This number line was made with a printable I found online. It turns out that file was created by Frank Tapson! His website full of resources is a true treasure trove.