Celtic Counting (counting, proof)

Celtic Counting (counting, proof)

Celtic Counting requires students to trace an under and over pattern – counting the Celtic loops. How many loops exist in this knot? There are two. How many loops does this knot have? There are three. The following slides have larger knots, but students age 6+...
Taipei 101 Foundations (multiplication, proof)

Taipei 101 Foundations (multiplication, proof)

Before the wise builder builds – the wise builder thinks. Here we are going to build the foundations of a great skyscraper – Taipei 101. Start with a 6×6 grid. Add numbers or letters or colors to the top left part of the grid as shown. Now is the...
Three Color Equilateral Triangle

Three Color Equilateral Triangle

Find a coloring of these vertices so that no equilateral triangle can be found that has all three corners the same color. Here we failed because the highlighted triangle has three red corners. It also fails because this highlighted triangle has all its corners yellow....
Armenian Rug Puzzles (logic)

Armenian Rug Puzzles (logic)

Armenian rugs cover the floor – sometimes laying atop each other. A whole lot of puzzles arise from trying to find the shape and placement of these rugs. PS. The photo is of the oldest pile rug to be discovered – 2500 years old. It is Armenian, but was...
Picasso’s Cuboids (volume puzzle)

Picasso’s Cuboids (volume puzzle)

Picasso’s cuboid puzzle uses volume in an unequal battle between a Greedy and Generous Cuboid. 20 can be written as the sum of the volumes of two cuboids… a Greedy one and a Generous one… All three dimensions of the Greedy Cuboid {3,3,2} are at least as...