Solve it...! Numeracy on The Lighthouse for Education

Solve it...!

Numeracy problems to solve for Key Stage 1, 2 and 3

Key Stage 1 Solve it...!
Brrr It's cold. Winter is here and it's been snowing

Dress a snowman

How many ways can you find to dress the snowman

You can draw a snowman and print off the items to dress the snowman.

Build your own snowman

You need 2 or more friends for this game. You will also need a 1-6 dice.

The Rules

1. Each player throws the dice.
The player with the highest score starts the game.

2. Players then take turns to throw the dice. The number on the dice tells you which part of the snowman to draw.

3. The bow tie can not be added until the head and the body are there

4. The first player to finish building the snowman shouts "SNOWMAN!"

5. A completed snowman scores 29 points.

6. Each player completes a score sheet which can be printed off. (You can use a calculator to check answers)

7. Play 3 more games and write the scores on the score sheet.

8. The winner is the player with the highest score after 4 games.

What to throw

Body - 6
Head - 5
Hat - 4
Bow tie - 3
Buttons - 2 (each)
Eyes - 2 (each)
Nose - 2
Mouth - 1
TOTAL - 29

Score Chart

Game	Score
1	.
2	.
3	.
4	.
Final Total after 4 games =

Links on this page:

Click here for the index of previous Solve it...!

Key Stage 2 Solve it...!
Spy Lights

A spy stationed on an island worked out a way of sending messages to her accomplice on the mainland during the darkness of night. She fixed six hooks to her attic window and from these she could hang three lamps.

The battery powered lamps could have interchangeable clear (white), red or green lenses put in them. She had enough of each lens to hang all three lamps in on colour.

By using the red, green or clear lenses in the lamps and hanging either 1, 2 or 3 lamps in different positions on the hooks, how many different signals could be sent?

An extra task

Match each letter of the alphabet to one of the signals, and make up some secret messages for your friend to solve.

Key Stage 3 Solve it...!
The Stagecoach

The London to bath stagecoach runs once a week taking 3 days to make the journey and stopping overnight at coaching inns. The coach is of a sturdy build, and is pulled by 6 houses, changed at each "staging post" along the way.

There are 4 passengers inside the coach:

Mr. Dalrymple - 14kg		Master Dairymple - 5.75kg
Mrs Ellis - 8kg		Miss Ripple - 7.5kg
There is also: Bill Owens the coachman - 16kg		Joe carver - 10.25kg

The coach can take a combined weight of 300kg.
There are 4 more passengers who want to travel to Bath. Their weights are 12kg, 11.5kg, 9kg, 10.25kg. Their total baggage weighs 212kg including 6 hat boxes of 0.5kg each and 4 light boxes weighing 4.5kg each.

An extra task

Calculate the mean weight of all the passengers including the coachman.
Calculate the median weight of all on the coach.

Calculate words

Because of the way that digits are formed on a calculator display they often resemble letters when turned upside down. What letters could each of the digits 0 - 9 represent?

Key in the following in to your calculator then turn it upside down.

77345

You should obtain something found on a beach.

Try to decipher the following:

A calculator never tells 5317

317537 went fishing off 3007 on a 0.717 for 3705 but only caught some 5733.

Instead of using the numbers a calculation can be inserted into the 'story'. Try this:

(68 x 99) + 986 decided to (2486 + 3927 + 1322). (264196) walking (10609 x 5) because (21386 629) had a (723 x 48) + 303. (852 +109) in one and (2463 + 1977 - 736) in the other. (They hurt like 85 + 20 + 10 + 3) and made him feel quite (2 x 5 x 7 x 11 + 1)

Extension

Try to write your own calculator story. Replace the possible words with their number equivalent or with a calculation whose answer is the 'word'.

These problems were sourced by
North East Lincolnshire's Numeracy Team

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