Holy Brainteasers, Batman!

You will find 4 brainteasers below.  If you can find a solution to one of the puzzles, please share it, along with an explanation.  If you cannot solve a puzzle, explain your thought process as you attempted to solve one!

NOTE: Please respond to only ONE puzzle, so that other students have a chance to participate.  Sign your FIRST NAME ONLY!

Puzzle 1: What mathematical symbol can be placed between 5 and 9 to get a number greater than 5 and less than 9?

Puzzle 2: In two decks of cards, what is the least amount of cards you must take to be *guaranteed* at least one four-of-a-kind?

Puzzle 3: In your travels, you come to an old man on the side of the road holding three cards from a standard deck, face down.  Trying to make conversation, you ask him what the three cards are.  (Note: NOT a good idea to strike up conversations with random strangers by the side of the road!)  He tells you, "To the left of the queen are one or two jacks.  To the right of the jack are one or two jacks.  To the right of the club are one or two diamonds.  To the left of the diamond are one or two diamonds."  What are the three cards? 

Puzzle 4: If you already have 1 cent in the piggy bank and Dad gives you 1 cent the first day, 2 cents the second day, 4 cents the third day and so on (doubling the amount he gives you each day), then your piggy bank will be full on the 15th day.  On which day will your piggy bank be HALF full?   

  

The Tower of Hanoi

The Tower of Hanoi is a famous mathematical puzzle. 


Rules: you have to move the entire stack of discs, but you can only move one disc at a time, and you cannot stack a disc onto a smaller disc.  It's trickier than it looks!


Click the following link to try the interactive puzzle:


http://www.mazeworks.com/hanoi/index.htm


Start with 3 discs, and see if you can solve the puzzle in the minimum number of moves.  Then try 4, then 5, and so forth!


Comment below to answer any of the following questions:
     * Was the puzzle difficult to complete?  Explain.
     * What was the greatest number of discs you were able to move?  Were you able to solve the puzzle in the minimum number of moves?
     * Did you develop a strategy?  If so, try to describe it.
     ** Advanced: Is there a relationship between the number of discs and the number of minimum moves?


Please remember to sign your comment with your first name and last initial - no last names!

Arithme - TECH?

What technologies do you use in your life every day?  How do they make your life easier?

Share some ideas about how technology can be used to support/supplement the math curriculum.  Explain why your ideas would appeal to teachers and students.   

Visualizing the Problem

In this Simpsons clip, Bart tries to visualize a word problem.  Does this strategy work for you?  What do you FIND is the best way to approach a word problem?

H is for Homework!

How important is homework to you?  About how much math homework do you think you need to do each night (in minutes) to reinforce your understanding of the concepts?  How much time should you spend doing written work?  How much time should be dedicated to studying?  Do you study on a regular basis, or just before a test? 


Feel free to answer any or all of the questions above, or include other thoughts you have about homework.  Please be honest with your responses.  Remember, no last names!

A Monthematical Problem

This post is submitted by Stacy B. in Per. 3 Trigonometry... ☺


If March = 43 and May = 39, then by the same logic, what does July equal?


Explain how you arrived at your solution.  If you can't figure it out, write about some ideas you tried!


Remember, no last names!

Crazy 8s

Challenge: Use 8 exactly eight times to make 1000.  You may use parentheses and operation symbols.  There are several ways to do this.


Ex. If the problem said "Use 4 fours to make 7", the following are two solutions:
(44 / 4) - 4
(4 + 4) - (4 / 4)