This month's Puzzle Corner asks students to cut out the four national park cards on the following page and place them face down on their desks. Then, by flipping over three cards in each move (the cards flipped do not have to be next to each other), students are challenged to get all four cards facing up. Once the students have done this, they are challenged to determine the minimum number of moves it takes and to come up with some sort of recording scheme for their solutions.

If you do not want to run off the national parks cards for your students, the activity can be done using objects like coins, paper cups, or playing cards instead.

Worksheet

We hope that you and your students enjoy this challenge.