This month’s puzzle is a good one with which to start the school year. It is fairly simple and shouldn’t frustrate students too much in their initial exposure to the puzzle-solving process. To do this puzzle, students need seven pennies or other small manipulatives. The puzzle challenges students to arrange the pennies in such a way that there are five rows of three pennies each. Students should quickly realize that there are not enough pennies to do this unless some (or all) of the pennies are in more than one row. Once students have gained this insight, they should be able to solve the puzzle by applying the trial and error process along with a little persistence. After students have solved the puzzle, they can record their solutions on the student sheet.

As in any Puzzle Corner activity, students should be encouraged to work independently and asked not to share their solutions until the appropriate time. (My practice was to introduce the puzzle for the week on Mondays and let students share their solutions on Fridays.) When students see the solution without having found it for themselves, they can’t experience the joy of problem solving.

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