by Dave Youngs
In this puzzle students play a checker-like solitaire game using a triangular array. Students place pennies, or other small objects, into nine of the spaces leaving the sixth space empty. They then jump the pennies as they would in checkers, over one penny to the empty space directly beyond, removing the penny jumped. The object of the game is to continue the game until only one penny is left on the board.
This game may be frustrating for some students. To ease the frustration somewhat, the teacher may initially choose to challenge students to play the game leaving only two or three pennies. After students have had some success at this, they can be challenged to play the game leaving only one penny.
When students have successfully solved the puzzle, they can record their solutions using the numbers provided. For example, if the first move is to jump the penny in space one over the penny in space three into the empty space at six, students could write 1-6. When students have recorded their solutions, have them try the extension at the bottom of the page. This will give them an opportunity to do some mathematical thinking about the game and let them communicate that thinking.
Good luck and have fun!