by Dave Youngs

This month's Puzzle Corner activity is a seemingly simple one that may prove more difficult than one might expect. In it, students place four pennies on the corners of the square pictured. They are then challenged to move only two of the coins to create a new square that is smaller than the original. Most students will need to exercise their spatial reasoning to solve this puzzle. Persistence will also help.

This activity is one that should be done individually and the solutions not shared until all the students have had ample time to try solving it on their own. Therefore, it is important to caution students not to share their solutions with other students --doing so will rob these other students of the joy of discovery.

Activity Page | PDF version (393k)

I hope that you and your students enjoy this challenge.