This month's Puzzle Corner activity is one with multiple solutions. The challenge is to place 16 pennies (or some other small objects) in a four by four array and then remove six pennies to leave an even number of pennies in each row and column. Although this puzzle can be solved by trial and error, it still has value. Students should be challenged to make a record of their solutions in the spaces provded on the student page. Once one solution is found, there are three additional solutions that are rotations of the initial solution. (Students should not be told this, but be allowed to discover it by themselves.) While doing this activity, students should build a more concrete understanding of evenness and oddness as they scan the rows and columns of pennies while finding their solutions.
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