Divergent Thinking Puzzles | AIMS Center for Math and Science Education

Green Wall Challenge #1

This first problem comes in two parts, and a bit of mind reading. The parts are different in obvious ways. Solve them both, then read my mind, to do this you may have to ponder for a while the nature of the two parts of the challenge already completed. The winning solution will describe accurately what it is I am aiming for. It isn’t terribly deep, so give it a go in the spirit of fun and joy it is meant. First Problem The Lion, Llama, and Lettuce tri-lemma. There once was a farmer who was taking three items to ...
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Divergent Thinking Puzzles

A Touchy Situation

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Dave Youngs • 1 Comment

I am indebted to Robert Benjamin, a scientist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, for A Touchy Situation. Bob first did this activity with his son when his son was in kindergarten. Therefore, he feels that the activity is appropriate for students at all grade levels. He also notes that the activity works best if students use… Continue Reading

Relative Reckonings

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Dave Youngs • 0 Comments

This week’s Puzzle Corner activity comes from the field of recreational mathematics where people do math just for the fun of it. One of the areas of recreational mathematics is logic. Logic puzzles are usually challenging and are normally resistant to quick and easy solutions.The puzzle presented here, Relative Reckonings, is no exception. This puzzle… Continue Reading

Shrinking Square Challenge

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Dave Youngs • 2 Comments

This week’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… Continue Reading

Puzzling Over Prices

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Dave Youngs • 0 Comments

The Puzzle Corner activity this week is a thought puzzle that presents an interesting paradox. Solving it will require some divergent thinking on the part of your students. Puzzles like this one appeal to some people, but frustrate others. It is my hope that when students solve this puzzle, or see how it is solved by others,… Continue Reading

It’s a Snap!

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Dave Youngs • 1 Comment

This week’s Puzzle Corner activity is an adaptation of a classic puzzle from recreational mathematics. It is traditionally posed as a thought problem to be worked out in your head; as such, it is moderately difficult. However, I have found that many elementary school children can solve this puzzle -if they have manipulatives to make it concrete.… Continue Reading

Locating Legs

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Dave Youngs • 0 Comments

This week’s Puzzle Corner activity has a holiday theme. In it, students are presented with a paradoxical scenario and asked to try to make sense of it. In this scenario a child is hiding under a table at her parent’s holiday party. Looking out, she can count 20 legs and thus knows there are 10 adults in… Continue Reading

Family Ties

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Dave Youngs • 0 Comments

This weeks’s Puzzle Corner activity is a collection of three riddles all dealing with the relationships between relatives. The first one is thought to be many hundreds of years old and is one of the best known brainteasers of all time. I have chosen to leave it in its original form, even though the style of English… Continue Reading

Alternate Arrangements

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Dave Youngs • 1 Comment

Six drinking glasses are arranged in a row. The first three are filled with water; the next three are empty. Is it possible to get the full and empty glasses to alternate by moving only one glass? This classic brain teaser has been making the rounds in recreational mathematics circles for years and is the… Continue Reading

The Relative Riddle

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Dave Youngs • 0 Comments

This week’s Puzzle Corner is a classic riddle requiring reasoning to reconcile. (Please forgive the crude alliteration.) While many of you have encountered this riddle before and already know the answer, the riddle probably caused curious consternation (I beg your pardon once more) the first time you saw it. Riddles like the one presented here… Continue Reading

Alphabetical Puzzlers

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Dave Youngs • 0 Comments

This week’s Puzzle Corner is a collection of puzzles dealing with letters of the alphabet. While they are not necessarily mathematical in nature (although one could argue this point), these puzzles have a place in a well-rounded mathematics curriculum. Alphabetical Puzzlers is a collection of four puzzles that use letters of the alphabet in a… Continue Reading