Nim
• Start with 15 counters
• Players take turns to take from 1
to 4 counters from the pile
• The player who takes the last
counter loses
Welcome to the
Falmer High School
Mathematics Workshop
Helping parents to help their
children
Extra 1
Picture Tables
• The cards represent a multiplication
table
• All of the numbers have been
replaced by symbols
• Can you work out which multiplication
table this is?
Extra 2
Mathematics Trail
• Read the problem carefully
• Try some solutions
• Check you have all the solutions
Crossing the River
The Problem:
•A farmer has to get a fox, a chicken, and a sack of
corn across a river
•He has a boat, but it can only carry him and one
other thing
•If the fox and the chicken are left together, the
fox will eat the chicken
•If the chicken and the corn is left together, the
chicken will eat the corn
•How does the farmer do it?
6
The Great Race
• Choose a number between 1 and 12 to bet
on
• Roll two dice and add the scores
– The horse with that number moves forward
one space
• Play the game and see which horse wins
– Is the game fair? If not, can you change it to
make it fairer?
The Great Race
•Which number has the best chance
of winning?
•Which number has the least chance
of winning?
•List the numbers from most likely
to win down to the least likely.
•Is it a fair game? Why? How could
you make the game fairer?
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Dice 1
Dice 2
+
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
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Build It
• Make structures with multilink using
the clues given.
• There are 3 levels of cards:
-Red
-Amber
-Green
Build It - red
There is a blue
block between
a red and
yellow block.
There are three
blocks on the
bottom level.
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Build It - red
14
Build It - amber
15
Build It - green
16
Build it verbally!
• Partners sit back-to-back
– One partner builds a solid with some
cubes, and then describes it to the
other
– The other partner has to build a copy
of the solid
• To make it harder:
– Use more of the cubes
– Get the colours in the right place
– Give yourself a time limit!
17
Refreshments
18
Picture and Key Word Plenary
• Look at the image and the key words
listed with it
• Use the key words to make a
sentence about what you know
Picture and Key Word Plenary
Key words:
Probability
Certain
Impossible
Likely
Unlikely
Experimental
Theoretical
Make a sentence about the picture using some of the key words shown:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Picture and Key Word Plenary
Key words:
Pattern
Sequence
Difference
Rule
Position
Term
nth term
Make a sentence about the picture using some of the key words shown:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
House swap
• The Abram family – Mr and Mrs
Abram, Peter (8) and Samuel (5) – live
in Newcastle while their friends the
Browns – Mr and Mrs Brown, Tina (10)
and Jordan (3) – live in a small village
on the North York Moors.
House swap
• They have arranged to swap homes for a
week’s break. Both families are looking
forward to discovering more about their
holiday destination. However, the car
journey to their holiday is not
straightforward.
House swap
• Identify where you think the statements should go on
the distance-time graph, which represents their
journeys.
www.mymaths.co.uk
• Login:
• Password:
What shape am I?
www.mangahigh.com (free)
Login:
Password:
FIND LINK TO PAGE ON WEBSITE
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4 in a line
• Each player chooses a colour and the
number of dice required for your
board
• The winner is the first person to
make a line of 4 (horizontally,
vertically or diagonally)
• There are 3 levels of cards:
-Red
-Amber
-Green
Close your eyes!
• Imagine a rectangular sheet of
paper. Cut along the diagonal to make
two identical triangles.
• Place the diagonals together in a
different way.
• What shape is formed?
Thank You to our VIPs
• VIP Certificate
• Please write a comment on the postit notes: www & ebi
(what went well – even better if)
• Thank you
• Enjoy the goody bag
• If you would like to help at another
Parents’ workshop
How to win at Nim
• Always go first if you get the chance
• If you can take up to x counters each time, aim
to leave your opponent with x + 2
– For example, if you can take up to 4, you will
win if you leave your opponent with 6
• Now work backwards to see how you can leave
your opponent with x + 2
– For example, if you leave your opponent with
11 (= 6 + 5), you can leave them with 6 next
time; if they take 1, you take 4, and so on
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