A Maths Game under the Magnifying Glass
Archive - March 2014
Yay! It's time for a new game, it's time for Calcudoku.
Before we move on though, how did you progress with your Brainwaves training? Were you able to improve your results through effort and attention? Congratulations to everyone who persisted. I hope you had as much fun developing your maths and thinking skills over the summer as I did.
In fact, I had so much fun that I thought it was a good idea to leave Brainwaves as our feature game to start the school year. The only problem was that I couldn't really call it the Game of the Fortnight any more ... it was more like the game of the 'fortmonth'...
:) Warning: Don't use the word 'fortmonth' in class unless you want to see your teacher's head explode, it's not a real mathematical term.
That's got me thinking. If two weeks is called a fortnight, why isn't two months called a 'fortmonth'?
Where did the word 'fortnight' come from? Can you combine your maths and language skills to make a prediction? Try doing a little research to test your thinking.
Can you create your own word to describe a two month period that you think would be suitable? What prefixes could/would you use so that people could easily interpret your word? Is there a common term to describe a two month period?
The word to describe a two year period is often confused with the word used to describe a 6 month period? Why do you think that might happen? Try looking up the words and adding them to your vocabulary. As a mathematician it's important to have the language skills to share your understanding and ideas with others.
Now, let's move on to this fortnight's puzzle. Calcudoku is a variation of a popular Japanese number and logic puzzle. It's an excellent way to practise your mental calculation skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division while conquering a puzzle at the same time. Give it a go, if you like Sudoku I think you'll love Calcudoku.
If you're interested in really developing your skills try covering the combinations box at the bottom of the game screen too. You'll have to consider all the possible combinations yourself which is a great way of reinforcing your memory of number bonds. For extra tips and an outline of the rules click on the buttons to the right of the playing board or leave a message on the comments page of this site if you'd like anything else explained. Good luck!
Before we move on though, how did you progress with your Brainwaves training? Were you able to improve your results through effort and attention? Congratulations to everyone who persisted. I hope you had as much fun developing your maths and thinking skills over the summer as I did.
In fact, I had so much fun that I thought it was a good idea to leave Brainwaves as our feature game to start the school year. The only problem was that I couldn't really call it the Game of the Fortnight any more ... it was more like the game of the 'fortmonth'...
:) Warning: Don't use the word 'fortmonth' in class unless you want to see your teacher's head explode, it's not a real mathematical term.
That's got me thinking. If two weeks is called a fortnight, why isn't two months called a 'fortmonth'?
Where did the word 'fortnight' come from? Can you combine your maths and language skills to make a prediction? Try doing a little research to test your thinking.
Can you create your own word to describe a two month period that you think would be suitable? What prefixes could/would you use so that people could easily interpret your word? Is there a common term to describe a two month period?
The word to describe a two year period is often confused with the word used to describe a 6 month period? Why do you think that might happen? Try looking up the words and adding them to your vocabulary. As a mathematician it's important to have the language skills to share your understanding and ideas with others.
Now, let's move on to this fortnight's puzzle. Calcudoku is a variation of a popular Japanese number and logic puzzle. It's an excellent way to practise your mental calculation skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division while conquering a puzzle at the same time. Give it a go, if you like Sudoku I think you'll love Calcudoku.
If you're interested in really developing your skills try covering the combinations box at the bottom of the game screen too. You'll have to consider all the possible combinations yourself which is a great way of reinforcing your memory of number bonds. For extra tips and an outline of the rules click on the buttons to the right of the playing board or leave a message on the comments page of this site if you'd like anything else explained. Good luck!