Math Puzzles and Brainteasers Grade 6-8
A good math puzzle, paradox, or magic trick can stimulate a child’s imagination much faster than a practical application . . . and if the game is chosen carefully, it can lead almost effortlessly into significant mathematical ideas.
(Martin Gardner America’s Mathemagician)
Mr. Gardner’s quote captures one of the main reasons for this book. My intention was (and has been with all my books) twofold: to provide challenging fun and to offer options to think differently— and maybe discover opportunities to become a better thinker.
There are countless stories of great thinkers being puzzle-lovers, but have you ever wondered why that is so? What is the connection between creative, bright people and their insatiable thirst for puzzles? The father of modern-day puzzle writers, Henry Dudeney, gave us one clue when he said, “Puzzles, like virtue, are their own reward.” He also noted that “the fact is that our lives are largely spent solving puzzles; for what is a puzzle but a perplexing question? And from our childhood upwards we are perpetually asking questions or trying to answer them.”
A well-crafted puzzle seems to naturally encourage a nontraditional or more circuitous route to its solution. This emphasis on different approaches is like brain candy for thinkers. Thinkers begin by dissecting a puzzle and viewing it from different perspectives simultaneously. Great puzzle solvers enjoy twisting, bending, separating, and spinning a puzzle. They look at it backward, forward,
upside down, and sideways. Is there a quick solution? More than one solution? What kinds of internal patterns do puzzles have? Can In get to the answer and then make it into a new puzzle? Does it have direct application to the real world?
A quick comment about being a “world-class” thinker: You don’t have to be a genius to be one. You may have noticed with many of the stories about successful, bright people that they often are accompanied by a back story about how they weren’t the best students in class or weren’t initially successful in certain studies. Einstein and Edison come to mind. Maybe they already were employing their own ideas of arriving at solutions that weren’t considered acceptable practices at the time. Students are often inspired by these stories not to give up working to become better thinkers because they don’t fit mainstream profiles.
Here’s one other important point, often lost in this day and age of timed standardized tests: The time it takes to solve any problem or puzzle has nothing to do with mental ability or intellectual level. Some of the greatest thinkers deliberately take their time—enjoying the play of a puzzle and savoring it like a good meal! The puzzles in this book are designed to sharpen the creativity and
problem-solving skills, as well as the mathematics content skills, of students in grades 6–8.
This book is designed with the following objectives:
• Offer a panoramic approach to the thinking skills that kids need to excel in math Incorporate a broad spectrum of different kinds of puzzles• Meet the grade-appropriate guidelines set forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Venture into content areas where previous math and thinking skills books have not gone
• Be challenging, but also offer lots of fun along the way
Although the puzzles are easy, medium, and difficult, none are so designated. What one student will find easy, another may see as difficult, and vice versa. A difficulty rating also might be intimidating to some students, and interpreted as a good reason for not solving a puzzle—the opposite of the book’s purpose. The range of puzzles incorporates multiple approaches to skillbuilding, including numerical manipulation, spatial and visual problems, and language arts exercises. There is no one “best” pathway to solve each puzzle, and often numerous entry points to find solutions.
Students invariably will find the way, using a mix of intuition and thinking skills that are uniquely their own. Puzzles can offer an experience parallel to a new dive off a diving board—an exciting intuitive leap into the unknown, with possible scintillating results! If you look at some of the greatest discoveries of science and mathematics, they often are accompanied by intuitive leaps, supported in turn by clear thinking, logic, evidence, and repeated consistent results in trials. In this complex world, we need all the good thinkers we can get—and grow.
Any opportunity we have to help uncover those talented young people should be welcomed and maximized. Fortunately for me, I live in a time when puzzles are being used increasingly in schools and businesses to promote critical thinking and mental flexibility. A stream of recent studies makes clear that puzzles and games indeed will help the capacity of your mind to grow and stay flexible. These puzzles also can contribute to the development of an expanding cadre of lifelong learners—a primary goal of every parent and educator.
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8 Responses to “Math Puzzles and Brainteasers Grade 6-8”
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thanks
terima kasih, paduan ini akan sangat membantu
interestin Puzzles
MTECH COMPUTER
mksh. semoga bermanfaat. sukses selalu
terima kasih. buku yang sangat bagus.
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suwon
salam kenal
link downloadnya tidak ada file