Total:

$0.00

MathPickle

Rated 4.88 out of 5, based on 46 reviews

85 Followers

Alberta, Canada

About the store

Gordon Hamilton (MMath, PhD) is a mathematician and board game designer. He founded MathPickle.com in 2010 to inject hard, fun problems, puzzles and mini-competitions into math classrooms world wide. In the last year he has been featured twice in the New York Times. In November 2013, he co-hosted a conference of mathematicians and educators to select thirteen curricular unsolved problems of mathematics - one for each grade K-12. In 2015 he will be co-hosting a conference on integer sequences in the math classroom.

Beetle Sort! A pattern puzzle for kindergarten through grade 2.

Mishap at Venn Zoo (mirror and rotational symmetry $100 Classroom Challenge)

Lichen Puzzles (multiplication & subtraction with $100 challenge)

No-Three-In-A-Line Pattern Problem ($100 challenge)

All resources

Search resources

Beetle Sort! A pattern puzzle for kindergarten through grade 2.

Created by

MathPickle

Beauty and mathematics are inseparable. In this puzzle we use the beauty of beetles to inspire k-2 students to find and discuss patterns. The puzzles are meant to be projected and solved as a whole class through argument and consensus. For kindergarten students 15 minutes of Beetle Sort is perfect. There are enough puzzles here to do this several times. ___________________ Standards for Mathematical Practice: All MathPickle puzzles including Beetle Sort a

K - 2nd

Geometry, Math

CCSS

K.MD.B.3

, 1.MD.A.1

, K.G.A.1

Dot-to-Dot Middle Path Puzzles

Created by

MathPickle

Dot-to-Dot Middle Path Puzzles give students practice measuring and eyeballing distances. Correct comparisons result in the student creating a picture. These pictures are not as obvious as standard dot-to-dot so there is a real feeling of discovery. One of MathPickle's top puzzle designs. ______________________ Standards for Mathematical Practice: All MathPickle puzzles including Dot-to-Dot Middle Path Puzzles are guaranteed to engage a wide spectrum of student abilities while targeting t

2nd - 4th

Math, Measurement

CCSS

2.MD.A.1

, 2.MD.A.4

, 3.MD.D.8

Animal Subtraction ($500 challenges)

Created by

MathPickle

Animal Subtraction is beautiful for all children learning equations like 7-3 = 4. While the bulk of your class learns subtraction, your top students will be engaged by tough problem solving. There are also puzzle-sheets which require harder subtraction problems like 35 - 21 = 14. The 45 minute time is what I've listed for the time, but you could easily do animal subtraction once a week for a month. Many students benefit from creating their own puzzles, and others will enjoy looking for gener

2nd - 4th

Arithmetic, Math

A little bit of Aggression - Subtraction Game ($500 challenge)

Created by

MathPickle

"A little bit of Aggression" is a great way to give a classroom practice with subtraction while engaging your top students in tough problem solving. Think of it as a superior variant of Risk. There are a number of critical differences: 1) Armies do not move and 2) Armies attack into a neighbouring area and win if their total value is greater than the defender. The subtraction enters play in setting up armies. It could be the only thing that students do in math class for grade 2 or 3, and I

1st - 4th

Arithmetic, Math

Ballast - addition puzzle with $100 classroom challenge

Created by

MathPickle

Each addition puzzle consists of three warships that need to be loaded with ballast so that they are balanced. Unfortunately this is impossible for one of the ships - it will keel over and sink no matter what you do. The other two ships can be loaded with ballast so they are nicely balanced. Addition difficulty ranges from easy (1 + 4 = 5) to hard (59 + 69 + 25 = 153). Problem solving difficulty ranges from easy to open ended.

1st - 3rd

Arithmetic, Basic Operations

The Nasty Mr. Sneeze - addition practice ($500 classroom challenge)

Created by

MathPickle

This puzzle is a great way for students to practice addition, find patterns, and compare the number of germs in two regions. For those top students who are beyond acquiring these curricular skills - they will be thoroughly absorbed in the problem solving. I've listed this exercise as taking 45 minutes, but you could use it for much, much longer as it is brilliantly open ended.

K - 2nd, Higher Education

Basic Operations, Math

No-Three-In-A-Line Pattern Problem ($100 challenge)

Created by

MathPickle

This is a great way to get your grade 1 students to discover and discuss patterns. The problem takes 45 minutes and is intended to engage the full spectrum of student ability - from those struggling with patterns, to those top quality problem solvers. I have not yet raised the $1,000,000 to support the prize money, but MathPickle will offer a $100 prize on the first March 14th in which I have at least 10 submissions from different schools. Submissions should be stories or photographs showing

K - 2nd

Basic Operations, Math

CCSS

K.CC.B.4b

, K.CC.B.5

, 1.G.A.1

Showing 1-7 of 7 results

About the store

Experience

Teaching style

All students, especially the top ones, should experience failure every day. Doing this in a light-hearted way helps remove the stigma of failure from the classroom. I fail in front of my students regularly. It's okay. I get over it. So will they ;-)

Awards & shining teacher moments

No honors or awards yet for MathPickle, but the uplifting testimonials and emails from educators make up for the lack of official recognition. Here is a sample: "Hi Gordon, I stumbled upon your site, MathPickle.com, this morning and two hours later I'm still there. Just wanted to drop you a brief note to say thank you for all the great resources, ideas, and inspiring videos! I can't wait to use some these materials this Fall with my elementary mathematics methods students as well as try the unsolved problems with my two children. Thank you, Amy Tanner (Assistant Professor, Education Department, St. Catherine University)"