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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

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Kajitsu (Mirror & Rotational Symmetry Puzzle)

Created by

MathPickle

"Kajitsu" is Japanese for "a morsel of fruit". Cutting the fruit into bite sized morsels requires students to practice mirror & rotational symmetry. Top students are engaged in the tough problem solving while the rest of the class learns and practices symmetry. Of all MathPickle puzzle designs, this is the most physically beautiful. I often have students ask for a spare puzzle-sheet just so they can redraw their answers beautifully - so this puzzle's look helps inspire aesthetically minded s

4th - 8th

Geometry, Math

CCSS

4.G.A.3

, 8.G.A.1

, 8.G.A.1a

Mimizu - A Factorization Puzzle for grade 4-7

Created by

MathPickle

This puzzle is a great way to inspire grade 4-7 students in both 1) Prime factorization of Integers 2) Finding the Greatest Common Factor 45 minutes is the minimum amount of time that a class might spend on Mimizu. If desired, there is enough material in this download for several weeks of hard fun. ___________________ Standards for Mathematical Practice: All MathPickle puzzle designs, including mimizu, are guaranteed to engage a wide spectrum of stude

4th - 7th

Basic Operations, Math

CCSS

4.OA.B.4

, 4.OA.C.5

, 6.NS.B.2

Fractured Fraction Puzzles (equivalent fractions)

Created by

MathPickle

These puzzles are a great way to explore equivalent fractions in your classroom. It will engage a large fraction of your grade 4 to 6 students for one or two periods. Top students will be engaged through deflection into tough problem solving - struggling students will be engaged through the beauty of the puzzles. ________________ Standards for Mathematical Practice: All MathPickle puzzles including "Mishap at Venn Zoo" are guaranteed to engage a wide spectrum of student abilities while targ

4th - 6th

Fractions, Math

CCSS

4.NF.A.1

, 4.NF.A.2

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

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

Created by

MathPickle

Mishap at Venn Zoo is a co-operative puzzle that gives students practice with mirror symmetry, rotational symmetry and beautiful Venn diagrams. It will engage a large fraction of your grade 4 or grade 5 students for one 40-50 minute period. It requires students to place "animals" into a Venn diagram based on their symmetry. Standards for Mathematical Practice: All MathPickle puzzles including "Mishap at Venn Zoo" are guaranteed to engage a wide spectrum of student abilities while targeting

4th - 6th

Geometry, Math

CCSS

4.G.A.2

, 4.G.A.3

, 5.G.B.4

Lichen Puzzles (multiplication & subtraction with $100 challenge)

Created by

MathPickle

Lichen puzzles give your students practice with multiplication and subtraction. Children will be asked to do products like 2 x 13 = 26 and 5 x 8 = 40. The puzzle is also perfect to revisit basic multiplication in later grades because top students will be deflected into tough problem solving (never a waste of their time) while you can focus on getting the rest of the class caught up curricularly. ___________ Standards for Mathematical Practice: All

3rd - 6th

Basic Operations, Math

CCSS

3.NBT.A.2

, 4.NBT.B.5

, 3.OA.A.1

Lazy Lemur Multiplication

Created by

MathPickle

Lazy Lemur Multiplication keeps students aware and focussed as they use the standard multiplication algorithm. Too often I was seeing students just blindly jumping into an algorithm and then letting their mind wander. Sloppy work was the result. Lazy Lemur Multiplication keeps students on their toes as they must stop the standard algorithm midway-through if they see an unwanted digit. ______________________ Standards for Mathematical Practice: All MathPickle puzzles including Lazy Lemur

3rd - 6th

Arithmetic, Math

CCSS

4.NBT.B.5

, 5.NBT.B.5

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

Ballast - multiplication puzzle with $100 classroom challenge

Created by

MathPickle

Each multiplication 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. Multiplication difficulty ranges from easy (2 x 3 = 6) to hard (13 x 17 = 221). Problem solving difficulty ranges from easy to open ended.

3rd - 5th

Arithmetic, Basic Operations

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

Klingon Attack - factoring puzzle ($100 challenge)

Created by

MathPickle

Klingon Attack gives students practice factoring as they try to save the earth from Klingons. The puzzle is deep so the addition of the Klingon story-line is not the only thing that will engage children. I'll offer $100 for an example of the problem in the classroom. Submissions to gord@mathpickle.com should be photographs or stories. The best will be added to this pdf file so that other classrooms can enjoy. All photographs with people must have appropriate consent. The winning classroo

4th - 7th

Arithmetic, Math

CCSS

4.OA.B.4

, 4.OA.C.5

, 6.NS.B.2

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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)"